The U.S. Should allow free trade with cuba

Hello, I am the first speaker for the house on the motion that "The US should allow free trade with cuba" I affirm that the US should allow free trade with Cuba. Definitions: US: The United states of america, Free Trade: Free trade is a system of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services. (According to wikipedia) Now onto the debate... Point 1: The Popularity of Opening Relations is Huge A. The popularity of opening relations is so large that is really inconcievable that anyone would not want to open relations. R. We need to do a lot of work to fix Cuba and with popularity so high, we cannot go wrong. E. A poll by Washington Post and New York Times asked, ï¿½€œDo you think the United States should or should not re-establish diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba?" The response was amazing. 2/3 of responders were in favor of opening relations. E. A similar poll was conducted by CNN in April of this year showed that upward of 70% of people saide we should open relations. Furthermore, this was up almost 10% from the same poll in 2002. R. Clearly, the population is becoming more and more relaxed about having relations with Cuba and are confident that bad things will not happen. So judge, I ask you, why not?! Point 2: The Dangerous Fidel Castro is No Longer in Power. A. Fidel Castro was the man who invaded Cuba from Mexico in 1959, took control of the government, and made the lives of Cubans and Americans miserable for many years. He was also the man who led the Cuban missile crisis that threatened our country. R. Now, you may say, well, why canï¿½€™t this happen again. But judge, when one looks at it, Cubaï¿½€™s power is very limited at this point. Fidel Castro is gone and his brother Raul has taken over. Cuba is in the news so much less for dangerous activities. There was a scare about a plan with Russia a couple of years ago, but this was settled and gone within weeks. E. Judge, prominent organizations believe this too; this is not just me saying this to try and convince you. The proposal is supported by the US Tour Operators Association, the National Tour Association and human rights groups like the Washington Office on Latin America, according to the Cuban newspaper Trabajadores. E. Congressman also believe in it. U.S. congressman Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) is confident that Washingtonï¿½€™s travel restrictions to Cuba on U.S. citizens will be lifted before the end of this year. He says that voters in the house are just ~25 votes short of a bill to lift the embargo and he said in a September article that he hoped to have this done by the end of 2009. Although this has not happened with more pressing on the table, it is clear it is close and with a little more convincing, it can be done. Conclusion: Judge, so many people, citizens, politicians and organizations alike, support making this move. I will explain more on this topic in the second speech, showing concrete reasons about why we should make the change beyond popularity. So for the reasons I have stated, the pro should clearly win this debate.