Was Obama too nice in Cuba?

(Photo: Al Diaz – Miami Herald)

President Barack Obama’s speech in Cuba calling for democracy and human rights on the island was relatively good, but don’t fool yourself: It will be drowned in an avalanche of Castro government propaganda in the coming weeks and might soon be a faint memory in most Cubans’ minds.

This is not meant to dismiss Obama’s speech in Havana as a waste of time, nor his opening to Cuba as a mistake, as Obama’s right-wing critics are already saying. In fact, Obama’s decision to reverse U.S. policy about Cuba was a good decision after decades of failed U.S. efforts to isolate the island.

But Obama could have done it much better. The U.S. president was too diplomatic, too conciliatory, and too nice to Cuban dictator Raúl Castro.

He could have made the same trip by holding an official meeting in Havana with Castro, but delivering a somewhat stronger — while respectful — speech, without singing praises to Cuba’s alleged achievements in health and education that collapsed decades ago, and without appearing next to Castro enjoying a baseball game.

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