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CUBA-US: Talking About Talks
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Apr 22 (IPS) - Bolstered by
international support for its demand for an
end to the embargo, Cuba could sit down with
the United States to talk about a number of
matters of mutual interest while it awaits
the lifting of the web of restrictions that
have weighed on its economy for nearly half
a century.
In a context in which dialogue is a
possibility, Havana has said there are no
taboo subjects or conditions for talks with
the government of Barack Obama.
"We are willing to discuss everything, human
rights, freedom of the press, or political
prisoners… but on equal terms, without
casting the smallest shadow on our
sovereignty," Cuban President Raúl Castro
said on Apr. 17.
This was not the first time that Castro has
expressed his willingness to talk to the
United States, but the explicit mention of
topics that Cuba has always considered
"sensitive" was a new development. According
to some analysts, his words prove that the
government is interested in negotiations, so
long as they are on an equal footing.
Without contradicting him, former president
Fidel Castro added the interpretation that
his younger brother Raúl's statement "shows
he is not afraid of addressing any kind of
issue." "It shows courage and confidence in
the principles of the Revolution," he said
in one of his latest opinion columns.
On the issue of human rights, the Cuban
government has consistently rejected being
put in the dock, as was the style of the
former United Nations Commission on Human
Rights. Under the Human Rights Council (HRC)
which replaced the Commission in 2006, all
member states are subject to periodic
scrutiny.
However, Cuba would accept talks on the
issue if they were based on principles of
"objectivity, impartiality and
non-selectiveness," a source close to the
Foreign Ministry told IPS. Havana holds
regular conversations with Spain on this
basis, and has proposed an exchange of
experiences with the European Union in the
light of HRC evaluations.
In 1978, talks with Cuban exiles in Havana
led to the release of some 800 prisoners,
while the 1998 visit by the late Pope John
Paul II led to nearly 300 prisoners being
pardoned.
"Repetition of such a gesture is not
impossible, but it cannot be a prior
condition for convergence or dialogue… The
Cuban government has never responded to
pressure and impositions," said a former
official who served in a senior post at that
time.
From different perspectives, the issue of
prisoners is a priority for both Washington
and Havana. Raúl Castro has reiterated his
proposal of "gesture for gesture," that is,
to exchange imprisoned dissidents for the
five Cuban agents who have been serving
lengthy prison sentences in the United
States for more than 10 years.
Academic researchers agree that a pardon
from Obama for "the Cuban Five" would create
a situation for the Cuban government to
respond with an equivalent gesture.
René González, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón
Labañino and Fernando González were
convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit
espionage, while Gerardo Hernández was
additionally convicted for conspiracy to
commit murder.
At an Apr. 19 press conference at the end of
the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad
and Tobago, President Obama said he would
"explore" possible new steps in relation to
Cuba, after his recent lifting of
restrictions on travel and remittances for
Cuban-Americans to the island.
But he said the Cuban government could also
take steps, such as reducing "charges on
remittances" to contribute to raising the
living standards of its citizens, and
"releasing political prisoners."
"Obama views the release of prisoners as a
unilateral gesture by Cuba, and there's no
help for it," an academic warned.
Analysts also agree that dialogue is
possible before the embargo is dismantled.
Begun under the administration of President
John Kennedy (1961-1963), the U.S. embargo
was codified in the Helms-Burton Act, which
was approved in 1996 during the presidency
of Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and vigorously
enforced by the government of George W. Bush
(2001-2009).
Lifting the embargo is now in the hands of
Congress, not the executive, which means
there will be more delay. Meanwhile, the
Obama administration could move towards
convergence on issues of common interest
such as illegal migration, terrorism and
drug trafficking.
Concrete proposals for bilateral cooperation
in these areas were made by Havana in March
2005, but were not taken up by President
Bush, who two years later interrupted -
unilaterally, according to Cuba - the
six-monthly meetings for reviewing migration
agreements signed in 1994 and 1995.
These agreements provided for legal and
orderly emigration of Cubans to the United
States. Delegations from both countries met
alternately in their respective capitals to
assess fulfilment of the agreements, and for
nearly 10 years they were the only platform
for dialogue.
Resumption of these talks are assumed to
require no more than the willingness of both
parties. And progress on the other issues
proposed could also be made, as they are of
strategic interest to the two countries
whose geographical proximity means they
share a number of problems, whether they
like it or not.
"It will be a slow process, because of the
decades of bilateral hostility, but it is
worth trying. In Cuba it will mean changes
that on the one hand may represent
(ideological) dangers, and on the other,
excellent opportunities," said a university
professor who requested anonymity.
In his view, the expected "invasion" of
tourists from the United States might
initially overwhelm the tourism industry,
but in the long run it would bring growth to
the industry, creating new sources of income
that would benefit the country and its 11.2
million people.
As for the ideological risks implied by a
wave of U.S. visitors, political scientist
Rafael Hernández said that Cuba is not
exactly isolated in a bell jar, and
essentially all the challenges involved in a
more normal relationship with the United
States are already present.
"When U.S. citizens can travel legally to
Cuba, I don't think their social and
ideological effect will be any worse than
that of Italian or Spanish tourists.
However, I very much doubt that 'a more
normal relationship' will be the cure-all,
unless the U.S. government renounces all
interference in Cuba's political destiny,
which is highly improbable," even under
Obama, Hernández told IPS.
Nevertheless, the Cuban government "has
always responded positively to proposals by
the United States," Hernández said. "I think
that even hinting that this conflict has not
been resolved due to sabotage by Cuba is
completely unfounded.
"To put it in the terms some people prefer,
I don't expect the Cuban air force to shoot
down any small planes, because I don't think
the U.S. air defence will let any plane
leave their airspace to fly over Havana," he
said, referring to the 1996 incident which
prompted Clinton to sign the Helms-Burton
Act.
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