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Don't
weaken sanctions on Cuba
Our opinion: Support dissidents and reduce
fear of change
Editorial posted on Thu, Sep.
18, 2003 in The
Miami Herald.
A slide show displays a Havana in ruins, once-proud
buildings crumbling, sustained by scaffolds if
not wrecked altogether. The images offer an apt
metaphor for Cuba's failed regime: Regardless
of props, the totalitarian system is collapsing
of its own weight. Still its obsolete dictator
clings to power tenaciously and has no intention
of allowing any reforms.
That's why President Bush would be right to block
any congressional measure to weaken U.S. sanctions
on Cuba, as National Security Advisor Condoleezza
Rice reaffirmed in a recent letter to South Florida
legislators. The United States must redouble efforts,
together with the international community, to
press for the political, economic and human rights
of Cuba's people. The aim, of course, is to promote
a peaceful transition toward democracy and free
enterprise.
One way to do so is to support Cuba's persecuted
internal opposition. Another is to reduce the
fear of change among ordinary Cubans and reformers
within the regime. Trading with Cuba, as Sen.
Max Baucus of Montana advocates, isn't the solution.
In Cuba this week, Sen. Baucus celebrated the
regime's pledge to buy $10 million in food products
from his home state. That's how Castro woos lawmakers
who would end the embargo. But such deals only
serve to legitimize Castro's intransigence and
are morally repugnant, especially in the wake
of the vicious crackdown on Cuban dissidents in
March.
Instead, the time is ripe to work with an international
coalition of governments and groups that have
hardened against the dictatorship yet support
the Cuban people. Consider:
o A European Parliament resolution two weeks
ago deplored the regime's ''persistent and flagrant''
human-rights violations and called for the ''immediate
release'' of all jailed Cuban dissidents even
as it repeated its "commitment and willingness
to lend assistance to the Cuban people.''
o After a decade of caution, Cuba's Catholic
Church issued a scathing critique of the regime
last week. The island's bishops denounced the
return to hard-line ''language and methods typical
of the early years of the revolution.'' They called
for ''clemency'' for the imprisoned dissidents,
criticized the blocking of private enterprise
and defended free expression and political participation.
o Dutch sponsors and international artists long
involved in the Havana Biennial art show have
declined to participate due to concerns about
cultural activities sponsored by a regime that
jails intellectuals who speak freely.
Evidence also points to turmoil within the regime
itself. A smear campaign against veteran dissident
Elizardo Sánchez serves as a warning to
other activists as well as regime reformers. The
best hope for a free Cuba isn't to court the tyrant
who doesn't want change, but to encourage those
on the island who do.
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