Cuba

Today President Obama is going to announce that he will lift some of the travel restrictions that Cuban Americans face in visiting the island, in addition to relaxing some of the rules about what they can send back to their homeland as well.

The trade embargo will remain in place for the time being, but this move by President Obama is a first step in creating more open relations with Cuba.

Round 2 of the World Baseball Classic begins on Saturday at Dolphins Stadium in Florida, and Sunday at Petco Park in San Diego. Even though my Dominican team lasted about as long as Bill Richardson’s Commerce Secretary gig (thank you…wait for it…KINGDOM OF THE NETHELANDS), rest assured friends, Latin American countries are still representing in the tournament.

All right, people, time for part two of our preview on the Latin American teams competing in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. On Monday, I profiled the national teams from Venezuela, Panama, and Mexico and now we turn our eyes to the remaining Latin powerhouses (by the way, I bet any amount of money that in ‘09 a team from a Spanish-speaking country takes down the WBC–no disrespect to defending champs Japan, but we’re due).

During the Presidential election, Barack Obama pledged to ease the embargo against Cuba, which has actually be strengthened in the Bush years. While the embargo is nearly a half century old, the main reasons for initiating it aren't even relevant any more. We are no longer engaged in the Cold War, and an ailing Fidel Castro is no longer the President of Cuba, as his younger brother Raul has taken over.