Principles
for an Effective Cuba Policy
Nicole Mlade, Center
for American Progress, May 21, 2004.
Like clockwork, Cuba policy is moving
to the front burner again, as the U.S. presidential
candidates gear up to prove that they are,
indeed, tough on Cuban President Fidel Castro.
For his part, President Bush has introduced
a new series of policy measures aimed at
tightening the stranglehold of the United
States on Castro's regime. Although the
president's proposals will undoubtedly appeal
to the hard-line elements of the Cuban-American
community, they will not achieve the very
change that all those who care about Cuba
seek. To foster democratic change, the United
States cannot simply reinvigorate old tactics,
but must go back to the drawing board and
craft a new set of principles to guide a
new policy.
Castro is a dictator who denies his people
fundamental political and civil liberties.
Those who clamor for change on the island
report losing their jobs and access to goods
and services. They are ostracized by their
neighbors - under pressure from Castro's
local watchdogs - and do not know whom they
can trust. According to Amnesty International,
there are more than 85 political prisoners
suffering in Cuban prisons, many of whom
are detained far from their families, ill-treated
by prison guards, and denied medical care.
President Bush's new measures come from
a special report on Cuba released earlier
this month and spearheaded by Otto Reich,
a controversial Bush administration official
with a checkered Cold War past. Many of
the measures are designed to keep resources
out of the hands of the Cuban government.
Others aim to fuel dissent on the island
by limiting the ability of Cuban-Americans
to travel to Cuba and by restricting the
receipt of remittances to immediate family
members. Other measures are intended to
beef up the anti-Castro propaganda that
the United States disseminates on the island.
Sadly, this effort to turn up the heat
only reinforces a policy approach - characterized
most prominently by the U.S. economic embargo
- that has proven both ineffective and counterproductive
for more than 40 years. U.S. policy allows
Castro to blame his economic mismanagement
on the embargo, and to justify crackdowns
by arguing the need to protect his government
from U.S. efforts to overthrow him. Furthermore,
other countries are skeptical about U.S.
policy toward Cuba, and see it as a reflection
of domestic political interests rather than
of sound objectives and strategy. Unfortunately,
President Bush's new measures will further
erode goodwill toward the United States
in the region, and cause others around the
world to question our judgment and motivations.
An effective Cuba policy requires a fundamental
change in focus, away from getting Castro
and toward supporting Cubans to overcome
repression and build their own democracy.
A new policy should reflect the following:
It should be focused on the future. President
Bush's proposed measures reflect the baggage
of years of ineffective efforts to bring
about change on the island. A new approach
to Cuba would encourage out-of-the-box thinking
and demonstrate the United States' willingness
to consider new approaches.
It should emphasize engagement rather than
isolation. For more than four decades, U.S.
policy towards Cuba has focused on economic
strangulation and political alienation.
Yet with countries like China, the United
States has touted engagement as a means
to positive change. A new approach to Cuba
should move toward a policy of engagement,
both to deny Castro the ability to rationalize
repression and to bring the Cuban people
into the policy equation.
It should be international rather than
unilateral. The current U.S. approach to
Cuba has alienated the United States from
the international community. A new approach
would remove the issue of Cuba from the
Havana-Washington-Miami axis, and promote
cooperation among a broad range of countries,
making it more difficult for Castro to blame
the United States for his country's problems
and resist demands for change from within.
It must be tough. Castro is a repressive
dictator who must be challenged. A new approach
to Cuba would continue to demand the immediate
release of all political prisoners and demonstrate
a tireless commitment to promoting change
on the island.
It should let Cubans drive domestic change.
Above all, a new approach to Cuba would
recognize that real change must come from
on the island, and that policymakers must
take their cues from Cuba's democracy and
human rights activists. Following on the
release of the Reich report, Oswaldo Payá,
the leader of a prominent grassroots democracy
initiative, insisted that "it is not
appropriate or acceptable for any forces
outside Cuba to try to design the Cuban
transition process." It is time for
us to heed the dissidents' advice.
With 45 years in power, Castro enjoys the
title of longest serving dictator in the
world. The Cuban people certainly do not
deserve more of the same from Castro. Nor
do they deserve more of the same from Washington.
Change is needed in Cuba - but to get there,
we also need a fresh approach.
Nicole Mlade is a senior policy analyst
at the Center for American Progress.
Copyright
2004 © Center for American Progress
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