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
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.