The U.S. embargo against Cuba has been in place since 1962. It was
supposed to isolate the government of Fidel Castro during the Cold War,
which has been over now for more than a decade. The stated purpose of
the embargo is to destabilize the Castro regime, but it has not
accomplished this objective in 45 years! The people of Cuba revolted
against the oppressive dictator Battista in 1959, and the socialist
revolution, which has housed, fed and educated all Cubans, still enjoys
widespread support among the people.
Furthermore, U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba is based on false beliefs
about Castro’s regime and a well-funded, vocal minority of Cuban
Americans with narrow financial interests. The embargo lacks
credibility internationally, and in the last several years just two to
three countries in the United Nations General Assembly have voted
against resolutions that oppose continuing the embargo: the U.S.,
Israel, and the Marshall Islands, which is our own territory. Other
communist countries like China and Vietnam currently enjoy normal
diplomatic and commercial relations with the U.S., but Cuba remains
locked in a vicious foreign policy that must be stopped.
THE EMBARGO HURTS CUBANS AND AMERICANS
Human Rights Watch, a non-profit organization, argues: “The U.S. economic embargo on Cuban, in
effect for more than four decades, continues to impose indiscriminate
hardship on the Cuban people and to block Americans from traveling to
the island. Congress recently considered passing the ‘Freedom to Travel
to Cuba Act of 2003,’ however, which would have lifted the spending
restrictions that restrict most U.S. travel to Cuba.
In November, both
the House and Senate voted in favor of the bill, but its provisions
were later stripped from a larger legislative package after President
Bush threatened a veto.”
The embargo also hurts the American
people. Do you have a right to
travel freely around the world? According to the embargo, American
citizens do not have the right to travel to Cuba. Yet every year
thousands of American tourists, who want to see and experience Cuba,
travel there illegally via third countries like Canada, the Bahamas,
and Mexico. In June 2004 the Bush Administration tightened the ravel
ban to Cuba. It will now be more difficult for students to study abroad
and participate in educational programs. Congress has voted four years
in a row to repeal the travel ban, but the Bush Administration and
Republican leaders of Congress have blocked this action every year.
Why? Some people believe that Florida electoral politics plays an
active role in determining Bush’s agenda toward Cuba, because many
Cuban Americans in Florida are registered Republicans. However, they
are also outraged by the new
travel restrictions, which hurt Cuban
Americans as well. Under new regulations only “immediate” family
may
travel to Cuba once every 3 years!
Furthermore, the embargo deprives American companies and farmers from a
substantial market for investment and trade that is only 90 miles from
Florida. For example, one
study estimates that the embargo costs U.S.
farmers $1.24 billion and agri-businesses another $3 billion annually.
In the past decade, numerous organizations, trade associations, and
agricultural groups have openly opposed the embargo and are working to
normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba, including ATRIP-USA,
Engage Alliance, the National Foreign Trade Council, and the American
Farm Bureau Federation.
WHAT IS CUBA REALLY LIKE?
Despite the embargo, Cuba has done impressive things in the last four
decades to develop the country and improve the welfare of its people.
This includes a health care system that rivals developed nations like
the U.S. In fact, Cuba is a world leader when it comes to providing
health care in the service of humanitarian diplomacy.
For example, it
trains thousands of doctors who provide health care to poor communities
around the world. The Cuban government also holds that education is
the
right of every citizen. Cuba has an educational system that ranks first
among Latin American countries, and it has a higher literacy rate
than
the U.S. Even professional educators visiting from the U.S. found
Cuba’s policies toward children outstanding.
Cuba is a socialist country that suppresses political opposition (a
significant portion of this “opposition” is funded by the U.S.
government), which is documented by organizations like Human Rights
Watch. But before you dismiss it as totalitarian read what one Southern
college professor has to say about democracy
and the Cuban political
system. In addition, the Cuban government’s noteworthy development
policies and social programs are even praised by the IMF/World Bank as
a model for other developing countries.
Finally, see for yourself what Cuba is really like in this photographic
expose: Modern Cuba—A Biography of Images, a collection of
personal photos I have taken while traveling in Cuba over the last five
years.
WHAT CAN I DO?
The first step is to lift the
travel ban to Cuba (PDF), so that a free
exchange of ideas and policies can occur between the Cuban and American
peoples.
What can you do? Write, call, or email your representatives and
senators and tell them to lift the travel ban! Express your concern
that U.S.-Cuban relations need to be improved, and that we need to
begin dismantling the embargo so that both countries can move forward
together. Consult the following websites for more information and
news: www.cubacentral.com
and www.cubafoundation.org.
There is currently a bi-partisan, joint Congressional commission
dedicated to ending the embargo. It is chaired by Sen. Max Baucus
(D-MT), which makes me proud to be a native
Montanan!
Ending the embargo is a precondition for bringing peace, stability, and
prosperity to U.S.-Cuban relations.
