The smooth transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his successors is exposing the willful ignorance and wishful thinking of U.S. policy toward Cuba. The post-Fidel transition is already well under way, and change in Cuba will come only gradually from here on out. With or without Fidel, renewed U.S. efforts to topple the revolutionary regime in Havana can do no good — and have the potential to do considerable harm.

Julia E. Sweig, writing in Foreign Affairs, considers that with the eventual death of Fidel Castro Cuba will likely not see a radical change in governance. In the end Castro’s system of government will live on and thus perhaps leaving a lasting legacy in the Americas.