The Associated Press is reporting today that Cuba's representative in Geneva, Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios, accused Human Rights Watch of being "mercenaries" of the U.S. Government.

First of all, this is nonsense. Human Rights Watch is in the front lines of challenging the U.S. government's detention, rendition, trial and torture policies. In addition, as Human Rights Watch makes clear, they take no money from any government. The sad truth is that the world has long-established standards for human rights and Cuba does not abide by those standards.

So this is a tactic, but of what strategy?

There are two potential candidates as I sit here this morning. One is that elements of the Cuban government are still trying to recover from the self-inflicted rhetorical damage caused to Fidel's Revolution by Raul's statement that he was willing to talk to the United States about human rights and political prisoners back in April. It was the first time a Castro had used those words, and big brother was not amused.

Second, the government could be positioning itself to slow down the train of policy change in the United States. Cuba must know that its own human rights record is a major, but surmountable speed bump in the U.S. Congress. Human Rights Watch has led the way, along with Amnesty International, Freedom House, and the Catholic Church in calling for an end to the U.S. embargo as a means to improving human rights and human dignity in Cuba. To the extent that they puff themselves up as being a big bad dictatorship with their collective head in the sand, the harder, they might believe, it will be to change the embargo that is a major driver of the Cuban nationalism they rely on to stay in power.

Unfortunately for Havana, the train has left the station. The policy is changing, regardless of what they do or do not do, regardless of what they say or do not say. That's because our Cuba policy is against our interests, less because it has failed to improve the lives of ordinary Cubans, though that is important. Rather, our Cuba policy is now the main obstacle to a greater regional partnership in the Western Hemisphere. Better solutions on energy, immigration, climate change and so many other issues are now being held hostage by Hemispheric leaders in order to end the Embargo.

Change is scary, Cuba. But instead of planning nonsense verbal attacks that make you look like a relic of the 20th Century, it would be more productive to focus on turning those prisons into hotels. You're going to need the rooms for all the pharmaceutical and oil investors who will be soon knocking on your doors.