There's no good reason to object to this one area of permitted trade with Cuba, particularly since the policy of isolation pursued by the U.S. government for more than four decades has been an utter failure. Six years ago when he was representing the 1st District in Congress, Gov. Mark Sanford was a trailblazer as he tried to lift all the ineffective and counter-productive 42-year restrictions on trade with and travel to Cuba.

According to our reporter, Ron Menchaca, who was with the South Carolina delegation in Havana, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Sharpe agreed, as part of the deal, to encourage the S.C. congressional delegation to lift the trade restrictions.

The fact that Castro still is in power 45 years after leading the revolution that promised democracy but delivered tyranny indicates just how ineffective the sanctions have been. If the limited sale of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba helps to undermine a misguided policy, so much the better. The U.S. economic embargo and the travel ban imposed on ordinary U.S. citizens have had the effect of strengthening Castro's totalitarian police state, while isolating the Cuban people from their nearest neighbors.

South Carolina officials are by no means the first state representatives to make the trip to Havana. The Castro dictatorship has purchased about $328 million in farm goods since Congress opened a loophole in U.S. sanctions three years ago. Officials from farm states have been streaming into Havana to sign contracts with the Cuban government monopoly.

But there should be no illusions about the nature of Castro's regime. In March, three young men were executed for trying to hijack a ferry to flee to the United States, and 75 dissidents, including 22 independent journalists, were sentenced to long prison terms merely for expressing criticism of the Castro-Communist system. State officials should bear in mind that the Castro regime has survived by instilling fear in its people and placing the blame for their country's hardships on U.S. policy toward Cuba.

To avoid tainting a trade agreement that should benefit both South Carolinians and ordinary Cubans -- who suffer food rationing -- relations between South Carolina and Cuba should be circumspect. Lt. Gov. Bauer should be the highest state official involved. Former Illinois Gov. Bill Ryan, currently under indictment on federal corruption charges, went way too far when he dined with Castro at the Palace of the Revolution. That's an example South Carolinians surely wouldn't want to see Gov. Sanford emulate.