A lost opportunity in Cuba

By Weekly Archive On Feb 25, 2008

It
all hinged on one man. For almost half a century, under presidents
both Democrat and Republican, the official policy of the United
States has been: As long as Fidel Castro remains in power, our stand
on Cuba will never change.

Hallelujah!
That long-awaited day has finally arrived. Even though he’s been
missing in action since transferring power to his brother 18 months
ago, Castro has now officially resigned. After 49 years in power, he
will never again rule the Communist roost.

Hallelujah!
This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. This is the time to end
sanctions against Cuba and normalize relations. Yes? Alas, the answer
is no. Sniffs Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte: "I
can’t imagine that happening anytime soon." And why the hell
not? If America can trade with Communist China, surely we could trade
with Communist Cuba.

Maintaining
economic sanctions against Cuba has long been one of the dumbest
elements of American foreign policy. And, in this case, George W.
Bush doesn’t bear all the blame. The same short-sighted policy toward
Cuba was followed by every president since John F. Kennedy.

In
a nutshell, here it is: As of 1962, an embargo on all trade with
Cuba. No American tourists allowed to visit. No improvement in
relations as long as Fidel Castro is in power. In the meantime, the
CIA made at least 16 clumsy attempts, from exploding cigars to the
failed Bay of Pigs invasion, to assassinate or overthrow the Cuban
leader.

I’ve
been to Cuba. I’ve seen the results. I can tell you: The embargo
clearly isn’t working. Forty-six years later, every industrialized
nation in the world trades with Cuba, except the United States and
Israel. And Cuba is booming. It’s the next major tourist attraction
in Latin America — which everybody is taking advantage of, except
Americans. American tourists can’t explore one of the most beautiful,
and least developed, islands of the Caribbean. American farmers can’t
sell their crops. American businessmen can’t build office buildings,
hotels, rental car outlets or restaurants. Instead, those tremendous
business opportunities in Cuba are being gobbled up by the Spaniards,
Germans, French, Dutch and Canadians.

There’s
a reason why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports immediate
normalization of trade relations with Cuba: By the time our
government gets around to it, there may not be one undeveloped parcel
of land in Cuba left.

The
embargo also failed in its primary mission, which was to hurt Castro.
Indeed, it had just the opposite effect: strengthening Castro, not
weakening him. Since a trade embargo is, technically, an act of war,
Castro was able to use U.S. sanctions against Cuba as justification
for his emergency, wartime, dictatorial powers, suppressing freedom
of speech or assembly and putting political opponents in jail. In the
end, the only ones hurt by the sanctions are the Cuban people, denied
their most basic freedoms, and denied access to better, cheaper,
American products.

How
did we get stuck with such an obsolete and unworkable policy? Easy.
For the last 50 years, American foreign policy toward Cuba has not
been written in Washington. It’s been, and still is, dictated by
Cuban exiles in Miami’s "Little Havana," supporters of the
former dictator, Fulgencio Batista, who exercise an undue and
unhealthy stranglehold on both political parties. No president, and
no presidential candidate, dares cross the Miami Cuban community —
unfortunately, to date, not even Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or
John McCain.

The
ultimate irony is that sanctions against Cuba are not only
ineffective, they are also self-defeating. If we really want to
assist the birth of democracy in Cuba, the way to do it is not to
keep Americans out, it’s to let Americans in. The more cultural and
educational exchanges, the better. Establish foreign study programs.
Schedule Major League baseball games. Send in American cruise ships.
Let them see how freedom works, and let Americans discover the beauty
of Cuban music, dance and literature. And then, send in American
farmers and businessmen. Build a Costco in every town. Open a
McDonald’s on every corner. Let them see how the free market works,
and let us profit from a major new market just 90 miles off our
coast.

There
are exciting new opportunities awaiting both the Cuban people and the
American people, and this is the moment to seize them. Fidel Castro
has resigned. We shouldn’t have to wait until he’s dead.

Bill
Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a
new book, "How
the Republicans Stole Religion." You
can hear "The Bill Press Show" at billpressshow.com. His
email address is: bill@billpress.com. His Web site is:
www.billpress.com.

Editor’s
Note: Mr. Press makes reference to the candidates and their refusal
to cross the Miami Cuban community. First, if the Cuban community in
Miami was monolithic in their thinking on Cuba, the impression one
gets from reading this Press piece, Progreso Weekly would not exist.
Second, as for crossing the Miami Cuban community, Mr. Press may have
written this before Sen. Barack Obama debated Sen. Hillary Clinton in
Austin Texas Thursday night, Feb. 21. During the debate Sen. Obama
was very clear in stating he was against the travel restrictions to
Cuba and emphasized that he would meet with the Cuban leader
(whomever he may turn out to be) with no set preconditions.