He who took nothing can give back nothing
By
Jorge Gómez Barata Read Spanish Version
Cuba
can give nothing to the United States because it has taken nothing
from the U.S. and cannot stop threatening the United States because
it never threatened it. As to the relationship of the Cuban
government with the Cuban people, obviously it’s none of the United
States’ concern. The reverse also holds true.
This
demarcation does not prevent any U.S. citizen from opining about the
reality of the political system that exists on the island, and vice
versa. Obama believes that Cubans are not entirely free, while
President Raúl Castro believes that U.S. democracy is a work of
fiction, built on the fallacy of a single party with two faces.
What
neither side may do is interfere in the internal affairs of the other
or try to change its social order or overthrow its government, much
less through force, intimidation, conspiracy and violence, or using a
siege, a blockade or an economic embargo.
The
haggling that Obama’s advisers erroneously recommend to the president
would lead to an extemporaneous Versailles-like diplomacy, based on
gestures that would derail the relationship and risk the danger that
rhetoric might usurp the role of serious work and constructive
dialogue.
The
best that could happen is that, with normalization as a goal, in good
faith and in a spirit of understanding, each government will move
forward on its own and at its own pace, adopting the measures it
deems pertinent, without chasing after tit-for-tat responses. If one
side does not attack the other, does not pressure it or attempts to
advise it, and if both sides march along parallel paths, they will
arrive fresh at the zone of reality where there is a convergence of
common interests that allows them to draft an agenda for negotiation.
As
an example, let me cite several issues:
1.
In 1963, John F. Kennedy forbade Americans to travel to Cuba. That
was a measure President Obama could lift now, not to help Cuba or
make any gesture toward Raúl Castro but to reestablish a right that
was illegally taken away from his compatriots. Obviously, Cuba would
act in harmony, welcoming the Americans who exercise that prerogative
with its proverbial hospitality. People-to-people contact (an
expression invented not by the Cubans but by U.S. think tanks) would
be a giant leap toward normalization.
Naturally,
the Americans would prefer to travel to the island in their
comfortable and secure airlines. That would have to be authorized by
the U.S. government, which, in fair reciprocity, would lift the
prohibition that bars Cubana de Aviación airliners from landing in
U.S. airports.
2.
In 1985 and 1990, in violation of international regulations and as
part of its aggressions against Cuba, the United States activated the
so-called Radio and TV Martí. To do this, among other things, it
turned over to the anti-Cuban radio the standard-wave frequency (1180
AM) utilized by the Voice of America, which had an audience among
Cubans and was never jammed by the Cuban government.
The
current administration does not need to talk to Raúl Castro.
Instead, it should contact the chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission to order a halt to both broadcasts, return to the VOA its
AM frequencies, restore the situation that existed before May 20,
1985, and, in that context, propose to Cuba an exchange of radio and
television programs and broadcasts. Washington should also offer Cuba
satellite technology, at reasonable prices and with the standard
payment facilities, to improve the reception in Cuba of its own
signals and to contribute to the information available to the Cubans.
I
could cite dozens of similar actions. For example, Washington might
grant licenses to the U.S. transnational oil companies, so they may
negotiate with Cuba the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons
and natural gas that lie in Cuban underwater fields in the Gulf of
Mexico.
While
so doing, to benefit its own interests, the United States might
activate "Track Two" of the Torricelli Law, completely
liberating academic, cultural, religious and sports exchanges. In
such a climate, advances could be made in the observance of the
migration accord that stipulates the issuance of no less than 20,000
annual visas for Cuban emigrants. Washington could also liberalize
the permits for the temporary travel of Cuban citizens to the United
States, on family visits.
I
share Obama’s opinion that it is not worthwhile "to talk just to
talk." Curiously, it is well known that Raúl Castro believes
the same and that both men prefer deeds to words. For now, there is
little more to be said.
Other
issues remain open, among them Guantánamo, the Cuban assets frozen
in the United States, and the reparations for the U.S. properties
nationalized in Cuba. Tomorrow is another day, and other mornings
will soon dawn.
Jorge
Gómez Barata is a Cuban journalist who lives in Havana.
