Bush Is A Genius

Well, if he pulls this one off he is. Apparently, relations have soured between Mexico and Cuba. And every Republican and most Democrats since JFK have wanted to invade Cuba and get rid of Uncle Fidel. Bush is the first one to have a Mexican ally who could do the dirty work for him. Castro just attacked the Mexican Fox by releasing a tape of a conversation the two had prior to the Monterrey Summit, in which Fox asks Castro to keep it down and not complicate relations between the U.S. and Mexico. According to the NY Times "Mr. Castro acknowledged that his disclosures could further strain relations between the two nations."

And yes, of course I know how unlikely it is that the two would actually come to anything more serious than a diplomatic chill, but that's still a serious victory for Bush, who has wanted to isolate Castro in an increasingly sympathetic Latin American environment. His last attempt, courting the Venezuelan opposition, backfired right in his face, but this time he did it right: let your ally do all the work.