Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Published Monday, February 7, 2000
Let's look again at the case of Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy marooned in Florida, but let's use a wider lens. Americans have been so caught up in the particulars of this heart-tugging case that many have failed to focus on the larger structural issue which gave rise to Elian's predicament.
Baldly stated, if the United States did not insist on its tired and counterproductive embargo of Cuba, the series of events that brought Elian to Florida most likely would never have taken place. Instead, Elian's mother perhaps would be alive and this family might routinely travel back and forth
between a Cuba and a United States that were no longer estranged.
The embargo, and the U.S. refusal to normalize relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba, created the artificial barrier to movement that Elian's mother sought to circumvent by her illicit boat trip across the Straits of Florida. Surely the Elian saga should cause Washington to do now what it should
have done 20 years ago: End the embargo; accept the reality of Castro today while preparing for his departure.
Elian's mother had options besides attempting an illegal entry, by sea, to the United States. She might have applied for one of the 20,000 immigrant visas the United States provides each year to Cubans. That program was established precisely to keep people away from dangerous crossings.
Unfortunately, there are more people who wish to come than there are visas. Rather than wait their turn, some jump the gun, as the group that included Elian and his mother decided to do.
It's easy to understand why Florida beckons to many Cubans. Ending the U.S. embargo would not suddenly transform Cuba into a paradise, nor would it immediately bring reform in the repressive way Castro governs. But normalized relations would bring a burst of job-creating American investment,
increased tourism and a flood of prosperity-enhancing American imports. The choice between life in Cuba and life in Florida would not be so stark, and fewer Cubans would be inclined to risk the illicit boat trip. Moreover, normalized relations would mean Cubans and Cuban-Americans could move back
and forth much more freely -- further reducing the importance of choosing between life in one place or the other.
The U.S. embargo has failed utterly in its stated goal of bringing Castro down. All it really has done is impoverish the Cuban people and create incentives for them to flee the island by hook or by crook. Virtually the entire world believes the embargo should end. Except for the expatriate Cuban
community in Florida, most Americans agree.
Unfortunately, President Clinton cannot end the embargo on his own; he signed legislation several years ago giving Congress an equal say in the matter. But Clinton can, in his final year, urge Congress to focus on influencing the political future of Cuba when the aging Castro passes from the
scene. The best way to influence that future is through engagement, rather than continuing to seek its isolation. End the embargo, engage Cuba and stop putting families like Elian's in impossible, life-threatening situations.
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