I need the fingers of a hand to count off the issues that demand the urgent attention of the next president of the United States of America. But I am confident that others invited to respond to this question will do so forthrightly, stating what needs to be proposed for policies in respect to Iraq, Iran, Israel-Palestine, the urgency to sign the forthcoming successor to the Kyoto agreement, reversing the shameful refusal to sign the original—and the rest of the roster of present U.S. policies that endanger not alone the peoples directly affected, but the peace, and in the case of the global environment, the survival of the world we have no choice but to share.

So I take up an issue that is widely overlooked in the countdown of policies and notions that one regrets to see the most powerful, self-proclaimed upholder of democratic values follow and commit. I refer to the blockade of Cuba.

Last October, Cuba submitted to the U.N. General Assembly for the 16th consecutive year the draft resolution titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.” In 2006, 183 member states voted in favor of this resolution, proof of the international community’s rejection of U.S. policy against Cuba, which is contrary to the charter of the United Nations, the principles of international law, and the relations among states. In 2006, the damage to Cuba’s foreign trade exceeded $1.3 billion as a result of the boycott. The greatest damage was due to the impossibility of having access to the U.S. market, but the Bush administration’s increase of sanctions on enterprises cooperating with Cuba in gas and oil exploration, the ban on the sale of medical equipment to Cuba, and the limited conditions for...