Thursday 22 January
2009, San José, Costa
Rica
CUBA-US: Whose
"Opportunity?"
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA (IPS) - The
new U.S. administration
headed by Democratic
President Barack Obama
is creating hope in Cuba
for an easing of
tensions in relations
between the two
countries, although
there is scepticism in
this regard in some
academic circles.
"With every day that
goes by, I am less
optimistic about the
scope of the changes
that Obama can make in
relation to Cuba," Luis
René Fernández, deputy
director of the Centre
for Studies on the
Hemisphere and the
United States (CEHSEU)
at the University of
Havana, told IPS,
although he recognised
that a shift away from
confrontational politics
would be positive.
In his view, "in spite
of the recommendations
of top Cuban affairs
experts in the United
States, who agree on the
need to move towards
dismantling the blockade
to a greater or lesser
degree, the new
government seems little
inclined to improve
bilateral relations
beyond allowing
Cuban-Americans greater
freedom to travel to
Cuba.
"In addition, some of
the original willingness
to engage in dialogue
without preconditions
that Obama expressed
before the elections has
been reversed, and the
position now being taken
is one of conditional
talks, although the
language might sound
different," said
Fernández, recalling
that this position has
been rejected by the
Cuban government.
Cuban President Raúl
Castro has repeatedly
said he is willing to
enter into dialogue with
the new administration
that took office
Tuesday, but has
insisted that it must be
"in absolutely equal
conditions," without
"unilateral gestures,"
or if appropriate,
"gesture for gesture."
"If we take what Obama
and his Secretary of
State designate, Hillary
Clinton, have proposed
more recently as
evidence of intended
policy, there are no
grounds to hope for
major changes," said the
expert.
However, "it remains to
be seen whether, in the
new context, pressure
and actions in Congress
can succeed in
eliminating further and
greater restrictions,"
he added.
"That could really mean
the beginning of an end
to the blockade," he
said, remarking that
what Washington
"euphemistically calls
an embargo" has been
condemned on 17
occasions by the United
Nations General
Assembly, and has caused
social and economic
damages to Cuba
estimated at 93 billion
dollars since it was
instituted in 1962.
During his election
campaign Obama promised
changes in U.S. policy
towards this Caribbean
island nation, such as
lifting some of the
restrictions that affect
the ties between Cuban
emigrés and their
families in Cuba. He
even raised the
possibility of
developing "direct
diplomacy" with Havana.
At her Senate
confirmation hearing as
the new secretary of
state on Jan. 13,
Clinton said that the
new president "is
committed to lifting the
family travel
restrictions and the
remittance restrictions.
He believes that
Cuban-Americans are the
best ambassadors for
democracy, freedom and a
free-market economy.
"We hope that the regime
in Cuba, both (former
president) Fidel and
Raúl Castro, will see
this new administration
as an opportunity to
change some of their
typical approaches: let
those political
prisoners out; be
willing to, you know,
open the economy and
lift some of the
oppressive strictures on
the people of Cuba,"
Clinton added.
In replies to written
questions, Clinton also
revealed that a possible
review of policy towards
Havana might include
bilateral cooperation on
energy and environmental
issues, increased
agricultural sales to
the island, and
considering the removal
of Cuba from the list of
state sponsors of
terrorism.
Her statements
encouraged sectors in
the United States that
would like to see a move
towards gradual
normalisation of Cuba-U.S.
relations, and who
believe that a return to
closer ties between
Washington and Latin
America requires a
change of policy towards
Havana, which enjoys the
support of most of the
region.
In Fernández's view, it
would be a positive step
if the new resident in
the White House remains
willing to cooperate in
the areas of energy and
the environment, or to
eliminate restrictions
on sales to Cuba and
remove Cuba from the
list of state sponsors
of terrorism.
He said, however, that
the new secretary of
state showed "political
short-sightedness in
describing the change of
administration as an
'opportunity' for Cuba,
when in fact, as
everyone knows, the
source of the problems
is the United States
itself." Fernández
mentioned the invasions
of Afghanistan and Iraq,
"which have brought
countless victims and
deaths" to the people of
those countries, as well
as "secret prisons,
illegal transfer of
prisoners, and the
indiscriminate use of
torture in detention
centres like
Guantánamo," a U.S.
naval base at the
eastern tip of Cuba.
"In other words, the
flagrant violator of
human rights, the
government with a crisis
of confidence, loss of
credibility and a
tarnished image in the
world is that of the
United States,
exacerbated by the
ideology-driven and
unilateral policies of
the administration of
George W. Bush," the
expert said.
Given this situation,
Fernández said that if
the Obama administration
wants to improve its
image, it has the
"opportunity" to "take
concrete steps" that go
further than lifting the
restrictions on travel
and remittances, "which
in effect does nothing
more than restore part
of their rights to U.S.
residents" of Cuban
origin.
"Although the intention
of closing the
Guantánamo detention
centre would occur on
Cuban soil and is a
welcome measure for what
it represents, it is
undoubtedly designed
more for solving the
U.S.'s own problems than
to improve relations
with Cuba, which would
require implementing
additional decisions,"
he said.
Since 2004, Cubans
living in the United
States have only been
able to travel to their
country of origin once
every three years, stay
no more than 14 days and
spend up to 50 dollars a
day during their visits.
In addition, remittances
are limited to 100
dollars a month and can
only be sent to direct
family members who do
not belong to the Cuban
Communist Party.
Fernández regarded the
idea that steps might be
taken in the short term
to unilaterally
dismantle the blockade
against Cuba as "overly
optimistic in the
present circumstances,"
but said that such
action would also bring
political and economic
benefits to the United
States, "which is
enduring the worst
crisis it has
experienced in several
decades."
Improved relations with
Cuba would have "very
positive repercussions
for Washington in the
Third World, including
Latin America, the
Caribbean, Africa and
Asia, as well as among
broad popular and
progressive social
sectors in developed
countries and in the
United States itself,"
he said.
Better relations would
also open up
opportunities to work
together on "important
issues of common
interest, such as drug
trafficking, terrorism,
renewable energy and the
environment. Trade and
investment flows could
be increased, jobs could
be created, and numbers
of travellers could
rise, and that's before
we even go into more
complex issues," he
said.
"At the same time, the
elimination of sanctions
and a climate of reduced
hostility towards Cuba
would create the
conditions for relaxing
internal security and
national defence
provisions on the
island," which would
"obviously favour the
perfecting of the
country's sociopolitical
system, which could
continue its progress in
far better conditions,"
the analyst concluded.
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