Thoughts on Cuba's Travel Ban

Although the travel ban has existed for the last 46 years, and it has been difficult for the people of Cuba to make a living without the booming tourism industry, I do not feel that the travel ban should be lifted yet. The goal of the travel ban was to injure the country economically, so as not to financially support the communist government. I think that to give in now and to lift the ban, would only make things worse. It would begin to finance the government, and the suffering of the Cuban people would have been in vain, because it would only strengthen the government that is currently in place. I think that the travel ban should remain so long as the country is run by a communist government. I think that Christians in this day and age need to look past the monetary gains that could come from lifting the travel ban and remember the values that it had in the first place.

Similarly I think that companies who outsource labor to China, because it saves them money should also consider how it is financing their communist government. I think that Americans were all for the travel ban on Cuba, because it is so close to the United States, that they also felt it was a protection measure to keep their government weak. I think that when it comes to China, people are not as worried, because they are farther away.

However, if the travel ban is on Cuba because the United States is opposed to communist rule, as it should be, then why would we hold a double standard when it comes to China. Being from a Christian community here at Concordia, I think it is important that we encourage fellow believers in this country to be Christians first and Americans second, and to put away our greed to save as much money as possible, and consider how the world could improve if we held the same standards with all communist countries.