By the time you read this, I’ll be in Cuba … on my 6th visit there since 2010.

“Six times? Do you love it that much?” someone asked me yesterday. Well, the short answer is YES!

This topic always gets me charged up . . . For starters, any place such as Cuba that is “forbidden” or restricted by our government (not their government, by the way…), is automatically on my wish list. Cuba is the only country in the world that the U.S. government restricts its own citizens from visiting. Americans can go to Iran and even North Korea if those places give you a visa.

For more than 50 years though, we’ve had a strict, punitive embargo in place in Cuba, designed to force Castro from power. It may have made sense once upon a time, based on Cold War paranoia. It doesn’t make sense any more. But like a lot of things that have outlived their usefulness, there are hardline politicians who are so entrenched (Castro was a danger to U.S. interests) that any retreat from their position would mean defeat. They’ve built their reputation on anti-Castro rhetoric and, by God, they’re sticking to their guns – regardless of what’s going on there now.

So what IS going on in Cuba? Since taking over from his brother, Raoul Castro has instituted significant economic reforms.  When I visited in 2010, the only dining options were in state-owned restaurants. The food was lousy. Service was lousy. It made perfect sense, since there was no incentive to improve. But now, there is an abundance of privately owned paladares – restaurants which operate in private homes. It’s a delightful – and delicious – experience to dine at the home of a local Cuban.

Thanks to the economic reforms, Cuban entrepreneurs are opening businesses where their countrymen can play video games, don pairs of 3-D glasses, and watch terror films such as “Saw 3D.” That might not float your boat, but as one Cuban told reporters, ”We have some more options these days, at least.” These backroom video salons are competing with state-owned theaters, and offer another illustration that the reform process is not stalled.

In fact, Cuba also ended its monopoly on public toilets.  As the Miami Herald reported, the government issued a 7-page resolution that builds on a private sector public toilet pilot project started in Havana in 2011 to allow “the rental of state-owned bathrooms to private persons who hold government licenses as ‘public bathroom attendants’ – one of 182 categories of self-employment permitted by the government.”

Allowing competition with state-owned facilities – as with restaurants, 3-D movies, barber shops, and the like – demonstrates a relinquishing of government control, which is what the U.S. has been pushing for since the 1960s. Travel reforms were implemented by Raúl Castro’s government that have already enabled 185,000 Cubans to travel abroad in the last year alone. Bottom line: Things are changing. Cuba should not be on our “Enemies List.”

My visit in 2011 . . . later that same year . . . and in 2012

Consider this quote: “We must face problems which do not lend themselves to easy or quick or permanent solutions. And we must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent nor omniscient – that we are only six percent of the world’s population – that we cannot impose our will upon the other ninety-four percent of mankind – that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity – and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.”   ~John F. Kennedy, 1961

Though Kennedy was an architect of the Cold War, he saw the futility of trying to impose our will on Cuba. If he were alive today, wouldn’t he be astonished that we are still trying to impose our will on Cuba? And not only on Cuba. Did you know that the U.S. insists that all other countries limit their diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba? For 22 consecutive years, the member nations of the U.N. have voted for a resolution calling for an end to the U.S.-imposed economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. For 22 consecutive years, the U.S. has lost this vote. The official tally? 188 to 2 (Only Israel voted with us.)

During the final session of Cuba’s National Assembly for 2013, President Raúl Castro called for the U.S. to establish civilized relations with Cuba, reports Reuters. He highlighted various meetings which took place throughout the past year between U.S. and Cuban officials — on migration, disaster prevention and reestablishing postal service — to demonstrate that relations between the two countries could be civilized. President Castro warned, however, that Cuba would not negotiate its political and social system and said both countries must learn to accept differences in order for relations to truly improve:

“We do not demand that the United States change its political and social system, nor do we accept negotiating ours. If we really want to move forward in our bilateral relations, we have to learn to mutually respect our differences and become accustomed to peacefully living with them.”

Cuba … YES!

In January of 2011, President Obama loosened the travel restrictions for Americans by reinstating the People-to-People category which had been in place under the Clinton administration – and subsequently eliminated under George W. Bush. General “tourism” is still not allowed, but the people-to-people experiences are intended to increase “purposeful travel to Cuba.” Tourist dollars are driving Cuba’s private sector and fostering the growth of small businesses. Without U.S. sanctions, it’s estimated that 2 million more U.S. residents would visit the island and generate close to two billion dollars in receipts for Cuba’s tourism industry. So, every minute we keep travel restrictions in place we’re costing the Cuban economy jobs, and we’re stopping the average Cuban citizen from exercising more control over his/her life.

But – there’s a silver lining to everything. Without the embargo, Cuba would have been just another Caribbean island – overrun with monstrous cruise ships and cheap t-shirt shops. Instead, it’s a fascinating glimpse into another era. A time warp. A truly unique destination … just 90 miles from our border.

I’ve said it before … Cuba is a place to visit NOW – not later. Want to come with me next time?

Please post comments in the box below. What do you think about the embargo? Are you curious about traveling to Cuba?