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Editorial. Posted on Mon, Apr. 01, 2002 in
The Miami
Herald
Cuba eagerly awaits a visit from former President Jimmy Carter. Similarly,
it has been welcoming with open arms a parade of U.S. lawmakers and power
brokers this year. There is a good explanation for these selective -- if
uncharacteristic -- efforts to curry favor with the United States:
Desperate for credit and hard currency, Cuba's communist regime is courting
deep capitalist pockets.
The efforts are part of Cuba's recent ''charm offensive.'' The
dictator-in-chief is entertaining scores of U.S. lawmakers and business
executives. He's buying food from U.S. farmers in cash. Also, to show that he's
tough on terrorism, he isn't complaining about al Qeada prisoners under U.S.
watch at Guantánamo.
No, this isn't a kinder, gentler dictator; it's pragmatic propaganda from a
totalitarian government that can't pay its bills -- mainly a whopping $11
billion in external debt.
Now Cuba's regime is trying to woo U.S. capitalists into authorizing
credits, floating loans and legitimizing a regime that is morally and materially
bankrupt. Neither U.S. taxpayers nor Congress should buy it. | 
