In the 1950s, Cuba was a delightful resort getaway only miles away from our country. Then something happened. A host of Cubans decided that they had had enough of the American gangsters who were running their country, from the casinos to the tourist business.

Men like Che Guevara came back to Cuba to help create a force to rid their country of bad people. At the same time, however, these men who chose to lead this revolt of the present administration were very liberal and branded as communists. Leaders like President Fulgencio Batista quickly lost control and the country was overrun with people we believed to be the worst of communists, and they were right next to our shoreline.

Cuba showed support of the North Vietnamese government and Ho Chi Minh. None of this settled well with the American president. We Americans could not have this. President John F. Kennedy encouraged Cubans living in this country to form an army and promised that we would support an invasion to overthrow the new leader, Fidel Castro, in April of 1961. Those forces landed at a place called the Bay of Pigs. At the last moment and without informing these troops landing in their country, Kennedy called off any U.S. support and the invaders were crushed.

Then it got worse. USSR President Nikita Khrushchev began supporting this rebel island as his primary enemy in the world was us. What started with economic support moved to arms and modern weapons. It was believed that Cuba had the missiles to launch an attack against us, and the nuclear parts of such an attack were coming to Cuba by ship.

President Kennedy challenged this threat of an enemy by intercepting the ships with the warheads in the Atlantic. Khrushchev chose to turn those ships around, avoiding nuclear world war. In fact, he saved our country. Unknown at the time by our intelligence, was that Cuba already had some nuclear weapons and could have attacked several of our major cities, including Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago. We learned this later through the writings of then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, when he disclosed an exchange between Castro and Khrushchev before he turned the ships around, where Castro begged him to let him fire the missiles that he already had. Khruschev said no and saved our country from such a nuclear attack.

Then came the sanctions on Cuba with the U.S. Energy blockade which virtually stopped the importation of any petroleum products. It is believed that under this blockade, Cuba has not received any petroleum products in the last 3 months. The country is critically short of energy and is now running on natural gas, solar panels, and thermoelectric plants. The citizens of Cuba are experiencing multiple blackouts and are quite desperate. Even the solar support needs petroleum to run.

A new figure is appearing in Cuban politics, the grandson of Raul Castro, the leader after Fidel. It is believed that while he holds no official post, this grandson of Raul and grandnephew of Fidel, Raul Gullermo Rodriguez Castro could be the next leader of that country and has shown a willingness to meet with our leaders. President Donald Trump has said such meetings could be with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to make major changes in Cuban politics and governance.

Some progress of friendship and civility was started with President Barack Obama but was brief and ended with the next president. Cuba can only produce 40% of its needed petroleum. It needs much more, but the blockade has crippled that supply. The US needs a neighbor who will behave and not have an economy that drives hundreds of Cubans to seek our country by any means, including floating here on rafts.

Our tourists have no trouble finding a tropical island to spend that week or ten days. Why not work out something that will benefit all? Let them rebuild their country, encourage tourists to come lay in the sun, eat wonderful Cuban food, and for those who wish, enjoy those incredible Cuban cigars.

The Cubans are desperate for power and water as well as some tourist income. Who could be better to talk to than a Castro who can foresee possible futures with and without U.S. support? I know our president talked about the Cubans avoiding a fate like that of Venezuela and its president, who now rots in a U.S. prison.

We are getting the reputation of being the bullies of the world. This has not been our reputation over our rather short history as a country and has lost most respect for us internationally. Europe’s refusal to assist us in the new war should have pointed this out to all. Let’s try making some friends instead of more enemies.

· Dennis Marek can be contacted at llamalaw23@gmail.com.