Washington (CNN) -- In Latin America, Cuba stands out as one of the most effective deployers of soft power. Rather than exporting revolution, Cuba today exports doctors -- with more than 30,000 Cuban doctors working in more than 100 underdeveloped countries around the world. Cuba has become a marquee provider of catastrophe-related medical assistance around the world, particularly after tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes -- and no doubt will send large contingents of medical personnel to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in coming days and weeks. Moving beyond the still active Cold War stasis in U.S.-Cuba relations is an Obama administration foreign policy priority, and the devastation in Haiti provides a platform not only to provide relief for a nearby nation in desperate circumstances, but also to build confidence between Cuban and American authorities in a potential collaboration of effort in a third country.
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Steve Clemons says Cuba has exported medical help for nations grappling with disasters
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He says the United States refused Cuban aid during the Katrina rescue operation
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The Haiti quake is an opportunity for U.S. and Cuba to work together, he says
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Now is the time for the U.S., Cuba and other major Latin American nations to throw their weight into stopping a worse human tragedy in Haiti than already exists -- and to potentially unite American and Cuban soft power efforts in a way that creates greater positives for @placeholder and for longer-term, 21st century U.S.-Cuba relations.