Negotiating with Machiavelli

Negotiating with Machiavelli / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on February 13, 2015

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, February 11 2015 – When Cuba's
government announced the postponement of its talks with the European
Union on 9 December 2014, it was speculated that the real reason lay in
that the Cuban side wasn't ready to face the topic of human rights,
which had been anticipated to be a part of that round. Instead, the
pretext of a photographic exhibition that offended "revolutionary
sensitivities" was employed as a reason, but almost no one believed it.
Eight days went by and the mystery was unveiled when Barack Obama and
Raúl Castro divulged to the world their shared intention to reestablish
diplomatic relations.

Cuban negotiators will sit at the table with their European counterparts
in the first week of March with an unexpected advantage: one provided by
the December 17 announcement and one that will allow them to boast of no
longer depending on the cooperation the Eurozone can offer. Like good
cheaters at poker, they will brag about the Ace of hearts they hide up
their sleeves, a dollarized manna from the North, so as to make believe
that they no longer play under pressure.

Like he who offers two buyers the same merchandise to see who pays more,
they will take with them some list of prisoners they could free, they
will announce their next economic apertures, and they will make whatever
promise they would be willing to eventually break.

The negotiating technique of the Cuban government rests upon the
ambiguity with which it outlines the doctrine of not yielding a single
millimeter of its principles. Its pragmatic interlocutors, removed from
ideological catechism, are incapable of discerning the extent reached by
the cynicism of a functionary who gets flustered upon sensing that an
innocent suggestion could "put the sovereignty of the homeland in
danger," and yet, without the batting of an eyelid, seek foreign
investment in petroleum extraction projects or the 90-year
usufruct-style lease of future golf courses.

It does not tolerate a word about democratic elections, yet it hands the
commercialization of rum and tobacco to foreign companies

It's astonishing, the plasticity of an intransigence that does not
tolerate a word about democratic elections, that upholds the morality of
arbitrary detentions, of physically attacking dissidents, and of
refusing to recognize the legitimacy of civil society while it hands the
commercialization of rum and tobacco to foreign companies, and also
accepts the exploitation of one man at the hands of another in Cuba,
this as long as the exploiter is foreign and the exploited is Cuban.

Cuban negotiators expect to convince their counterparts that the country
deserves credibility and respect because it grows and advances on a
solid foundation, but that it needs to be aided as though it were a
nation in a state of catastrophe. In certain subjects they act as if
they had absolute power. They do not feel limited by the existence of a
labor union that may prevent them from striking deals that will lower
wages or by an eco-friendly group of parliamentarians that will seek to
limit mining in protected areas. Much less by the fact that an
irritating part of the Republic's Constitution may not fit well in what
is being negotiated.

Oh! But don't touch that point of Human Rights. It is then that they
raise their chins, frown their brows, and clench their fists… or maybe
not. Maybe they'll conjure a knowing smile and make some indication
insinuating that it is important to have trust, they might even raise
their index finger, to subtly inform that the impediments, external to
their own wishes, come from "up above." Then, slowly, as if they were
bouncing an invisible ball with their palms a few centimeters from the
table's surface, they'll signal the need for patience. They'll close up
their briefcases and they'll get up satisfied, sure that they have once
again achieved a magnificent purchase of time.

Translated by Fernando Fornaris

Source: Negotiating with Machiavelli / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/negotiating-with-machiavelli-14ymedio-reinaldo-escobar/