U.S. rightly steers steady course regarding Cuba

U.S. rightly steers steady course regarding Cuba
By Arthur Cyr, For the Deseret News
Published: Sunday, June 7 2015 12:00 a.m. MDT

Summary
We should emphasize cultural, educational and family exchanges with
Cuba, along with trade and investment. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
used such programs to great benefit during the height of the Cold War.

At the end of May, the United States formally removed Cuba from the list
of states sponsoring terrorism. This will greatly facilitate interchange
between the two countries. In particular, significant banking
restrictions will be lifted.

Especially in the years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S.
Treasury and other agencies have aggressively used finance to track and
cripple terrorist groups and their sponsors. There is now a current
reminder that money can be a useful carrot as well as stick.

Slowly but also surely, the ruthless dictatorship that controls Cuba has
been forced to face the reality of economic failure of communism. Fidel
Castro began the transition of power to younger brother Raul Castro in
2006. Four years later, Fidel suddenly re-emerged in the media spotlight
and proceeded to dramatically lament the shambles of the economy.

At the same time, the Cuban government announced layoffs of 500,000
workers, combined with liberalization designed to encourage small
business and foreign purchases of real estate. This was no small move
for Cuba's committed Communist leaders.

In 2009, President Barack Obama loosened very tight restrictions on
travel and financial remittances. Additionally, telecommunications
companies were allowed to pursue licensing agreements. Other changes
have followed.

There has been increased business interest but no rush to Cuba. The
Soviet Union, a vital subsidy source, collapsed over two decades ago.
Venezuela has provided limited aid.

Enemies as well as admirers agree Fidel Castro demonstrated remarkable
leadership before age and illness led him to retire. After taking power
in early 1959, Enforcer Raul handled bloody mass executions with
efficient dispatch.

Fidel highlighted new alliance with the Soviet Union by joining Nikita
Khrushchev in a raucous 1960 visit to the United Nations in New York.
The Soviet premier was wildly disruptive at U.N. sessions, while the
Cuban delegation provided a media sideshow, based at a Harlem hotel.

The Eisenhower administration began a clandestine effort to overthrow
the increasingly radical regime. The successor Kennedy administration
vastly escalated the campaign after the disastrous failed Bay of Pigs
invasion, including recruiting violent mercenaries along with extreme
anti-Castro zealots.

When Fidel stepped down, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a formal
public statement endorsed the desirability of "peaceful, democratic
change" in that nation and suggested that the "international community"
work directly with the Cuban people.

The U.S. should encourage an expanding United Nations role in dealing
with Cuba. Bringing the U.N., with a career bureaucracy generally
committed to politics of the left, together with the problems of poverty
and stagnation in this surviving "workers' paradise" could be a
productive experience for both sides.

We should emphasize cultural, educational and family exchanges with the
island, along with trade and investment. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
used such programs to great benefit during the height of the Cold War.

Above all, we should reject efforts directly to undercut the Cuban
regime. Previous aggressive interventions were highly counterproductive
and for many years have provided the Castro brothers with the benefit of
blaming all problems on the Yankee superpower to the north.

In the past, Castro's Cuba has been extremely important in U.S.
presidential politics and could be again. John F. Kennedy fanned the
flames against Cuba in the 1960 contest with Richard Nixon. Current
presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is aggressively
denouncing the rapprochement with Cuba.

Strategically, improving Cuba relations may benefit our dealings with
Iran and North Korea.

Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College in
Wisconsin and author of "After the Cold War" (NYU Press and
Palgrave/Macmillan). He can be reached at acyr@carthage.edu.

Source: U.S. rightly steers steady course regarding Cuba | Deseret News
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