http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040501726.html?wpisrc=newsletter
The Embargo After the Castros Raúl Castro in Havana on May Day last year. (Pool Photo By Sven Creutzmann) By Marc A. Thiessen Monday, April 6, 2009; Page A15 The White House announced this weekend that President Obama would soon lift restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba. A bipartisan group of 20 senators has gone further, introducing legislation to repeal the nearly half-century-old ban on travel to Cuba -- a first step toward lifting the U.S. embargo on the communist island. Before proceeding, lawmakers ought to consider the words of Ricardo Alarcón -- a top official in the Castro regime and longtime leader of Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power. In 1998, I had a revealing meeting with Alarcón in Havana. I was working for Sen. Jesse Helms -- then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a household name in Cuba thanks to regime propaganda -- and had gone to the island with my colleague Roger Noriega for the visit of Pope John Paul II. As the price of admission to Cuba, we had to endure a meeting with a low-level functionary in the Cuban National Assembly. About 30 minutes into that meeting, Alarcón came into the room unexpectedly and announced: "I will now answer your questions." Alarcón had been quoted in U.S. media indicating his desire to succeed Fidel Castro, so we said point blank: "We hear you want to be president of Cuba." He waved his cigar dismissively, saying that all he had told the reporter was that if the revolution needed him, of course he would answer the call. We pressed: "But didn't Fidel just announce at the Communist Party conference that Raúl will succeed him?" Alarcón shot up in his seat: "No!" he declared. "All Fidel said was what is in the Cuban constitution -- that in the absence of the president, the first vice president assumes the duties of the president." But, he added with a smile, "the president serves at the pleasure of the National Assembly of People's Power" -- which Alarcón heads. He then held forth on the future of the revolution, referring to Raúl as a "brother of lesser historical significance," and named several individuals who would be better choices to serve as Fidel's successor, including rising stars such as Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque. (Raúl, if you need confirmation, check Cuban state security's recording of the exchange.) After the meeting, which had not been on our official schedule, we stepped out of the Assembly building. A throng of reporters, including from Cuba's official Prensa Latina news agency, was waiting -- and asked about our discussions with Alarcón. We walked past them without comment. Moments later, Alarcón stepped out. He told the assembled reporters: "I am not going to exaggerate the affair. I do not believe it is easy to change people of a conservative formation. . . . But it has been a very respectful dialogue." The Associated Press reported: "A top Cuban official held a 'respectful dialogue' Tuesday with aides to U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, one of the communist island's fiercest critics." This story -- the details of which have not been publicly shared before -- holds important lessons for today. First, Raúl Castro's position as Fidel's successor is by no means assured. That Alarcón would speak so openly and dismissively about Raúl to representatives of the enemy -- Helms -- speaks volumes about the lack of respect for Raúl within the Cuban hierarchy. Many Cubans told us that Raúl is hated within the ranks of the military and is blamed by them for the execution of the beloved Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa -- who led Cuban forces in Angola and whose popularity Raúl saw as a threat. Were it not for Fidel's protection, we were told, he would have been eliminated long ago. Raúl is trying to consolidate his position, eliminating rivals such as Lage and Pérez Roque, but once Fidel goes, the knives could come out for the "brother of lesser historical significance." Second, as the competition to succeed Fidel and Raúl heats up, the coin of the realm will be who can bring about an end to the embargo. Cuba is one of the world's most repressive nations -- even within the regime, officials are afraid to speak to each other. With his news conference, Alarcón signaled the party cadres: I can sit down and have a "respectful dialogue" with the representatives of Jesse Helms. And if I can talk to the strongest supporters of the embargo, I'm the best person to negotiate an end to it. The dumbest thing we could do today would be to enact legislation unilaterally lifting the embargo. Set aside questions about the embargo's efficacy. Like it or not, it is our only leverage, aside from our military, to affect the transition in Cuba. Why would we fritter away that leverage just as time prepares to do what the embargo could not -- bring about the end of the Castro regime? Fidel was never going to negotiate a loosening of repression in Cuba in exchange for a lifting of the travel ban and other trade restrictions. But those who succeed him will, and the Castro brothers will soon be gone. The question is: When that happens, what power will the United States have to encourage a democratic transition on the island? Instead of strengthening Raúl by lifting the embargo now, we should keep our powder dry and use it to strengthen democracy and influence his successor. The embargo has been in place for 47 years -- at this point, it would be foolish not to wait a little longer. The writer, a spokesman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001, is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He served in senior positions in the Pentagon and the White House from 2001 to 2009. ++++ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/04/AR2009040401317.html U.S. lawmakers meet with Cuban foreign minister By Esteban Israel Reuters Saturday, April 4, 2009; 7:54 PM HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers met with Cuba's foreign minister and laid flowers at a Havana memorial to slain U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King on Saturday during a visit aimed at improving relations between Washington and the communist-ruled island. "The entire world is very optimistic about a shift in direction in terms of U.S. foreign policy throughout the world," U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, who headed a seven-member congressional delegation, told reporters in the Cuban capital. "Personally I believe and many believe it's time to talk to Cuba," said Lee, who added that the delegation was in Cuba to find out what issues should be discussed between the two countries. She did not disclose what they talked about with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, but said, "the discussions have been very well received." "We've had open, honest dialogue and we look forward to continuing discussions up until we depart on Wednesday," she told reporters in a small park with a black stone memorial to King. The delegation placed flowers at the memorial's base to mark the 41st anniversary of King's assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. The delegation is the first from the United States since President Barack Obama took office in January. The U.S. Congress is preparing to consider bills lifting most restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba. Most U.S. citizens are barred from visiting the island 90 miles from Florida under a 47-year trade embargo imposed shortly after Fidel Castro took power and allied Cuba with the former Soviet Union. ABOLISHING SOME RESTRICTIONS A White House official confirmed on Friday a Wall Street Journal report that Obama would abolish limits on family travel and cash remittances between the United States and Cuba, but the official said the move was not a policy shift or imminent. Obama promised during his presidential campaign to lift the restrictions, which were tightened by the Bush administration. The new U.S. leader has called for steps toward normalizing relations, but Vice President Joe Biden said a week ago that the United States would not lift the embargo. Lee said the delegation had not brought any message from Obama. They met with Ricardo Alarcon, the president of Cuba's parliament, after arriving in Havana on Friday. U.S. Representative Mike Honda said Cuban officials have played it close to the vest in discussions so far, with much of the talk about the history of U.S.-Cuba relations. "I'm sure they would like to say a lot of things, but what they've told us is history from their point of view, and the feeling that they want you to sense that," he said. Lee said the delegation, which is all Democrat and mostly of African-Americans, had not been told yet whether they would meet with President Raul Castro. Obama is due to meet with Latin American leaders later this month in Trinidad and Tobago. His tone on Cuba, different from the tough policies under Bush, has sparked hopes for change on both sides of the Florida Straits and in Latin America. (Editing by Jeff Franks and Mohammad Zargham) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
