New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has an old idea that's been tried before, which even its supporters say won't work: Create a team of exiles to dialogue with the Cuban government.
Richardson pitched the idea to top Cuban officials while on a recent trip to the island, and he's already approached Cuban-American leaders who have agreed to participate, he told The Miami Herald in an interview.
He won't say whom.
The Cubans here went for it. The ones on the island — not so much.
"They weren't crazy about the idea," Richardson said. "They didn't reject it. They said, 'We always have dialogue,' but you can't have dialogue without those who have the political clout."
Richardson, a former candidate for president, visited Cuba in late August on a trade mission. He returned advocating more legalized travel to the island, and saying that the Cuban government must do its part, too.
His trip was met with eye-rolls in some sectors of Miami, where even the people who promote dialogue said the plan would probably flop.
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