Pass the sturgeon…

First, it must be said that the Cuban embargo was an asinine idea to begin with, for if we take the mold of the Cold War and understand that communism is not a valid form of government, then dealing with that government validates its existence. This was Reagan’s contribution to foreign policy, something Carter didn’t understand. Following this logic communism will implode on itself. And has imploded in every case since Das Capital. However, when a nation deals with a country, even in a negative way, that country will benefit. Castro is a dictator and has policies have crippled his nation. He has been a ruler by force and rhetoric and we have played his tune for over 40 years. However, news that millions of dollars have been spent on ‘Democracy Funds’ which according to the Guardian Unlimited Nov 15th 2006:

Cuban dissidents who were given millions of dollars by the US government to support democracy in their homeland instead blew money on computer games, cashmere sweaters, crabmeat and expensive chocolates, which were then sent to the island.

It is clear that we should not be in the democracy business. Contrary to popular belief democracy is not the most stable form of government; in fact it is last form of government in a long chain of social contracted mechanisms. Starting with monarchy. Moreover, throughout the entire span of human history democracy has NEVER been given to a people. The people must take it. The people must want it and only the people can give it legitimacy. Now the agency in charge of this waste blames the bureaucratic oversight:

He also defended the purchase of a chainsaw he said he needed to cut a tree that had blocked access to his office in a hurricane, and said that the leather jackets and cashmere sweaters were bought in a sale. “They [the auditors] think it’s not cold there,” Mr Acosta said. “At $30 [£16] it’s a bargain because cashmere is expensive. They were asking for sweaters.”
The audit analysed $65m of spending by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1996 to 2005 and concluded that poor management was to blame for the waste. “There were weaknesses in agency policies and in programme office oversight, and internal control deficiencies,” the report states.

That may be so, but the fact still remains that these programs are historically flawed. If one wants to see real democratic change look no further than the EU and its ability to hamstring countries economically and politically until they meet criteria which will give them excess to EU markets: see Turkey and the Baltic states. Countries must change from within. Even though Democracy is the most favored form of government it is also the most fragile. People must take action themselves and wasting millions doesn’t help the huddled masses.