Democracy Can’t Take Root in Isolation

Democracy Can't Take Root in Isolation

Christopher Sabatini is the senior director of policy at the Americas
Society and Council of the Americas and founder and editor in chief of
the hemispheric policy magazine Americas Quarterly. He also chairs the
AS/COA Cuba Working Group. ​He is on Twitter.

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Human rights abuses continue in Cuba and U.S.A.I.D. contractor Alan
Gross remains in prison. But it is precisely for that reason that
President Obama needs to continue to lift the veil of isolation the U.S.
has placed over Cuba – doing so will promote a greater flow of
information and independent activity that has led to political opening
across the world. It's no coincidence that there's never been democratic
change in a country under as tight as an embargo as the one the U.S. has
had on Cuba for 53 years; and it's no coincidence that it has failed.

President Obama needs to encourage social and commercial exchange with
Cuba – doing so will promote a greater flow of information and
independent activity.
Because of the 1996 law (the unironically titled Libertad Act) much of
the embargo is codified into law and requires an act of Congress to lift
it. Given the paralysis of the current congress this appears very
unlikely. But there is scope for the president to use executive
authority to liberalize elements of the embargo, including nontourist
travel, greater opportunities for commerce with the growing nonstate
sector, U.S. telecoms investment and sales on the island, and removing
Cuba from the U.S. Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism list. In the
latter case, there is no evidence to support the current designation.

All of these measures are not only immediately possible, but they are
also desirable. Recent steps taken by the Castro regime to "update" its
failed socialist economy, like permitting the formation of small private
businesses, as well as steps taken by the Obama administration, like
allowing unlimited travel and remittances from Cuban-Americans and
broadening purposeful travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens, have produced
real, measurable changes, including the emergence of over 450,000 small
businesses and a palpable space and optimism for change, especially as
the Castros (Fidel is 88 and Raul, his brother and now president, is 83)
near the end of their time in power.

Source: Democracy Can't Take Root in Isolation - NYTimes.com -
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/12/should-the-us-normalize-relations-with-cuba/democracy-cant-take-root-in-isolation