In April, Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver toured Cuba and came home saying good things about the island nation.

"To see all of these myths melt right in front of my eyes was something to behold," the Kansas City Democrat said then. "We’ve been led to believe that the Cuban people are not free, and they are repressed by a vicious dictator, and I saw nothing to match what we’ve been told."

This month came the news that a Cuban dissident blogger, Yoani Sanchez, 34, had been beaten by men she suspected of being state security agents. She was not seriously hurt.

The attack was condemned around the world. Sanchez has received acclaim for her widely read Generation Y Web log.

What is Cleaver saying now? Here's a statement from his spokesman, Danny Rotert.

"He is not naive enough to think that the whole of Cuba is free or that his hosts did not put their very best foot forward doing the visit.

"However, he was allowed to preach without encumbrance at a Methodist Church in Havana. He was not told what he could or could not say or who he could or could not speak with. And frankly, that surprised him.

"He believed, after he was asked to do the sermon, that he would also be asked to constrain his comments and he was not. His sermon was unfettered.

"While in Cuba he was able to have a very long and very frank conversation with Raul Castro, and saw an opening in that conversation for a change in US/Cuban relations.

"The President used the Congressman's visit to expand American Cuban families ability to visit Cuba and send money to their families.

"The Castro brothers have been ruthless, continue to constrain the freedom of their people, but our national policy of treating them as pariahs has not worked. The President will be in Beijing today to speak with Chinese leaders. We know the Chinese government is as abusive to its people in the same magnitude the Cuban regime is, and yet we engage them.

"There is a disconnect in America's policy toward Cuba and it is primarily based on hatred of the Castros as opposed to a cohesive and thoughtful foreign policy.

"The Congressman was trying to say that if he was allowed to engage directly with the Cuban people perhaps there are other opportunities for America to invest in them — not the Castros but the people of Cuba. He believes the President shares that view."