Back on December 2014, my late father was sick and in the hospital.  We watched President Obama announce that he was reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba.  My father said something like, "This man does not understand communists."

The story being pushed back then in the international media was that Raúl Castro was a "reformist," the Cuban version of Mikhail Gorbachev.  In other words, we were told Raúl wanted to change and turn Cuba around.

It did not long for people to realize that Raúl Castro's definition of reform was to fill Cuba with U.S. tourists spending their dollars for the benefit of the regime.

How much respect and gratitude did Raúl Castro show for President Obama?  He did not greet him at the airport when Air Force One landed in Cuba.  I guess Raúl must have been watching a baseball game that afternoon.

Then came President Trump into the picture, pushing back many of President Obama's policies.  The net result is that the Castro regime is feeling the pain, as Dr. Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat writes:

Today, the Cuban Communist regime, now bereft of its Pharaonic founder and maximum leader, is beset by economic sanctions that have affected its main sources of income and by growing internal unrest, which shows no sign of abating. 

Cruise tourism from the U.S. to the island has ended, and many whose properties were unlawfully confiscated by the regime are now able to sue third-party exploiters of these properties in U.S. courts.

Raúl Castro and his brood have been designated as gross violators of human rights and sanctioned by the U.S. government as legislatures in at least three Latin American countries are today considering the unprecedented possibility of prosecuting the Castro regime for its crimes against humanity. 

We cannot tell you when the Castro regime will collapse.  We can tell you that President Trump's realistic approach has brought that day a lot closer.

Unlike President Obama, President Trump is treating the Cuban government like a violator of human rights and the author of an economic disaster.

Thank you, President Trump.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.