Lift the Cuban embargo already

President Obama has announced that he will lift some of the restrictions on travel to Cuba and remittances from Americans to Cubans. This is a nice step, supported by a call from GOP Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. But it's too timid by half. Why not, as this Register editorial argues, lift the trade embargo on Cuba and be done with it? The embargo obviously hasn't worked, as Castro has outlasted 10 American presidents, and lifting it would be a free-trade-friendly step. It would also be much more effective as a way to encourage liberalization of Cuba -- not guaranteed (freer trade hasn't liberated China yet), but much more like to be useful than an almost 50-year embargo that has reinforced rather than weakened the dictatorship in Cuba. Here's Castro's reply, or the reply of somebody writing for Castro.