Speaking recently to the United Nations President Obama said it’s time to lift the U.S. trade embargo to Cuba. He says even though problems may continue with the Cuban government they can be settled with diplomatic relations, improved people to people relations and increased commerce. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke agrees and says lifting the embargo would help both countries.
House Speaker John Boehner was critical of the President’s stance on the lifting of the embargo saying that the administration is handing the Castros a lifetime dream of legitimacy without getting anything for the oppressed Cuban people. Sombke says it’s hard to tell what Congress will do now with the embargo.
Sombke says the real wild card in the whole discussion may be who the new House Speaker is and what direction he or she chooses to go which is the real unknown.
The embargo has been in place since 1961. Earlier this summer embassies in both the U.S. and Cuba were re opened.