Cuban Cigars

So this week was the annual Cuban Cigar Festival in Havana drawing in aficionados from all over the world, although (presumably), not from the United States. During the festival participants are able to tour cigar factories, smoke the finest cigars in the world, and mingle/network with other businessmen and connoisseurs. If you're interested in reading more go here. While this is all great and good, if you like cigars at least, what it made me think of is the fact that if I wanted to smoke a nice Cuban cigar here in the States, I techinically wouldn't be allowed. This is because of a U.S. embargo with Cuba held over from the Cold War days. While pretty much every other country in the world has economic ties with Cuba, we do not. I just wanted to say that I think this pretty much sucks. It seems to me that it is a matter of U.S. pride and recalcitrance. We simply won't admit that we were or could have been wrong in our policy toward Cuba and that it has been fairly ineffective in dealing with communism in the Western Hemisphere. So instead we are willing to hold on to antiquated and ineffective policies that deprive U.S. businessmen from economic possibilities in Cuba and me from smoking a nice cigar in the comfort of my own dorm room.