In our decision to impose a trade embargo against Cuba, the United States stands alone in the world. After four decades, it is clear that our approach has failed to achieve its intended goals – the end of Fidel Castro’s regime and a peaceful transition to democracy. Today, Cuba remains under totalitarian rule, and Castro remains firmly in power.

Sadly, the only real victims of our policies are the 11 million innocent Cuban men, women, and children. Our embargo has exacerbated the already-miserable living conditions for Cuban citizens. Cuba’s economy has suffered greatly because it is prohibited from exporting goods to the United States. In addition, ordinary Cubans have very limited access to American products. Moreover, our policies abridge Americans’ right to travel freely to Cuba, making exchange between our two cultures essentially impossible.

There are many other nations in the world whose governments are not freely elected. Yet none of our policies towards these nations resemble our treatment of Cuba. With the Cold War over and Cuba posing no threat to the United States, there is simply no justification for our outdated approach to Cuba. To make matters worse, we are spending extraordinary resources enforcing sanctions against Cuba – resources that could be used to secure our nation against terrorism.

The time has come for a fundamental change of direction in our Cuba policy. We can start by ending the trade embargo – and just as importantly, by lifting the ban on travel to Cuba by American citizens. Only by engaging the Cuban people, and by building bridges between our citizens and theirs, will we succeed in bringing freedom and democracy to our neighbor.