The United States’ isolationist policies toward Cuba have achieved little in more than 50 years, so President Barack Obama is justified in trying to thaw relations and bolster U.S. influence in the island nation. 

The latest step in that effort came Wednesday when Obama announced a deal had been reached to open embassies in each other’s capitals, perhaps as early as July 20.

Obama, who unveiled a “new course” in relations with Cuba in December, is being attacked by many Florida politicians for reviving official diplomatic relations with the impoverished nation. But the alternative is the failed status quo.

Still, Obama must show he expects the repressive Castro regime to adopt reforms. And until true change occurs in Cuba, Congress can refuse to lift the embargo as the president requested.

When announcing the embassy agreement, the president said, “The progress we make today is another demonstration we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past.”

He should not forget that the Cuban people are indeed “imprisoned by the past” — the Castros’ stubborn embrace of a communist system that smothers freedom and initiative. Only a privileged few are allowed to prosper under the corrupt government.

Things must change. But the United States’ hands-off attitude was not accomplishing anything.

More direct relations could strengthen the United States’ ability to inspire change and promote freedom.

The Castros have been able to make the U.S. trade embargo a scapegoat for their failed economic policies.

The Castros, obviously, are not going to willingly give up their power or riches. Obama must pressure them to adopt reforms, particularly if they expect an end to the trade embargo.

But the doddering dictators won’t live forever, and the more the Cuban people interact with Americans, the more likely they are to recognize the Castros’ lies.

The impoverished nation has adopted some modest experiments with private property and free markets. Although Cuba can’t be trusted, it is hardly the fierce foe it was during the Cold War, when it nearly ignited a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States and sought to incite revolution throughout the hemisphere. The administration had reason to take Cuba off the list of terrorist nations in May.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, who has pushed for renewed Cuban relations, says, “An embassy in Havana will enable us to effectively promote American interests, protect and assist American citizens traveling to Cuba, and increase engagement with the Cuban people. An embassy is not a gift to a foreign country, but represents a sign that two countries are committed to deepening bilateral relations.”

The focus now should be on bringing more freedom to the Cuban people and achieving justice for families whose properties were confiscated by the Castro regime.

If Obama’s policies succeed only in giving more power and prestige to the Castro government, they can rightly be deemed a failure.

But with nothing to show after decades of our the old policies, it is time for a new approach.