Do Sanctions Help Castro?

Advocates of unconditionally easing sanctions towards Cuba often make the counter-intuitive argument that the Castro regime really doesn't want the U.S. to lift sanctions, for it would deprive it of an "excuse" for its failings.

Obviously, that's not the case.

Here's an excerpt from the Castro regime's official [and welcoming] statement to last Friday's further, unconditional, easing of sanctions by the Obama Administration:

"Although the measures are positive, they remain well below those just demands, have a very limited scope and do not modify the policy against Cuba.

The White House announcement is limited, essentially, to restoring some of the provisions that were in force in the 1990s under the Clinton administration, and were eliminated by George W. Bush beginning in 2003 [...]

If there were a real interest in expanding and facilitating the contacts between our peoples, the United States should lift the blockade and eliminate the prohibition that makes Cuba the only country to which Americans cannot travel."

So much for counter-intuition.