Cuba has emerged an unlikely victor in health care. The Cuban Revolution served as a catalyst for improved medical services and universal treatment on the island. Although Fidel Castro’s vision for a Cuba mejor stemmed from his political mantra, the country’s most successful social program can ultimately be credited to the medical training of former revolutionary Che Guevara. 

We are on the threshold of an historic opportunity to mend a badly broken relationship with our Caribbean neighbor, but Cuba is much more than a neighbor - she is a long lost relative, a source of wonderful culture, incredible artists and musicians, and several civic examples that we could all learn from. She could also become one of our greatest allies in the Western Hemisphere. 

In his first major address during a 10-day trip combining visits to the long-isolated but neighboring nations of Cuba and the United States, Pope Francis on Sunday gave a wide-ranging treatise on the Christian call to be at service to one another. [...] [T]he pope continued: "Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people."