An irreversible and inevitable process marches on

By Lorenzo Cañizares and Rolando Castañeda

Early this month, the Obama administration indicated its desire to begin a dialogue with the Cuban government to solve the migratory problem that exists between the two countries. That proposal is a continuation of what President Obama said at the Ibero-American Summit held in Trinidad & Tobago in April.

This desire to reestablish a relationship between the two countries must be supported by all those who are interested in the welfare of the two nations, especially as it affects the Cuban nation.

The Cuban people need to develop their economic potential. That can only be accomplished in a peaceful environment and that step would be tremendously facilitated by a cordial relation between Cuba and the world’s greatest military and economic power. It is in the United States’ best interest to regain its role as the principal economic partner of a country that is so close to its shores and politically more important than its size might indicate, as shown during the recent hemispheric summit.

The Cuban people are interested in developing their economic capabilities with the certainty that this is process is not only viable and stable but also permanent. We hope our readers understand the dynamics of what we comment on. The Cuban government will make no changes while it feels besieged and the island-born “Talibans” on both shores of the Straits of Florida provide the reasons for Havana’s immobility, while Cuba’s economic development is in the United States’ best interest.

Cuba today finds itself in serious economic difficulties. Trains and buses have reduced their services; state-run stores have been told to turn off their refrigerators for two hours a day to conserve electricity; bakeries are prohibited to bake at night, when electricity use is at its highest; foreign firms that try to remove more than a few hundred dollars from the country now need permission from the Cuban Central Bank to do so; the prices of one of the most important export products, nickel, has plummeted; the worldwide economic recession has strongly affected tourism, and crude-oil production remains stagnant, thanks to inefficiency.

A few weeks ago, the United States became the only country in the Western hemisphere that has no diplomatic relations with Cuba, after the government of El Salvador reestablished diplomatic links with the island. What does this mean? Years ago, Mexico was the only Latin American country maintaining diplomatic ties with Cuba after Cuba was expelled from the OAS in 1962. Now, the tortilla has flipped and it is the United States’ turn to be isolated on this subject in the continent. This isolation diminishes the respect that Latin American countries feel toward the U.S. and prompts them to seek closer relations with other world powers, such as the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China.)

At the inauguration of the new Salvadoran president, Hillary Clinton said that “closer connections with Cuba can lead to a freer future for the Cuban nation. The talks between our two countries are in the interest of the United States, as they are for the Cuban people.” We are fully in accord, so long as those talks are based on mutual respect and are without preconditions, as President Obama stated in his campaign.

The desire to please the right wing of the Cuban exile community by setting preconditions has been at the root of the political discredit experienced today by the United States among Latin American nations, because they see no consistency on an international level between the position of the U.S. toward Cuba and other countries with systems similar to Cuba.

On the day after the inauguration of President Mauricio Funes, Mrs. Clinton attended the OAS meeting where Cuba was offered readmission to the organization. Her participation at the meeting began with an attempt to condition Cuba’s readmission. Tense moments ensued and it seemed there was a possibility the U.S. and Canada might step out of the organization. Nevertheless, sensible and pragmatic attitudes prevailed and Cuba’s readmission was formally accepted, after an absence of 47 years, on June 3. Of course, admission in the OAS does not mean an immediate improvement in the daily lives of the Cuban people.

U.S. government leaders and leaders of the Cuban-American community immediately expressed themselves against the invitation to the Cuban government and threatened to utilize their political influence to cut the funds provided by the U.S. government to the OAS. That only reinforced the desire of the far left in Latin America to form a regional organization without the United States.

In our opinion, the Obama administration must maintain a firm position and go ahead with its plans to reestablish relations with the Cuban government. It makes sense for both neighboring nations to discuss and solve problems that hinder better relations. We see this process as irreversible and inevitable, now that Obama has shown that he wishes to overcome the fundamental flaws of the Bush/Cheney administration’s isolationist policies.

Latin American wishes that, too.

Lorenzo Cañizares is a Cuban-American labor-union specialist at the Pennsylvania State Education Association. He lives in Harrisburg, Pa. Rolando Castañeda is a Cuban-American economist, a retired official of the Inter-American Development Bank. He lives in Washington.