Mr Obama and Cuba

BY Staff
Published: November 14, 2008 in Editorial

Caribbean leaders, among them President Bharrat Jagdeo, Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago and Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, have been voicing, with Barack Obama’s victory, their hope that the United States will change its policy towards Cuba.

They are not the only ones who view Mr Obama’s triumph as the catalyst for improved US relations with Cuba, including the end to the 46-year-old embargo and the eventual readmission of the island state into the hemispheric community.

Bernardo Benes, a 73-year-old retired, Miami-based, Cuban American banker and former football team mate of Raúl Castro at the University of Havana, who negotiated the release of Cuban political prisoners in 1978 and the right of exiles in the US to visit relatives in Cuba, plans to be an interlocutor with President Castro to facilitate a possible dialogue with President-elect Obama.

Many other Cuban Americans want to see the Bush administration’s restrictions lifted on their ability to travel to Cuba and to send money to relatives still living there. Many others are ruing the lost opportunities for business with Cuba, which are going to Europeans and Latin Americans.

Dissidents in Cuba have told foreign journalists that they hope that Mr Obama will seek better ties with Cuba, which could lead to a relaxation of restrictions on their democratic right to express themselves. Even the Cuban government has congratulated Mr Obama on his election and Foreign Investment Minister Marta Lomas has reiterated that Havana is hoping for an easing of the embargo.

But although Mr Obama has indicated that he is committed to a new diplomacy and dialogue with those whose views differ from America’s, the policy of the incoming administration towards Cuba is still unclear. In his campaign, as we have previously noted, Mr Obama said that he would remove the restrictions on Cuban Americans travelling to Cuba and sending remittances to relatives. He also stated that he would be ready to talk with Raúl Castro. He however told the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami that he would maintain the embargo.

Now, even though Florida’s three Republican Cuban American members of Congress were re-elected on pledges to hold firm on the embargo, there is evidence to indicate that a growing number of Cuban Americans, especially from the younger generation, are no longer as obsessed as their elders with hating the Castros and all that they stand for.

The optimists hope that, having carried Florida, even winning in traditional Republican, anti-Castro, pro-isolation counties, Mr Obama might feel confident enough to go beyond his campaign platform and implement a sea change in US policy towards Cuba.

There are other factors that might support such a view. Last month, the European Union re-established cooperation with Cuba after a hiatus of five years because of a diplomatic row over political repression in Cuba. In addition, the announcement, also in October, of the discovery of possibly some 20 billion barrels of oil in Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the fact that Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras has already signed an agreement with Cuba to explore for oil, could cause pressure to be brought to bear by US petroleum interests on the Obama administration to open up to Cuba.

The big picture, from the US perspective, is that lifting the embargo would be a key component of America’s new face to the world through a new foreign policy aimed at dispelling perceptions of US bullying and ‘Yankee imperialism.’

Mr Obama has already signalled that he is ready to close the controversial prison camp at the US naval base at Guantánamo, which would be a significant step towards reasserting its moral standing in the world, rebuilding bridges with friendly nations, as well as establishing normal relations with Cuba.

A repeal of the embargo would also present serious challenges to the Cuban Communist Party and its control of the country. For decades, the Cuban government has been able to maintain a siege mentality and rally the country against the spectre of the common enemy, the USA. If the embargo were to be eased, more government-to-government and people-to-people contact would help to revive trade and investment links and favour the free flow of ideas. Change would be natural and inevitable.

In this respect, there could be at least two major outcomes: either the power of the state would be dramatically undermined or Raúl Castro would be encouraged to continue with his thus far modest economic and social reforms. In both cases, the human rights situation of the Cuban people should be improved, even as they should benefit economically. Ultimately, sooner or later, democratic change should come to Cuba.

However, Mr Obama, even as he prepares to take office, might not yet consider Cuba a top priority, preferring to spend his political capital on more pressing issues. But he could still progressively relax the embargo in exchange for concessions by the Cuban government, until he is ready to lift it completely. And it would be a bold move indeed if and when he decides to persuade the Democrat-controlled Congress to remove the ban on all Americans desirous of visiting and doing business in Cuba, and eliminate the embargo altogether.

Comments

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12 Comments

Andy says:

November 14, 2008 at 5:56 am

I am yet to see an editorial by this newspaper that takes the Castro regime to task for its inhuman, scorched-earth policies against Cubans just so the so-called Cuban Revolution can go on! Does this SN editorial writer know that Cuban writers are currently imprisoned for 17 years for calling for reforms?

I mean, what on earth did Cubans do to the Catsros that merit this kind of treatment that restricts their rights and freedoms?

I challenge the writer of this editorial to name a private newspaper or radio station in Cuba! When the PPP government withdrew ads from SN, there was outrage against attempts at press freedom. Now we know how Cuban writers feel!

There is no shame in the way these socialist lackeys run their mouths urging an end to the embargo, but barely whisper about the need for an end to the prison-like treatment the Cubans have to suffer at the hands of their government.

End the Cuban embargo! But first, Cuba must end its restricive and repressive policies and practices!

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William J says:

November 14, 2008 at 11:09 am

Amazing how oil, again, might play a role in shaping US policy

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badlall says:

November 15, 2008 at 8:50 am

Cuba has some 35 known jails where persons who have expressd themselves for more freedom.reside ………the words OPPOSITION PARTY can put a citizen of Cuba behind bars for a very lenghty vacation….there is one radio station (as in Guyana)..only the official govt newspaper is published in cuba….their is NO one person one vote at election time for a canidate of choice the candidates are already selected ….Why is Castro afraid of the basic freedoms of his people.

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Si says:

November 15, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Irrespective of their “everybody loses” type of economic system,Stabroek news how about an editorial calling for democratic/plural elections in cuba,so whatever regime emerges as a result of such elections it can be validated as for the people,by the people.

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Adam Frankowski says:

November 15, 2008 at 10:09 pm

I completely agree with Andy, badlall and Si. It is perfectly possible to be against the embargo, while also “hating the Castros and all that they stand for”.

Let’s not forget that even mild criticism of the Cuban Government carries a mandatory prison sentence, and that nobody is allowed to leave the island.

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eloise says:

November 16, 2008 at 3:38 pm

not my say

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Bacchus says:

November 16, 2008 at 3:43 pm

It’s nice see so many goverments are alredy calling pre elect Obama to end the Cuban embargo ,But they must also call on the cuban goverment to give the people they God given rights to chose and express themselves. Stop the hypocrisy. A Cuba free of Dictator & Embargo.(let the people CHOSE they goverment, and that goverment leads it people)

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Chuck Mohan says:

November 18, 2008 at 3:31 am

Only the people of Cuba must decide if they want a new government or not. No one should attempt to dictate to the Cuban government or people what is best for them.

The US should lift the embargo, without any conditions. Obama ran on a slogan of change. Lets see if he keeps his word and changes US foreign policy, for the betterment of the US and the World. The Cuban situation is just one of many changes he MUST make for him to be a credible president.

Lets see what he does on the Palestinian question.

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- Adam Frankowski says:
  
  November 18, 2008 at 10:22 pm
  
  At the moment, the people of Cuba don’t have any say in choosing their government - there are no elections. If any ordinary Cuban was to publicly call for free and fair elections, he or she would be locked up for several years.
  
  However, I do agree with Mr Mohan that the embargo should be lifted unconditionally.
Light says:

November 20, 2008 at 3:21 pm

No, the embargo should not be lifted unconditionally !
Changes in US policies should be tied to democratic reforms in Cuba, allowing the people to decide the course of their political and economic development.
It is ironic, that communists and their parties will demand freedom when they are denied this, however, when they obtain power, they repress and deny citizens this fundamental and basic right, enshrined in the UN convention.

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- Adam Frankowski says:
  
  November 20, 2008 at 9:35 pm
  
  Light,
  
  I completely agree with your last sentence. However, I feel that the embargo has harmed ordinary Cubans, while having virtually no effect on the Cuban government. If anything, the embargo has strengthened the government and provided it with plenty of undeserved sympathy from people who don’t know any better.
Sean Ryans says:

December 23, 2008 at 9:10 am

All you guys don’t know what your talking about. The CIA and the American gov. has tried to assassinate Fidel Castro for 50 years.
The reason is he defeated the evil US BACKED DICTATOR BAPTISTE and kicked out THE MAFIA and American business men who destroyed cuba and who had turned it into a island drug fest brothel.

I don’t agree in socialism and cuba’s political system but who are we to judge another country on the way there politics work. The Poor are happy because they get the same benefits as everyone else. The rich are angry because socialism is about making everyone equal.

The problem is americans think Fidel’s bad because you’ve been taught that. but you havent been taught that the CIA had put CEMENT and other stuff in cuba’s poor peoples food. and trained terrorists to kill innocent cubans in cuba and miami. if only you new about all the terrible things the CIA has done like the Barbados plane bombing that killed 73 innocent cubans you would understand why fidel considers the american gov. as evil.

Fidel is not perfect but neither is 5 out of the last 6 US presidents.

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