Yes!  This is the kind of change the world has been waiting for since President Obama was elected six years ago.  For decades the USA has been humiliated by playing the part of an impotent Goliath trying to cow a plucky little David into submission.

I have to declare an interest: Mrs SG and I were tourists in Cuba earlier this year.  We went with open minds and a lot of curiosity.  We came away thinking that, while we wouldn’t want to live in such a paternalistic society, there were many worse places in the world, including some that are firm allies of the West.

It seemed to me that Cuba is rather like a sugar plantation where the owner (the Government) meets his slaves’ essential needs but does not allow them much say in the management of the business.  That does not sound like a ringing endorsement of the Cuban system, but there are plenty of people in the democratic capitalist world who are equally powerless and have no guarantee – or even expectation – that their essential needs will be met by anyone.