The Dallas Morning News. 07/20/2000
There's a lot of Brer Rabbit in Fidel Castro. Even as the communist dictator demands that the United States end its 38-year-old embargo, he knows that it provides him with an excuse for Cuba's penury.
But there's one big difference between the furry quadruped in Uncle Remus' tale and Mr. Castro. Brer Rabbit actually wanted to be thrown into the briar patch, though he begged the fox not to, because he knew that it would be his salvation. The Cuban tyrant demands that the United States end the
embargo despite knowing that it would contribute to his undoing.
The United States is too smart to allow itself to be suckered so. It should end the embargo. Then it should watch as Mr. Castro tries to cope with the flood of U.S. tourists and businessmen, the stampede of U.S. cellular telephones and computers that would ultimately undermine his rule.
Congress is considering legislation that would lift the embargo on sales of food and medicine. It is too little, but it is a start.
The version that has already cleared the Senate would permit food and medicine sales as long as no U.S. government financing is provided. The House version, which still awaits final approval by that body, would permit no U.S. financing – public or private – whatsoever. It would also
restrict the president's discretionary power to allow more Americans to visit Cuba.
The Senate version is best. It makes no sense to restrict U.S. financing if Cuba has the money for its purchases. As Sen. Jesse Helms says, every dollar Mr. Castro spends on U.S. food and medicine is one less dollar he has to make trouble. The North Carolina Republican and chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee is an archcritic of Mr. Castro.
Furthermore, it makes no sense to hinder the president's discretion on allowing visits to Cuba when those visits give average Cubans a glimpse of how disadvantaged and persecuted they are.
More and more, the embargo is looking like a dangerous and silly abnormality. Recently, the United States concluded a trade agreement with Vietnam; the agreement awaits Congress' consideration and is expected to pass. The United States also relaxed its trade sanctions against communist North
Korea. And the Senate is expected to follow the House's lead in granting permanent normal trade relations to communist China. All of these agreements are popular because they would spread free enterprise and democracy.
If them, why not Cuba? The answer: the powerful anti-Castro lobby in the United States. But that shouldn't stop Congress from doing what's in the interest of all Americans, not just a vocal few.
Let's give Mr. Castro his wish. And then let's watch him wish that we never had.
2000 The Dallas Morning News |