Flame away but I never understood the Cuban exiles

[Tatiana]

8. Not all Cuban exiles are alike.

There are some who came to this country with significant wealth gained under the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. They set up shop in South Florida and continued to live middle to upper class lives. What causes these people to seethe is the fact that they could have generated even more wealth, had their assets not been confiscated and nationalized by the government.

Then there are the people who initially supported Castro and the Revolution, in order to overthrow Batista. These people, including such prominent families as the Bacardis, had all their assets confiscated and nationalized (without compensation). They've spent considerable time and money trying to get back at the Castro regime and have cultivated American political assets toward that effort.

There are also loyalists who committed unspeakable crimes on behalf of Batista, who fled when they realized their dictator would be overthrown. They, too, were welcomed to South Florida.

So you have a lot of people who hate the Castro regime and everything that it stands for. But, these people don't have the right to hold the rest of us hostage. We should be free to travel and free to engage in commerce with Cuba. That, more than anything, will hasten the demise of the Castro government. However the Miami Mafia loves to have their favorite whipping boy because it gives them political power.

Good on Obama for taking this weapon away from them.