Loony tunes

And now, for something completely different: an American academic calling on the US administration to lift its trade embargo on the Castro regime.

This time it’s Jennifer Gerz-Escandon, who is described by The Christian Science Monitor as an “independent scholar” and a former professor of political science based in Atlanta.

Ms Gerz-Escandon sets the tone for her commentary by stating that lifting the embargo is no longer “just a noble but hopeless idea” but smart politics.

She argues that the US should do away with the existing trade and commercial restrictions at once and start “constructive engagement” with the “reform-ready regime of Mr Castro”.

According to Ms Gerz-Escandon, lifting the embargo would help raise standards of living on the island, stop Cubans fleeing to the US, bring stability to the region and turn the US into a hemispheric leader.

Oh, yes, and lifting the embargo would also turn the island into a “42,803-square-mile green energy and technology lab”, working hand in hand with Washington “in the search for energy independence”.

Nice one.