Here's a ridiculous reversal of policy.
From the Globe And Mail:
You still can't buy a good Cuban cigar in the United States, but an apparent policy shift in Washington is paving the way for the arrival of experimental cancer treatments from the outcast island country.
In July, the U.S. Department of the Treasury gave CancerVax Corp. of San Diego the green light to license a package of three drugs that were developed at the Centre of Molecular Immunology (CIM) in Havana.
The package included two early stage cancer compounds from YM BioSciences Inc. of Mississauga, which has been CIM's licensing partner since 1995.
CancerVax also picked up a cancer vaccine that YM returned to CIM in 2002 as part of a corporate refocusing.
"This is the first time a Cuban-originated biological product has been licensed by a U.S. company," said YM president and chief executive officer David Allan, referring to CancerVax's two-year lobbying in Congress to drive a wedge in the Helms-Burton Act. The legislation prohibits Americans from any commercial venture that would funnel money to Cuba.
So all you need is a little lobbying to do business with Cuba. Now I realize these cancer drugs could possibly help some people, but I also realize the money funneled back to Cuba will just go right into Fidel's coffers enabling them to continue their cruel oppression of the peoples of Cuba.
It's a dilemma I'm not sure how to handle. To go around a law/embargo with a hostile government for commercial or political gain is just a stupid precedent to set, especially in this day and age.
