On the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, Obama Should Signal
an End to the Embargo
http://www.truthout.org:80/123008F
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, an
opportune time for President-elect Obama to signal an end to the
Cuban
embargo.
During the campaign, Obama promised to "turn the page and begin
to
write a new chapter in U.S.-Cuba policy." Contrary to the Bush
administration's policies, Obama said he would give Cuban-Americans
"unrestricted rights" to visit family and send cash remittances to
the
island.
But Obama stopped short of endorsing an end to the embargo. He
said he planned to use it as "leverage" over the Cuban government to
induce democratic reforms. This strategy has repeatedly failed,
leaving U.S.-Cuba relations frozen in a Cold War iceberg since
fatigue-
clad rebels marched victoriously into Havana on New Year's Day, 1959.
"The embargo is a policy that hasn't worked in nearly 50 years,"
Wayne Smith, the former head of Washington's diplomatic mission in
Havana under the Carter administration, recently told the AP. "It's
stupid, it's counterproductive and there is no international support
for it."
For 17 straight years, the 192-member U.N. General Assembly has
overwhelmingly approved a non-binding resolution condemning the U.S.
embargo. Only the United States, Israel and Palau voted against the
measure in October.
In the United States, the political tide is also turning against
the embargo, which would require Congressional approval to lift.
Politicians have traditionally pandered to the Cuban exile
community in Florida as a key - even decisive - voting bloc, giving
Cuban-American hardliners essentially a veto over changes in U.S.
policy. But these old guard, militant exiles, who generally left Cuba
shortly after the Castro brothers declared victory, have found their
influence waning.
A generational and demographic shift is under way in south
Florida
that changes the calculus.
A poll conducted by Florida International University a month
after
the presidential election shows a sea change in Cuban-American
opinion. The poll revealed 55 percent of Cuban-American respondents
favored ending the embargo, while 65 percent said they wanted
Washington to re-establish diplomatic relations with Havana.
Lifting the embargo would dramatically improve Washington's ties
with the rest of Latin America.
On December 8, the heads of 15 Caribbean nations called on Obama
to rescind the embargo: "The Caribbean community hopes that the
transformational change which is under way in the United States will
finally relegate that measure to history," their statement said.
Then on December 17 in Brazil, the leaders of 33 Latin American
countries, including conservative allies of Washington like Colombia
and Mexico, convened for another gathering and unanimously called on
Obama to drop the "unacceptable" embargo.
At that summit, Cuban President Raúl Castro even offered to
release political prisoners as a gesture to pave the way for talks
between Havana and Washington.
If Obama moves to lift the embargo, it would send a bold
statement
that his administration is serious about writing a truly new chapter
in U.S. relations with Cuba - and the rest of Latin America.
Finally, he will have turned the page.
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