Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) published an op-ed Tuesday calling for the United States to lift its ban on American travel to Cuba. Addressing supporters of the travel ban, Lugar and Berman argued that “isolation from outside visitors only strengthens the Castro regime”:

“Travel ban defenders view sanctions as leverage over the Cuban government and their abolition as a concession. But over the last five decades, it has become clear that isolation will not induce the Castro regime to take steps toward political liberalization. Conditionality is not leverage in this case.”