American commerce is global in reach. Virtually anywhere there are markets, you will find American businesspeople and entrepreneurs. The United States has long shown itself willing to trade with any nation regardless of that nation's political or economic philosophy, its social and religious policies, or the ethics of its leaders. There is, however, one glaring exception to this rule - and that is the island nation of Cuba. It is not that Americans do not want to trade with the Cubans. Many do. The problem is that their own government, the American Government - does not allow them to trade with Cuba. For more than forty years - ever since Cuban Leader, Fidel Castro, embraced Communism - the United States has avoided virtually all contact with its neighbor to the south. American citizens are not permitted to spend U.S. dollars in the country, and it is only recently that small numbers of them have even been permitted to travel to the Caribbean nation. Many question this policy. They wonder. why do Canada, the European Union, Russia, and many other places around the world have commercial and diplomatic relations with the Cuban people and government? Why not the United States? Does American policy make sense? Perhaps, it is time the United States of America re-thinks its attitude toward trade with Fidel Castro's Cuba. .

             Indeed, the Republic of Cuba offers many opportunities for the American businessperson. The inability to freely import U.S. goods, coupled with the loss of financing from the former Soviet Union, has left Cuba in dire need of many foreign products. Cuba cannot make everything she needs, and the Island has long been famous for its many ingenious methods of "stretching" what it has; the most well-known example of this conservation of old materials being the 1940s and 1950s era American cars that are still a frequent sight on the Republic's streets. The U.S.