Written by David Starr   

U.S. President Barack Obama's stunning announcement that the United States will take steps in normalizing relations with the Republic of Cuba has reverberated through the halls of the U.S. Congress and worldwide.

And it was a long time in coming. For over 20 years, the United Nation's General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to lift the economic embargo against Cuba. The only two nations that still cling to this Cold War relic are the U.S. and Israel. While there would probably be wild celebrations on the streets of Havana and elsewhere if the embargo was lifted, cautious steps should be taken, especially for Cuba itself.

While the right-wing in the next Congress will object to Obama's gestures to Cuba, others have seen an opportunity. There is bipartisan support for Obama's intentions to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. Republicans and Democrats want to see Cuba "free and democratic." But this in the bottom line translates into having Cuba as a market satellite again (as with other "Third World" nations).

Before 1959, Cuba was called the "Whorehouse of the Americans." U.S. interests had private monopolies in telecommunications, sugar, nickel, railroads, etc. Cuba was a virtual neocolony. After the 1959 revolution, Cuba committed the ultimate "sin" (at least in the capitalist world): practicing socialism. Since then, El Bloqueo (or the economic embargo), as Cubans call it, has had a major impact on Cuba's trade relations, and costing Cuba millions in revenue.

The embargo was tightened in 1996 with the Helms-Burton "law," this at a time when Cuba was recovering from its loss of trade with the former communist bloc. Jorge Mas Canosa, former leader of the Cuban-American Legislative Council, said he wanted to "wreak havoc" on the island nation.

Thus, the reasons that Cuba should tread cautiously, especially in regards to its sovereignty. But at least a U.S. president is finally reaching out to Cuba in a diplomatic way.

David Starr writes on various issues, both national and international