Our turn has come

Our turn has come

Change
in Cuba policy finally on the horizon

By
Max J. Castro                                                                 Read Spanish Version

majcastro@gmail.com

Hope
springs eternal in the hearts of proponents of a new U.S. policy
toward Cuba. For more than twenty years, I have heard numerous
predictions of an imminent end to the embargo. I have remained
skeptical — until now. Indeed, since the fall of the Soviet bloc,
U.S. policy toward Cuba has gotten harsher and harsher.

But
the change in Congress over the last two elections means that a
hard-line Republican leadership is no longer in place to throw a
wrench at the last minute to stop the bills introduced to change the
sanctions against Cuba. And the election of Barack Obama means that
the veto threat no longer hangs over every piece of legislation that
might make it through Congress. Indeed, we now have a president who
promised
a change in Cuba policy.

Moreover,
key Republicans in Congress also are coming around. According to the
Washington Post,
Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, has stated that “restrictive U.S. policies toward Cuba
are ineffective, have failed to achieve their stated purpose of
promoting democracy and should be reevaluated to take advantage of
recent political changes on the island.”

Indeed!
Lugar’s statement is appended to a report by minority committee
staff that calls for lifting Bush administration restrictions on
travel and remittances to Cuba, resuming bilateral cooperation on
drug interdiction and migration, and allowing Cuba to buy U.S.
agricultural products on credit.

The
question now is what if anything the usual suspects — the hard-line
lobbies, the Cuban-American members of Congress and their allies in
the Florida delegation and beyond — will try to do in order to stop
the tide that could eventually sweep away the entire embargo. It is
never smart to underestimate the wiles and ways of these folks. But
it does look like finally their goose might be cooked.

The
hard-liners are running out of time and arguments after fifty years.
During the campaign, Obama promised modest changes in Cuba policy.
But previously he had favored a broader reform. Now that he knows
that he does not need the hard-line Cuban vote to win Florida, Obama
can be Obama again and shed the caution that he adopted during the
campaign.

When
he goes to the Summit of the Americas in April, Obama should bear
gifts symbolic and substantive in order to mend the rift with this
neglected region. Adopting a significantly more liberal approach on
travel, trade, and diplomatic relations toward Cuba would set the
stage for an especially warm and exuberant welcome for Barack Obama
in Port-of-Spain.