1961 was the last time the American Flag flew over the U.S. Embassy in Cuba.  Today, during quite a splashy ceremony, it was raised once again.

The U.S. just raised a flag in #Cuba for the first time in 54 years http://t.co/rZfh2OAzWH pic.twitter.com/jZNIuvnCsn

— PolicyMic (@PolicyMic) August 14, 2015

Understandably, the reaction to this is mixed. On the one hand you have Secretary of State John Kerry lauding the reopening of the embassy in Havana and claiming that this is a policy win for all, Americans and Cubans. Interestingly he tied the progress in Cuba to his “work” twenty years ago in normalizing relations with Vietnam. Alrighty then. Yes, he may have jabbed at Cuba for their issues with dissidents (who were NOT invited to the flag raising ceremony),  but it was a pretty weak jab at that.

On the other hand, there are many who vehemently disagree with opening the embassy. Some have very specific reasons for this. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) provided his reasoning in an op-ed to Fox News:

In Cuba, we face proudly anti-American leaders who continue to work with nations like Russia and China to spy on our people and government; who harbor fugitives from American justice; and who stand in opposition to nearly every value our nation holds dear by violating the basic human rights of their own people, preventing democratic elections, and depriving their nation’s economy of freedom and opportunity.

Centuries of global affairs tell us the best way to affect an outcome with volatile leaders is through strength and example, while the worst is through weakness and concession. Yet weakness and concession are the preferred tools of statecraft for this administration.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) issued a press release this morning. He stated, in part:

“A flag representing freedom and liberty will rise today in a country ruled by a repressive regime that denies its people democracy and basic human rights. This is the embodiment of a wrongheaded policy that rewards the Castro regime’s brutality at the expense of the Cuban people’s right to freedom of expression and independence.

Actor Andy Garcia, a native of Cuba, is not a fan of the Castro regime whatsoever.

When asked what Switzerland’s Cuba policy should be, during a series of interviews in Locarno, Garcia had this to say:

“The political situation is Cuba has not turned,” Andy Garcia said politely, but very adamantly. “There is one government, a dictatorship. The Castros are still in power. There’s never been a popular election in Cuba. Nothing will change in Cuba until the Castro regime leaves and the people are free.”

You know, considering what Fidel Castro wrote just yesterday, I think Garcia, Menendez, Rubio and many others are right. You see, it seems that Fidel wants money, LOTS of it:

In an essay published in local media, Fidel Castro celebrated his 89th birthday Thursday by arguing that the United States owes Cuba “many millions of dollars” because of the trade embargo Congress imposed on the island nation back in 1963, according to a report in L’Agence France-Presse

Seems like Fidel is getting ready to extort our country for his financial gain.

Despite all the flag waving, Castro’s rhetoric strongly indicates that once again our country has embarked on yet another one-sided deal where the U.S. ends up being on the losing end. For the people of Cuba, all the talk about “normal” relations will be just that – talk. They will still be repressed by the Castro Regime unless and until the U.S. decides to stand for them rather than hold hands with dictators.