Should the U.S. end its embargo on Cuba? With Fidel Castro stepping aside, is this the moment to lift four decades of restrictions on trade and travel?

• Position: DEBATE

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

YES It's past time for the U.S. to begin easing restrictions on trade with Cuba and to lift the travel ban entirely.

The embargo should not be lifted all at once, but there are good reasons to start making some basic changes. U.S. businesses stand to gain financially from expanded trade with Cuba. But more importantly, stronger American connections with Cuba will give us the chance to encourage democracy and improve human rights there.

From an economic point of view, trade with Cuba would make Americans hundreds of millions of dollars--and create U.S. jobs.

While America sits on the sidelines, countries like Canada, Spain, China, and Venezuela are trading with Cuba, so they are more likely to influence economic decisions and even social policy as Fidel Castro's regime fades away. The U.S. needs to ensure its role by discarding outdated ideas that don't work and engaging in trade.

Direct contact between Americans and Cubans may make the biggest difference. Cuba is currently the only country to which U.S. citizens cannot legally travel. The more Cubans know about America and our freedoms, the more they will want freedom for themselves. And Cuban-Americans should have the right to visit their families as they please. That's why the travel ban needs to go.

The U.S. wants Cuba to leave its Communist past behind. Showing Cubans that we will welcome them into the community of free nations is the best way to encourage our island neighbor to move in that direction.

--U.S. SENATOR MAX BAUCUS

Democrat of Montana

NO The Cuban government came to power--and has held power for half a century--through force and violence, not democratic elections.

After Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1959, he confiscated the assets of many American companies operating in...