OK, folks. Brace yourselves.

In an interesting and winding op-ed piece in the Miami Herald, Marifeli Perez-Stable tries to make her point on why the European Union's "Common Position" (CP) on Cuba should be eliminated. I won't bother with the back-and-forth arguments Perez-Stable lays out in trying to look at the issue from both sides (if that's at all possible from her standpoint). I will, however, point out her conclusion which even the most strident among us would have a very hard time arguing against:

Cuban leaders themselves are, of course, the problem. Neither sticks nor carrots works with them. If Spain fails to have the CP lifted or if it succeeds and Havana again turns down European economic cooperation, then they win once more. Screaming from the barricades is what they do best no matter how dearly it costs the Cuban people in freedom and treasure.

That, my friends, is the bottom line. Even if I have to hold my nose a little, Perez-Stable concludes her hard-to-follow piece with a large dose of reality.