Obama Eases Cultural Exchanges with Cuba

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright January 15, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                

                Making good on another campaign promise, President Barack Obama lifted some travel restrictions to Cuba, enabling various church and non-profit groups to better access to the island prison.  When Fidel Castro and Che Guevara drove U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Bastista out of Cuba Jan. 1, 1959, Cuba was made off limits for U.S. passports.  U.S. travel restrictions and trade bans culminated in an outright embargo Feb. 7, 1962 only months before the Cuba Missile Crisis Oct. 14-28, that same year.  State Department officials said easing travel restrictions should help the “effort to support the Cuban people’s desire to freely determine their own future.”  Cuba, North Korea and Iran continue to flaunt democracy, adhering to a brutal oppression denying basic human rights to its citizens.  Since 1962, the U.S. Cuban embargo was designed to eventually upend Castro’s communist regime.

            Obama’s new plan enables individuals to send $2,000 to non-family members, restoring levels during the Clinton and Bush administrations.  Private citizens will be able to send $500 per quarter to “support private economic activity,” helping bring cash to the impoverished nation.  Relaxing travel restrictions, Obama hopes to help Cuban exiles to more easily visit loved-ones trapped in the Staliinist, only 90 miles from Key West.  Increasing the “people-to-people” category allows more “purposeful” visits to Cuba.  Cuban exiles reject easing restrictions, believing that it reinforces Castro’s iron grip on nation.  Relaxing travel and money transfers “will not help foster a pro-democracy environment in Cuba,” said Rep. Ilean Ros-Lehtinen (R-Miami), opposed to Obama’s latest move.  Cuban exiles see any let up as a move to end President John F. Kennedy’s nearly 50-year-old embargo.

            For 51 years since Castro stormed Cuba, the U.S. has fought a fierce propaganda and trade war against his communist regime.  Long gone are those anxiety-provoking days when JFK stared down the Russian bear Premier Nita Khrushchev, forcing him to withdraw installing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles 90 miles from Key West.  When the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989 and Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the U.S. should have revisited its embargo against the Western Hemisphere’s last Stalinist-like regime.  For all its faults, including absconding with the private property of many exiled Cubans now living in Florida, Cuba tried to create an egalitarian society, providing universal health care, subsidized education and retirement security.  Over 50 years, Kennedy’s Cold War embargo has done more to harm rank-and-file Cubans than convince Castro to change.

            Obama’s latest move parallels those of former Democrat Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton who also believe the embargo did little to advance regime change in Cuba.  “These changes will not aid in ushering in respect for human rights,” said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (R-Tampa), mirror the Cuban exile community position that the embargo should remain intact.  “And they certainly will not help the Cuban people free themselves from the tyranny the engulfs them.  These changes undermine U.S. foreign policy and security objectives and will bring economic benefits to the Cuban regime,” expressing the same failed policies that haven’t worked since 1959.  While it’s true that many Cubans would like to see Cuba democratize, it’s also true that it’s up to Cubans inside Cuba to make that call.  Many Cubans still remember the inequality and brutality under Batista and believe in the Cuban revolution. 

            Obama’s move to bring more cultural exchanges between the U.S. and Cuban through religious groups and non-profits allows more Cubans to see the benefits of U.S. involvement.  With Castro controlling the airwaves, it’s doubtful, like in other Stalinist regimes, for the people to get the real facts about Western society.  Permitting direct flights from Tampa and other American cities opens the door to more communication and outside contact.  Cuban exiles must pivot and roll with new policies designed to open more cultural and political exchanges.  Only through better communication, more contact and improved trade and travel, can they expect the gradual process of ending Castro’s grip on the country.  If the Castro government believed the U.S. would show Cuba more respect and dignity, reformist elements within the communist government would show more flexibility.

            Obama’s new attempt to open doors to Cuba should help pave the way to selling normalization of trade and foreign relations in Congress.  Today’s divide, largely between Republicans and Democrats, hinges on the best approach to encourage regime changes.  Over 50 years of embargo has only punished the Cuban people and stiffened the government’s resistance against meaningful free market reforms.  U.S. hardliners, primarily from the Cuban exile community, make eventual regime change more difficult.  More travel, cultural and religious exchanges and trade only improve the changes of bringing change to Cuba.  “We see these changes in combination with the continuation of the embargo, as a way to enhance civil society in Cuba,” said Tampa Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fl.).  Most economists know that the current embargo hurts Americans entrepreneurs more than it hurts Cuba.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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