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By Philip Peters. Posted on Mon, May. 19, 2003 in
The Miami Herald.
The Bush administration is in a bind over Cuba. President Bush is preparing
to announce a policy response tomorrow, which is Cuban Independence Day. But
with 75 dissidents recently jailed in Cuba, Bush's goal of a ''rapid and
peaceful transition'' is more distant than ever. None of the measures now in
place promises to achieve it, and none of the policies proposed by the
administration would, either. One such proposal is ending all family remittances
and direct flights to Cuba -- but this would painfully punish Cuban families for
their governments misdeeds.
Meanwhile, hard-liners are making clear that Bushs approach last May 20,
when he rallied a Miami audience with strong rhetoric and weak measures, wont
work today. They want tough action.
The real significance of the recent expulsion of Cuban diplomats may be that
it looks tough and will earn Bush political credit where he needs it in the
Cuban-American community -- perhaps enough that if he declines to cut off
flights and remittances, hard-liners will not complain.
Bush also faces calls to seek ''regime change'' in Cuba. But Americas
diplomatic energy and political capital are needed to confront genuine security
threats such as North Korea and international terrorism.
That may be why Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently downplayed
talk of conflict with Cuba. ''We care about the people of Cuba,'' he said, but
''we recognize we cant try to make everyone in the world be like we are.''
Actually, the administration is trying very hard in Cuba, and getting nowhere.
With current policy at a dead end and military action rightly ruled out,
America should aim for long-term influence in Cuba, just as we do in China and
Vietnam. Here are four initial steps:
- Bush should preserve remittances and direct flights for sound moral
reasons. These are lifelines that enable countless Cubans to eat well, improve
their housing or start family businesses.
- Radio Martí can be a valuable instrument, but it needs an overhaul,
not a budget increase. It should be moved back to Washington, placed under Voice
of America control and expected to meet high standards of quality journalism and
commentary. After two years of work, the Bush administration has not solved TV
Martís problem -- it has no audience -- so this $15 million annual abuse
of the American taxpayer should be ended.
- The administration should re-assess its conduct toward Cubas dissidents.
U.S. diplomats are not to blame for their arrests, and there is nothing wrong
about handing out books or holding meetings with political activists.
But the administrations stepped-up activity in Havana blundered
spectacularly into the hands of Cuban state security, which had agents highly
placed throughout Cubas fledgling opposition movement and in close contact with
the U.S. Interests Section. The provision of materials and cash from U.S.-funded
organizations became the basis for the dissidents trials. Surely it is fair to
ask whether this was a smart strategy, and whether the dissidents are well
served by more of the same.
· In travel policy, Bush should follow what Cuban Americans do, not
what they say.
Through their constant travel and the help they provide their families in
Cuba, Cuban Americans are endorsing a policy of engagement. Their noble actions
are not based on illusions about the nature of the Cuban government.
Bush should listen to pro-democracy voices in Cuba, too. In the past month,
dissident leaders Oswaldo Payá, Elizardo Sánchez and Vladimiro
Roca, joined by Cubas Catholic Church, have reiterated their opposition to the
U.S. travel ban. Cubans want contact with Americans.
But Bush has been moving in the opposite direction -- last March he
abolished people-to-people programs that connected thousands of Americans and
Cubans each year. He should do more than reverse that decision; he should drop
the travel ban entirely. All Americans -- not only Cuban Americans -- can
perform good deeds in Cuba and deserve freedom to travel without federal
bureaucrats poring over their itineraries.
Cubas intelligence service might be disappointed, and the Treasury
Departments travel regulators would have to turn to more-productive pursuits.
But Americas long-term interest would be served as we unleash our greatest
source of influence -- our free people -- on a place that, now more than ever,
sorely needs it.
Philip Peters, a State Department official in the Reagan and George H.W.
Bush administrations, is vice president of the Lexington Institute. | 
