a. normalization of relations with Cuba?
Our longstanding policies toward Cuba have been a miserable failure, evidenced by the fact that Fidel Castro is now the longest-serving head of state in the world. If our isolationist policies were meant to weaken him, they certainly haven’t worked. I believe that normalization of relations with Cuba would help the oppressed and poverty-stricken Cuban people while setting the stage for a more democratic government once Castro inevitably leaves the scene.
Barack Obama, 2004
Yes, if we just normalize relations with a Communist dictatorship, civil liberties will just naturally follow. Look at Red China, a regular bastion of freedom.