Boston Globe Editorial. June 5, 2000
Congress is starting to show some good sense about relations with Cuba. A bill awaiting action in the House would make it easier to sell US food, medicine, and health-care devices there. But this bill, if passed, would not have much impact initially. President Clinton has ample authority to make
more sweeping shifts in policy that would upset Fidel Castro's careful anti-American balancing act.
Every now and then Castro allows a thaw in relations, but when the United States gets overly friendly he arranges a provocation, such as the downing of two small planes piloted by Cuban exiles in 1996. Passage by Congress of the punitive Helms-Burton Act followed a month later. Yet Castro can
modulate his anti-Americanism when necessary. While the controversy over Elian Gonzalez worsened in January, Castro encouraged visits by American delegations and allowed the opening of a trade show for US health-care products. All the while, the existence of the US trade embargo gives Castro an
excuse for the shortcomings of the Cuban economy.
The bill now in Congress, sponsored by Republican Representative George R. Nethercutt of Washington, would soften the embargo to Cuba and other countries under similar sanctions. It would lessen the red tape around the sale of medical supplies, but these can already be sold to Cuba as long as
the seller abides by a set of US regulations (the oddest being that the seller must certify the Cubans are not buying the equipment to torture their enemies). More important, the bill would allow the sale of food to Cuban government agencies, which control virtually all food production in the
country.
US farmers are eagerly awaiting an opening to Cuba, but they will not gain the full benefits of Cuban imports any time soon. France already has a lock on the export of wheat to Cuba because it lets the Cubans buy on credit. The United States should only offer trade credits if Castro opens up the
internal Cuban economy and allows political freedom.
Proponents of the bill contend that if the House is willing to support improved economic relations with China, as it did last month, it should not be afraid to do the same for Cuba. The Chinese leadership, however, wants better relations with the United States, while Castro does not.
Nonetheless, the bill should still be passed because it encourages a rapprochement between two nations that are forced to deal with each other due to the inexorable fact of geography. More than 156,000 Americans made the short trip to Cuba last year (124,000 of them Cuban-Americans) even though
most had to get special permission from the US government and travel a roundabout journey. Direct air travel is banned except for limited charter flights.
A group of senators has sponsored a bill to lift the restrictions against air travel and other aspects of US anti-Cuban policy, but it has little chance of passage this year. Clinton, however, has great leeway to adjust US policy toward Cuba unilaterally. Last year, the president allowed nonstop
charter flights to Cuba from New York and Los Angeles, joining the existing service from Miami.
He should go further and end all restrictions on travel to the island. Cuban-Americans, who are now allowed only one trip a year without a US government license, could then go freely back and forth, bringing with them dollars to help friends and relatives and a sense of freedom and friendship
that would go far to dispel Castro's anti-American and anticapitalist propaganda.
Clinton could also facilitate US business dealings by allowing direct payments by the Cubans for US goods. Under present regulations, payments must be made through third countries, adding time and expense to the transactions. And he should also allow American businesses to hire Cuban
representatives in the country, a common business practice that is now forbidden under the embargo.
Until Castro provides at least the same amount of economic freedom that is now permitted in China, the United States should not offer free-trade concessions to Cuba. At the same time, Clinton and his successor should experiment with policies that emphasize charity, openness, and magnanimity,
qualities that have been in short supply in Cuban-American relations. Castro may attempt another provocation if relations grow too warm for his taste, but the United States would be wise to treat this as merely a familiar ploy by an aged dictator.
Castro will celebrate his 74th birthday in August. The goal of US policy should be to offer a sense of hope and promote a climate of political and economic change to those Cubans who will shape their country's destiny in a new era.
This story ran on page A14 of the Boston Globe on 6/5/2000.
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