MOSCOW -- To go or not to go? To trade or not to trade? To invest or not to invest? These are the questions asked nowadays by many Western governments following a recent EU decision to lift sanctions against Havana.
Cuban President Fidel Castro's regime has always ranked among the worst in Latin America. For 45 years Cuban prisons have overflowed with dissidents, minority groups have been blatantly persecuted, famine has swept the countryside, rationing has been commonplace and an ugly gap has existed between the sumptuous lifestyle of the elite and the misery of the people.
Continental Europe has traditionally been soft on Castro, attracted by his flamboyant anti-Americanism. Occasionally, however, the Cuban dictator has been so unrestrained in his brutality that even Europe has winced -- as demonstrated by the European Union's introduction of sanctions against Cuba in June 2003 following a wave of arrests on the island. Now that Castro has set free some of those arrested, the sanctions have been lifted, causing much controversy worldwide.