Said one European diplomat in Washington: "They've isolated Cuba for 40 years, and you see how well that's worked."
The United States should reappraise its policy of isolating Cuba, which it is no closer to achieving than before.
They hope that the papal visit may compel American political leaders to think again about isolating Cuba.
The United States, by contrast, clings to a trade embargo and a policy of isolating Cuba.
But after decades in which the forces for isolating Cuba have dominated the policy, a new crop of lawmakers have demanded change.
But I do not believe that the right approach is to try to isolate Cuba.
We must unite our efforts to isolate Cuba politically.
The measures were not designed to isolate Cuba in any way.
If we isolate Cuba, Castro is most likely to benefit, not the opposition.
Rather, the goal was to isolate Cuba and prevent it from becoming a Soviet military outpost.