USCubaPolitics.com

United States Cuba Relations: "Once More Unto the Breach Dear Friends, Once More"

2019-04-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

The ongoing tragedy and saga of U.S. Cuba relations enter a new phase with the announcement of new sanctions and travel restrictions. The policy failures of the past never get old; it seems so while we wait to read the fine print of the soon to be released regulations and absorb what they mean in real terms for Americans and Cubans, some immediate takeaways for both the United States and Cuba.

The Trump Administration is forcing a policy of confrontation and suffering to resolve issues that have been going on for 60 years between both countries. No one knows what the effect of lawsuits filed as per Title III of Helms-Burton will be other than chaos, complication, and confusion. Will claims get resolved? Flowers will grow in gardens, not deserts.

Politically, the Trump Administration has delivered to the hardliners in Florida and New Jersey what they always wanted, total control of U.S. Cuba policy once more. For the moment. That was both a payment for delivering Florida to Trump in November 2016 and an extension of credit for a repeat performance in November 2020. They better deliver or else.

For opponents of this move, the political calculus is straightforward. Supporters of normalization must either elect a Democrat in 2020 or the alternative, deny Florida and New Jersey to President Trump in his re-election bid. The good news from this crisis is that finally, normalization supporters may get politically involved enough to make an electoral difference. Two things only control U.S. Cuba relations, votes, and money. Everything else is fluff.

For the Cubans, there is an existential crisis on the horizon — also, questions on how they will come through this too. May common sense and good will ultimately prevail.

United States Cuba Relations: The Trump Calculus – How Trump Ended the Cuba Embargo

2018-07-02T08:22:00.001-05:00

Is there a scenario in which President Trump would end the Cuban embargo and change U.S. Cuba relations for the better? It all depends on Florida…

THE FOLLOWING MAY TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE…

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

It was approximately 10:49PM that evening. The networks had just called the election announcing that Donald Trump now had 270 electoral votes in his column giving him a second term in office! The President was relishing his re-election moment in the midst of one of the most turbulent first terms in American history. He had now the 270 electoral votes, but surprisingly and much to his disappointment, he did not carry the state of Florida. The Trump campaign though had wisely strategized a victory path without Florida. Florida had gone Democratic due to the demographic shifts and the Puerto Rican vote that tilted the statewide vote blue. The President was nonetheless embarrassed and humiliated that the state that is home to the second White House, Mar-a-Lago, did not deliver for him. Even his home state of New York also did not turn out for him either. He had expected that one though.

As the congratulatory calls came in, Senator Marco Rubio, Florida’s Republican Senator, also called the President; “Congratulations Mr. President on your re-election victory.” The President responded sternly, “Well Marco, I have to say I am very disappointed in the results we had in Florida. You guys did not deliver like you said you would. You embarrassed me. But listen, that’s water under the bridge now. As we start the next term, as part of the campaign to Make America Great Again, you know what there wasn’t when America was great the last time?” “No, Mr. President,” responded Senator Rubio. “There wasn’t a Cuban Embargo,” responded the President. “So, you know what we’re going to do Marco? We’re getting rid of the embargo. It isn’t working and hasn’t worked and you guys and your people in Miami are holding everything up. You know there is at least 100 Billion dollars, that’s Billion with a B Marco, worth of development and construction on that island? And it’s time that American jobs, American businesses, and Americans get a piece of that business. The whole place needs to be rebuilt and a paint job. American construction and American paint should be doing that. Not China. Not Russia. It should be American. Besides, the Cuban people are nice people. They need the jobs and the business too. And they love me. So you and your people in Miami, its now time to get on board this new term.”

“Mr. President, hold on a second, the last time America was great, Cuba wasn’t communist either. You’re going to really upset and disappoint the Cuban American community here that has been steadfastly loyal to you sir, I’m not sure I can support you on this. Besides you made a deal with me and Mario [Diaz-Balart] and let us have Cuba policy” retorted Senator Rubio. “Well Marco, we deal with communist countries and tough leaders all the time. I know how to deal with them. You leave that to me now. You saw what we did with North Korea. There are peace and economic development there now. Not nuclear war. You all did not get this Cuba thing under control for decades and so now its over. It’s enough already. You can’t even get the party to turn out and vote for me in Florida. It turns out I didn’t even need you to win. Besides we’ve been good to your people in Florida and New Jersey for decades. So now we need to move forward here. Jobs, Marco. Jobs. Our people need jobs. Cuba needs hotels and retirement villages for our people. They’ll love the business we’ll give them. Get with the program, Marco. Or you’ll find you’ll be looking out for a new job in two years [2022]. Did you know your competitors in the Republican primary are already reaching out to me? Now, I want you to get involved and take lead on this Marco. If you don’t, I’ll find one of your colleagues who will.”

READOUT OF A TELEPHONIC CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA. JANUARY 2021

POTUS: Hello Miguel. Nice to be speaking with you. Listen, I want to let you know I am going to ask the Congress here to end the embargo. Its time all of this ended. Besides, your relatives in Florida were not very nice to me in this last election. I don’t owe them anything anymore. Cuba needs help and from what my people tell me, a lot of construction and development. You can have the best First Class hotels, golf courses, and properties built on your beautiful island. Let’s even put a Major League Baseball team in Cuba. We can really help Cuba turn the page and move forward as a country. We need economic security here in the region. I can’t have all these people coming from everywhere to America anymore. You can stop being a poor country. Don’t pass up the opportunity I am extending here.

POTRC: Well, Mr. President, thank you for calling me. I think everything is possible as long as everything we do is as equals and with mutual respect. You cannot tell us to change our political and economic system, and you cannot embarrass or humiliate us. By the way, we love the American people. We never had a problem with them. In fact, we want them here visiting our beaches, staying at our hotels, and even living here in retirement. There is so much we could do together. Our problem has always been with our countrymen who fled and have been using your political system to make trouble for us here. You know we have been having talks with your government for so many years, so you are well aware of our interests and goals.

POTUS: I know, I know. I am up to a stack of briefing books over a foot high on Cuba now on my desk here in the Oval office. You know what I need Miguel from you as soon as we can? I need good deals for the people who still have outstanding claims with your country. If you can give them really good deals, that will take the heat off the issue and set the stage for what will be a great moment in history. I also know you want Guantanamo back but I can’t do that just now. We’ll talk about that though as part of our deal. I know that was a great deal for the U.S. and a bad deal for you guys. We’ll figure out how to fix that. Let’s make history for both of our countries.

POTRC: Mr. President…

POTUS: Call me Donald, Miguel. By the way, I am going to give you a telephone number to call me directly. You don’t need to go through anyone. If you have any questions or concerns, you just call me when you need to. We’ll set everything up and have our people and staffs implement. Top down.

POTRC: That’s gracious of you Donald. Well, if we can begin to address the concerns we raised and have a plan to move on them, everything is possible, except of course our sovereignty.

POTUS: I’ll have my people work on that. Then at some point, we can arrange visits between us during this term of office.

POTRC: Well it was a grand moment when we had your predecessor, Mr. Obama, here to visit in Havana. But it will be the most historic when you visit us in Havana.

POTUS: Well, this will be even bigger and better than Obama. He and Hillary have problems right now as you know. I’d like to do it at the right time, you know, at the groundbreaking of an American hotel, a new sports stadium, that sort of thing. I know the best people in the business. We’ll make it a really big deal, a terrific moment for both of our countries. Then I’d like for you to come visit with me and I’ll show you the White House and even better, Mar-a-Lago. You’ll love it.

POTRC: I’ll be back in touch. Thanks Donald.

POTUS: Thanks Miguel.

EXCERPT FROM THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS JANUARY 2021

“...and so I am calling upon the Congress to end the Cuban Embargo once and for all. I am lifting all restrictions that I can. But now I need you to finish the job. We need American jobs and businesses coming from ending the Cuban Embargo. There are over one hundred billion dollars of jobs and construction there. We need to put Americans and Cubans working together to rebuild that island. The last time America was great, there wasn’t a Cuban Embargo. There have been far too much personal politics on this issue for decades. I have decided it is time to end it. Like we did with North Korea and so many victories in my first term, it is time to put this problem into the past. I know that if put to a vote, we have the votes to end the embargo tomorrow. I know Republicans who support me and even Democrats who are against me at least can all agree on ending the embargo. So ladies and gentlemen, let’s get this done now…”

The author is a graduate of New York Military Academy, Class of 1981. His mentor at the Academy was the late Col. Theodore Dobias.

President Donald J. Trump is a graduate of New York Military Academy, Class of 1963. His mentor at the Academy was the late Col. Theodore Dobias.

United States Cuba Relations: US State Department Internet Task Force Meeting February 7, 2018

2018-02-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

REMARKS OF ANTONIO C. MARTINEZ II. ESQ.

BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

CUBA INTERNET TASK FORCE

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2018

Thank you for the opportunity to present public testimony at today's hearing. I am a Foreign Affairs Principal and Chair of the Latin America Practice at Gotham Government Relations with offices in New York and Washington DC. I am also the founder and Chief Editor of the USCubaPolitics.com blog which has been in existence since 2009. I also appear today as someone who with both accuracy and precision, predicted and published on May 2, 2012, a blog post entitled "The Freedom of Alan Gross and the Cuban Five", the historic event that occurred with the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba on December 17, 2014. http://www.uscubapolitics.com/2012/05/united-states-cuba-relations-freedom-of.html

I have always maintained that our embargo and sanctions against Cuba are counterproductive and neither in the best nor strategic interests of the United States. The fact that our relations with Cuba are always determined by the domestic politics of the State of Florida and Hudson County, New Jersey has not served our country well. These policies are fear based and have not, do not, and will not, inspire the changes that I believe most of us would like to see.

History bears this out, and yet now we are here again looking at how to promote internet access in Cuba? This is another misguided policy attitude rooted in the fear that Cuba will never change, so somehow we must force that change. Paradoxically, Cuba is a country who fears that it will change too quickly and somehow lose itself in that inevitable process. Both countries are mistaken. Because change is inevitable and constant. But we can only address the United States’ role in the matter here.

If we want to promote internet and the free flow of information, then our conduct should reflect that proposition by congruency of our behavior. How is promoting internet access and free flow of information possible as long as there are travel restrictions, a trade embargo and sanctions? The power of the market demands for information should drive that process, not a political decision. We were just beginning to make progress when we experienced the reversal in policy last year on June 6, 2017.

Then we have to ask why Cuba when one-third of the world's population lives under authoritarian rule and much of it with internet restrictions and the free flow of information. Yet there is no task force like this on other countries. Why? So let's not kid ourselves or even those constituencies in Florida or New Jersey that this Task Force is actually going to open up the internet in Cuba.

What we should be doing through normal travel, trade, and engagement is to keep pointing out the benefits of the robust and open exchange of information and access to the internet. Similarly, if Cuba ever aspires to host world-class sporting, science, and entertainment events, even an Olympics in the future, for example, they will need to have a world class internet infrastructure.

We need to be speaking to the possibilities the Cuban people will have when the number of computers owned by Cubans and internet hi-speed connectivity are no longer luxuries, but an integral part of their society and education. None of that is possible through this Task Force.

What we can also do as other countries are doing is allow Cubans to visit, study, and work as authorized abroad. That is an avenue that opens the information world to Cubans. Cubans I have spoken with visiting here and elsewhere point out their amazement and pleasure of being able to access the internet at hi speeds, low cost, and without burdensome regulations. They take those experiences home with them, and that also reflects how a change will come to Cuba in that regard. But we cannot even do that while we have a skeleton-staffed Embassy and Consulate in Havana and Cubans now have to gamble the costs of travel to Colombia to roll the U.S. Consular appointment dice to see if they can get a visa to visit the United States. The United States and Cuba should be working together to unravel the mystery of the sonic injuries that is evidently the issue there.

We need to resolve the outstanding issues that frustrate both countries from having the proper complement of diplomatic and consular staff to serve the people efficiently and in a timely fashion.

In conclusion, my recommendation is that this Task Force report back to the President that the best way to help promote internet access in Cuba is through facilitating normal trade and travel relations and lifting the embargo. Everything else we have tried in the past has failed. It is time for us to get back to the future.

Thank you.

United States Cuba Relations: Game of Sounds

2018-01-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

We repost in its entirety, with thanks to the excellent and objectively focused Blog dwkcommentaries.com its post of today that reports an interesting development and asks salient questions both countries should be answering:

American Teens Hear Strange High-Pitched Sound at Havana Airport

On December 31, 2017, an American father in his 40’s and his son and daughter, ages 15 and 14, were at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. Around 2:00 p.m. they were waiting to board their return Delta flight to Atlanta.

The teens asked their father what was making the annoying high-pitched noise. The father, however, heard nothing and asked them if they could tell the direction of this noise. They could and tracked the sound to a green box on a wall near the ceiling of the departure area. The teens also said the device gradually changed the pitch to where it was inaudible and then it gradually came back to the pitch where they could hear it.

Here are the father’s photographs of that device in the upper right of the airport wall and of a closeup of the device showing a label with the words “toscano” and “Zoonic” and images of an insect, reptile, rodent and bird.

A quick Internet search revealed that it is an “ultrasound animal repeller” that “makes the stay of birds, reptiles, and rodents uncomfortable” by emitting “vibrations of high frequency (ultrasounds), alternating between ranges for different animals, so that they will never nest.”

In addition, the device’s Installation and Operating Instructions (in English) state that it has a “micro-switch with two positions, HIGH and LOW. . . . Normally better results are obtained in LOW (frequency) position, but may be bothered [bothersome?] for persons. It is recommended [to] use this position when usually not working [with] any person[s] around.”

The device’s manufacturer apparently is Toscano , which describes itself as an “electronics development & manufacturing” firm in Sevilla, Spain.

By all indications, this device is not manufactured with the intent to cause harm to humans. Some, but not all, of its sounds are audible and annoying to some people, but not others. The audibility of the device is not constant given that it gradually changes pitch to go beyond the hearing range and then it gradually comes back to the range.

This report raises many questions pertaining to the medical problems experienced by some U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana that by some accounts are caused by sonic sounds [1] These questions include the following:

How many of the devices have been sold to persons in Cuba?
What persons in Cuba bought the devices?
Where have they been installed in Cuba?
Who installed them?
Who maintains them?
Have any of these devices been installed in or near the U.S. or Canadian embassies or their diplomats’ residences or Hotel Nacional or Hotel Capri?
How difficult would it be for a single device to be obtained by an individual or entity in order to harass American/Canadian diplomats?
Are the devices in need of calibration and recalibration?
If they are not susceptible to malfunction, then why are they audible to only some people and not others?
Are the devices capable of producing health problems? (Either in their normal state or altered?)
Did the U.S., Canadian or Cuban government notice these devices in their investigations? If so, what did they conclude?

=============================================

[1] The medical problems of the U.S. diplomats in Havana have been discussed in many previous posts that are listed in the “U.S. Diplomats Medical Problems in Cuba, 2016–” section of List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CUBA.

United States Cuba Relations: 2018 Back to the Future

2018-01-01T13:38:00.001-05:00

The USCubaPolitics.com returns to activity this year given the results of the 2016 election and the reversal in U.S. Cuba relations in 2017.

Latest US Treasury Sanctions Regulations on Cuba. https://www.treasury.gov/resourcecenter/sanctions/Programs/Pages/cuba.aspx

This year however, what we propose to do to stimulate debate and dialogue is to simply ask poignant and critical questions on both sides of the issue as news develops and breaks. These are questions for both American and Cuban politicians, policymakers in both countries to confront. Hopefully we'll get answers or the lack thereof will expose hypocrisy, incongruency, and or political expediency inherent in the positions taken by the parties. We will respect Anonymity requests when posting too.

We invite you to get involved and submit questions you would like to be asking both countries. Whatever your views, we look forward to the day that the United States and Cuba will have normal trade, travel, and constructive relations again. The American and Cuban peoples deserve to have this and much more between them as two nations and neighbors in the Western Hemisphere.
Happy New Year. Feliz Año Nuevo...

United States Cuba Relations: Appeal for Al Fox/Alliance Legal Defense Fund

2016-10-19T10:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Supporters of Cuba Travel, and Friends of Albert A. Fox, Jr.,

Al Fox and the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy (a 501-c-3 nonprofit organization) need our help!

Please send your contributions to:

Albert A Fox Jr./Alliance Legal Defense Fund

c/o Law Office of Arthur Heitzer

633 W. Wisconsin Ave Suite 1410

Milwaukee WI 53203

PayPal and Credit Card donations via PayPal online can be sent to: alfoxallianceLDF@gmail.com

In 2000, Al founded the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation. Ever since then, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has been "investigating" Al and the Alliance, and now they’re taking things to the next level.

Last May, OFAC contacted Al at the Alliance office with a demand to pay $100,000. According to OFAC, Al and the Alliance are guilty of “Trading with the Enemy.”

But what exactly did they do?

According to OFAC, Al and the Alliance should be fined $100,000 because of two trips to Cuba in 2010 and 2011. Each trip lasted three days, and each helped build bonds of goodwill between the U.S. and Cuba – the first one started dialogue between the U.S. and Cuban oil drillers, the second one put civic leaders from Tampa, FL in touch with counterparts in Cuba. (The first trip actually helped bring about an unprecedented joint accord between the U.S. and Cuba to protect the Gulf of Mexico from environmental disasters.) Al didn’t make any money from either of these trips. He just wanted positive, humanitarian ties between our two countries. But OFAC says Al provided “unlicensed travel services” by helping to organize people to go on these trips. We’re fighting that on the legal front – which is why you’re getting this letter – and the specifics are complicated. But in a nutshell, OFAC is selectively relying on disputed technicalities.

So what did Al as head of the Alliance really do?

Fifteen years ago Al realized what President Obama made official just last year: U.S. policy toward Cuba had to change. So Al moved back to his hometown of Tampa after 40 distinguished years in Washington, D.C. and got to work making a difference. As head of the Alliance, he lobbied for a different attitude in Tampa than the destructive one that held sway in Miami. He even ran for Congress on a message of U.S.-Cuba reconciliation. And along the way he made plenty of enemies among those who are against U.S. Cuba normalization. Now that so much of what Al has worked for is coming to pass, they seem to want payback.

This is OFAC’s first such prosecution for Cuba travel since 2007. During that time, hundreds of thousands of Americans have traveled to Cuba, spent money in Cuba, and done business in Cuba and OFAC has not similarly prosecuted them. But it seems that the rules are different for Al because he did the one thing that anti-Cuba crowd can’t stand: he challenged the status quo.

Al and the Alliance now face the unlimited resources of the federal government as OFAC pursues its selective prosecution. It’s a David and Goliath contest, and without your help they could be in real trouble.

Please contribute to the legal defense fund so that Al and the Alliance's legal team will have the resources they need to win!

Most appreciatively,

Dr. Wayne Smith, Honorary Chairman; Former Chief of U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba

Hon. Dennis DeConcini, United States Senator (ret.)

Hon. Joe Stewart, former Secretary of the United States Senate

Hon. David A. Straz, Jr., Philanthropist

Dr. Edwardo Garcia D.V.M.

Antonio Martinez, Esq.

Albert A Fox Jr./Alliance Legal Defense Fund

c/o Law Office of Arthur Heitzer

633 W. Wisconsin Ave Suite 1410

Milwaukee WI 53203

PayPal and Credit Card donations via PayPal online can be sent to: alfoxallianceLDF@gmail.com

Questions/media please email alfoxallianceLDF@gmail.com

United States Cuba Relations: President Barack Obama's Address to the Cuban People in Havana

2016-03-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

Remarks by President Obama to the People of Cuba

Gran Teatro de la Habana
Havana, Cuba

10:10 A.M. CST

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Muchas gracias. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

President Castro, the people of Cuba, thank you so much for the warm welcome that I have received, that my family have received, and that our delegation has received. It is an extraordinary honor to be here today.

Before I begin, please indulge me. I want to comment on the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Brussels. The thoughts and the prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium. We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally, Belgium, in bringing to justice those who are responsible. And this is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality, or race, or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can -- and will -- defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.

To the government and the people of Cuba, I want to thank you for the kindness that you’ve shown to me and Michelle, Malia, Sasha, my mother-in-law, Marian.

“Cultivo una rosa blanca.” (Applause.) In his most famous poem, Jose Marti made this offering of friendship and peace to both his friend and his enemy. Today, as the President of the United States of America, I offer the Cuban people el saludo de paz. (Applause.)

Havana is only 90 miles from Florida, but to get here we had to travel a great distance -- over barriers of history and ideology; barriers of pain and separation. The blue waters beneath Air Force One once carried American battleships to this island -- to liberate, but also to exert control over Cuba. Those waters also carried generations of Cuban revolutionaries to the United States, where they built support for their cause. And that short distance has been crossed by hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles -- on planes and makeshift rafts -- who came to America in pursuit of freedom and opportunity, sometimes leaving behind everything they owned and every person that they loved.

Like so many people in both of our countries, my lifetime has spanned a time of isolation between us. The Cuban Revolution took place the same year that my father came to the United States from Kenya. The Bay of Pigs took place the year that I was born. The next year, the entire world held its breath, watching our two countries, as humanity came as close as we ever have to the horror of nuclear war. As the decades rolled by, our governments settled into a seemingly endless confrontation, fighting battles through proxies. In a world that remade itself time and again, one constant was the conflict between the United States and Cuba.

I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas. (Applause.) I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. (Applause.)

I want to be clear: The differences between our governments over these many years are real and they are important. I’m sure President Castro would say the same thing -- I know, because I’ve heard him address those differences at length. But before I discuss those issues, we also need to recognize how much we share. Because in many ways, the United States and Cuba are like two brothers who’ve been estranged for many years, even as we share the same blood.

We both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans. Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners. We’ve welcomed both immigrants who came a great distance to start new lives in the Americas.

Over the years, our cultures have blended together. Dr. Carlos Finlay’s work in Cuba paved the way for generations of doctors, including Walter Reed, who drew on Dr. Finlay’s work to help combat Yellow Fever. Just as Marti wrote some of his most famous words in New York, Ernest Hemingway made a home in Cuba, and found inspiration in the waters of these shores. We share a national past-time -- La Pelota -- and later today our players will compete on the same Havana field that Jackie Robinson played on before he made his Major League debut. (Applause.) And it's said that our greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, once paid tribute to a Cuban that he could never fight -- saying that he would only be able to reach a draw with the great Cuban, Teofilo Stevenson. (Applause.)

So even as our governments became adversaries, our people continued to share these common passions, particularly as so many Cubans came to America. In Miami or Havana, you can find places to dance the Cha-Cha-Cha or the Salsa, and eat ropa vieja. People in both of our countries have sung along with Celia Cruz or Gloria Estefan, and now listen to reggaeton or Pitbull. (Laughter.) Millions of our people share a common religion -- a faith that I paid tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in La Cachita.

For all of our differences, the Cuban and American people share common values in their own lives. A sense of patriotism and a sense of pride -- a lot of pride. A profound love of family. A passion for our children, a commitment to their education. And that's why I believe our grandchildren will look back on this period of isolation as an aberration, as just one chapter in a longer story of family and of friendship.

But we cannot, and should not, ignore the very real differences that we have -- about how we organize our governments, our economies, and our societies. Cuba has a one-party system; the United States is a multi-party democracy. Cuba has a socialist economic model; the United States is an open market. Cuba has emphasized the role and rights of the state; the United States is founded upon the rights of the individual.

Despite these differences, on December 17th 2014, President Castro and I announced that the United States and Cuba would begin a process to normalize relations between our countries. (Applause.) Since then, we have established diplomatic relations and opened embassies. We've begun initiatives to cooperate on health and agriculture, education and law enforcement. We've reached agreements to restore direct flights and mail service. We've expanded commercial ties, and increased the capacity of Americans to travel and do business in Cuba.

And these changes have been welcomed, even though there are still opponents to these policies. But still, many people on both sides of this debate have asked: Why now? Why now?

There is one simple answer: What the United States was doing was not working. We have to have the courage to acknowledge that truth. A policy of isolation designed for the Cold War made little sense in the 21st century. The embargo was only hurting the Cuban people instead of helping them. And I've always believed in what Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the fierce urgency of now” -- we should not fear change, we should embrace it. (Applause.)

That leads me to a bigger and more important reason for these changes: Creo en el pueblo Cubano. I believe in the Cuban people. (Applause.) This is not just a policy of normalizing relations with the Cuban government. The United States of America is normalizing relations with the Cuban people. (Applause.)

And today, I want to share with you my vision of what our future can be. I want the Cuban people -- especially the young people -- to understand why I believe that you should look to the future with hope; not the false promise which insists that things are better than they really are, or the blind optimism that says all your problems can go away tomorrow. Hope that is rooted in the future that you can choose and that you can shape, and that you can build for your country.

I'm hopeful because I believe that the Cuban people are as innovative as any people in the world.

In a global economy, powered by ideas and information, a country’s greatest asset is its people. In the United States, we have a clear monument to what the Cuban people can build: it’s called Miami. Here in Havana, we see that same talent in cuentapropistas, cooperatives and old cars that still run. El Cubano inventa del aire. (Applause.)

Cuba has an extraordinary resource -- a system of education which values every boy and every girl. (Applause.) And in recent years, the Cuban government has begun to open up to the world, and to open up more space for that talent to thrive. In just a few years, we've seen how cuentapropistas can succeed while sustaining a distinctly Cuban spirit. Being self-employed is not about becoming more like America, it’s about being yourself.

Look at Sandra Lidice Aldama, who chose to start a small business. Cubans, she said, can “innovate and adapt without losing our identity…our secret is in not copying or imitating but simply being ourselves.”

Look at Papito Valladeres, a barber, whose success allowed him to improve conditions in his neighborhood. “I realize I’m not going to solve all of the world’s problems,” he said. “But if I can solve problems in the little piece of the world where I live, it can ripple across Havana.”

That’s where hope begins -- with the ability to earn your own living, and to build something you can be proud of. That’s why our policies focus on supporting Cubans, instead of hurting them. That’s why we got rid of limits on remittances -- so ordinary Cubans have more resources. That’s why we’re encouraging travel -- which will build bridges between our people, and bring more revenue to those Cuban small businesses. That’s why we’ve opened up space for commerce and exchanges -- so that Americans and Cubans can work together to find cures for diseases, and create jobs, and open the door to more opportunity for the Cuban people.

As President of the United States, I’ve called on our Congress to lift the embargo. (Applause.) It is an outdated burden on the Cuban people. It's a burden on the Americans who want to work and do business or invest here in Cuba. It's time to lift the embargo. But even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize their potential without continued change here in Cuba. (Applause.) It should be easier to open a business here in Cuba. A worker should be able to get a job directly with companies who invest here in Cuba. Two currencies shouldn’t separate the type of salaries that Cubans can earn. The Internet should be available across the island, so that Cubans can connect to the wider world -- (applause) -- and to one of the greatest engines of growth in human history.

There’s no limitation from the United States on the ability of Cuba to take these steps. It’s up to you. And I can tell you as a friend that sustainable prosperity in the 21st century depends upon education, health care, and environmental protection. But it also depends on the free and open exchange of ideas. If you can’t access information online, if you cannot be exposed to different points of view, you will not reach your full potential. And over time, the youth will lose hope.

I know these issues are sensitive, especially coming from an American President. Before 1959, some Americans saw Cuba as something to exploit, ignored poverty, enabled corruption. And since 1959, we’ve been shadow-boxers in this battle of geopolitics and personalities. I know the history, but I refuse to be trapped by it. (Applause.)

I’ve made it clear that the United States has neither the capacity, nor the intention to impose change on Cuba. What changes come will depend upon the Cuban people. We will not impose our political or economic system on you. We recognize that every country, every people, must chart its own course and shape its own model. But having removed the shadow of history from our relationship, I must speak honestly about the things that I believe -- the things that we, as Americans, believe. As Marti said, “Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.”

So let me tell you what I believe. I can't force you to agree, but you should know what I think. I believe that every person should be equal under the law. (Applause.) Every child deserves the dignity that comes with education, and health care and food on the table and a roof over their heads. (Applause.) I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear -- (applause) -- to organize, and to criticize their government, and to protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. (Applause.) I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly. (Applause.) And, yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections. (Applause.)

Not everybody agrees with me on this. Not everybody agrees with the American people on this. But I believe those human rights are universal. (Applause.) I believe they are the rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world.

Now, there’s no secret that our governments disagree on many of these issues. I’ve had frank conversations with President Castro. For many years, he has pointed out the flaws in the American system -- economic inequality; the death penalty; racial discrimination; wars abroad. That’s just a sample. He has a much longer list. (Laughter.) But here’s what the Cuban people need to understand: I welcome this open debate and dialogue. It’s good. It’s healthy. I’m not afraid of it.

We do have too much money in American politics. But, in America, it's still possible for somebody like me -- a child who was raised by a single mom, a child of mixed race who did not have a lot of money -- to pursue and achieve the highest office in the land. That's what’s possible in America. (Applause.)

We do have challenges with racial bias -- in our communities, in our criminal justice system, in our society -- the legacy of slavery and segregation. But the fact that we have open debates within America’s own democracy is what allows us to get better. In 1959, the year that my father moved to America, it was illegal for him to marry my mother, who was white, in many American states. When I first started school, we were still struggling to desegregate schools across the American South. But people organized; they protested; they debated these issues; they challenged government officials. And because of those protests, and because of those debates, and because of popular mobilization, I’m able to stand here today as an African-American and as President of the United States. That was because of the freedoms that were afforded in the United States that we were able to bring about change.

I’m not saying this is easy. There’s still enormous problems in our society. But democracy is the way that we solve them. That's how we got health care for more of our people. That's how we made enormous gains in women’s rights and gay rights. That's how we address the inequality that concentrates so much wealth at the top of our society. Because workers can organize and ordinary people have a voice, American democracy has given our people the opportunity to pursue their dreams and enjoy a high standard of living. (Applause.)

Now, there are still some tough fights. It isn’t always pretty, the process of democracy. It's often frustrating. You can see that in the election going on back home. But just stop and consider this fact about the American campaign that's taking place right now. You had two Cuban Americans in the Republican Party, running against the legacy of a black man who is President, while arguing that they’re the best person to beat the Democratic nominee who will either be a woman or a Democratic Socialist. (Laughter and applause.) Who would have believed that back in 1959? That's a measure of our progress as a democracy. (Applause.)

So here’s my message to the Cuban government and the Cuban people: The ideals that are the starting point for every revolution -- America’s revolution, Cuba’s revolution, the liberation movements around the world -- those ideals find their truest expression, I believe, in democracy. Not because American democracy is perfect, but precisely because we’re not. And we -- like every country -- need the space that democracy gives us to change. It gives individuals the capacity to be catalysts to think in new ways, and to reimagine how our society should be, and to make them better.

There’s already an evolution taking place inside of Cuba, a generational change. Many suggested that I come here and ask the people of Cuba to tear something down -- but I’m appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up, build something new. (Applause.) El futuro de Cuba tiene que estar en las manos del pueblo Cubano. (Applause.)

And to President Castro -- who I appreciate being here today -- I want you to know, I believe my visit here demonstrates you do not need to fear a threat from the United States. And given your commitment to Cuba’s sovereignty and self-determination, I am also confident that you need not fear the different voices of the Cuban people -- and their capacity to speak, and assemble, and vote for their leaders. In fact, I’m hopeful for the future because I trust that the Cuban people will make the right decisions.

And as you do, I’m also confident that Cuba can continue to play an important role in the hemisphere and around the globe -- and my hope is, is that you can do so as a partner with the United States.

We’ve played very different roles in the world. But no one should deny the service that thousands of Cuban doctors have delivered for the poor and suffering. (Applause.) Last year, American health care workers -- and the U.S. military -- worked side-by-side with Cubans to save lives and stamp out Ebola in West Africa. I believe that we should continue that kind of cooperation in other countries.

We’ve been on the different side of so many conflicts in the Americas. But today, Americans and Cubans are sitting together at the negotiating table, and we are helping the Colombian people resolve a civil war that’s dragged on for decades. (Applause.) That kind of cooperation is good for everybody. It gives everyone in this hemisphere hope.

We took different journeys to our support for the people of South Africa in ending apartheid. But President Castro and I could both be there in Johannesburg to pay tribute to the legacy of the great Nelson Mandela. (Applause.) And in examining his life and his words, I'm sure we both realize we have more work to do to promote equality in our own countries -- to reduce discrimination based on race in our own countries. And in Cuba, we want our engagement to help lift up the Cubans who are of African descent -- (applause) -- who’ve proven that there’s nothing they cannot achieve when given the chance.

We’ve been a part of different blocs of nations in the hemisphere, and we will continue to have profound differences about how to promote peace, security, opportunity, and human rights. But as we normalize our relations, I believe it can help foster a greater sense of unity in the Americas -- todos somos Americanos. (Applause.)

From the beginning of my time in office, I’ve urged the people of the Americas to leave behind the ideological battles of the past. We are in a new era. I know that many of the issues that I’ve talked about lack the drama of the past. And I know that part of Cuba’s identity is its pride in being a small island nation that could stand up for its rights, and shake the world. But I also know that Cuba will always stand out because of the talent, hard work, and pride of the Cuban people. That's your strength. (Applause.) Cuba doesn’t have to be defined by being against the United States, any more than the United States should be defined by being against Cuba. I'm hopeful for the future because of the reconciliation that’s taking place among the Cuban people.

I know that for some Cubans on the island, there may be a sense that those who left somehow supported the old order in Cuba. I'm sure there’s a narrative that lingers here which suggests that Cuban exiles ignored the problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba, and rejected the struggle to build a new future. But I can tell you today that so many Cuban exiles carry a memory of painful -- and sometimes violent -- separation. They love Cuba. A part of them still considers this their true home. That’s why their passion is so strong. That's why their heartache is so great. And for the Cuban American community that I’ve come to know and respect, this is not just about politics. This is about family -- the memory of a home that was lost; the desire to rebuild a broken bond; the hope for a better future the hope for return and reconciliation.

For all of the politics, people are people, and Cubans are Cubans. And I’ve come here -- I’ve traveled this distance -- on a bridge that was built by Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. I first got to know the talent and passion of the Cuban people in America. And I know how they have suffered more than the pain of exile -- they also know what it’s like to be an outsider, and to struggle, and to work harder to make sure their children can reach higher in America.

So the reconciliation of the Cuban people -- the children and grandchildren of revolution, and the children and grandchildren of exile -- that is fundamental to Cuba’s future. (Applause.)

You see it in Gloria Gonzalez, who traveled here in 2013 for the first time after 61 years of separation, and was met by her sister, Llorca. “You recognized me, but I didn’t recognize you,” Gloria said after she embraced her sibling. Imagine that, after 61 years.

You see it in Melinda Lopez, who came to her family’s old home. And as she was walking the streets, an elderly woman recognized her as her mother’s daughter, and began to cry. She took her into her home and showed her a pile of photos that included Melinda’s baby picture, which her mother had sent 50 years ago. Melinda later said, “So many of us are now getting so much back.”

You see it in Cristian Miguel Soler, a young man who became the first of his family to travel here after 50 years. And meeting relatives for the first time, he said, “I realized that family is family no matter the distance between us.”

Sometimes the most important changes start in small places. The tides of history can leave people in conflict and exile and poverty. It takes time for those circumstances to change. But the recognition of a common humanity, the reconciliation of people bound by blood and a belief in one another -- that’s where progress begins. Understanding, and listening, and forgiveness. And if the Cuban people face the future together, it will be more likely that the young people of today will be able to live with dignity and achieve their dreams right here in Cuba.

The history of the United States and Cuba encompass revolution and conflict; struggle and sacrifice; retribution and, now, reconciliation. It is time, now, for us to leave the past behind. It is time for us to look forward to the future together -- un future de esperanza. And it won’t be easy, and there will be setbacks. It will take time. But my time here in Cuba renews my hope and my confidence in what the Cuban people will do. We can make this journey as friends, and as neighbors, and as family -- together. Si se puede. Muchas gracias. (Applause.)

END
10:48 A.M. CST

United States Cuba Relations: Getting Beyond Tantalization

2015-10-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

The definition of tantalize means to “arouse expectations that are repeatedly disappointed”. The current state of U.S. Cuba relations at this moment can best be summed up that way, “tantalizing.” It is a precarious situation for both nations as expectations need to be managed instead of aroused. Right now the U.S. Cuba arousal is high. Prepare for reality. Many Americans believe Cuba is wide open for business when still it is not. The business bandwidth and deal flow for Americans are still too narrow. Americans want to sell to Cuba. Cuba wants Americans to invest in Cuba. Therein lies the crux of the challenge. On the American side, the Embargo still hobbles and blocks this proposition. On the Cuban side, Cuban economic and investment policies still must be modernized to attract the kind of investment that will eventually come to Cuba and rebuild and restore it. Selling and investing are functionally co-dependent economic fundamentals. Before we are going to be able to sell anything to Cuba, they have to be able to have the resources to buy the goods and services we want to sell them. That is why until the obstacles are completely removed, the maximum potential of the relationship is only mesmerizing at the moment. There are six obstacles remaining to fully normalized and trade relations:

1) The Cuban Trade Embargo

2) Radio TV Marti and Democracy Program Funding

3) Regime Change Foreign Policy

4) Resolution of Claims

5) Guantanamo Naval Base

6) U.S. Travel Restrictions

Beyond the immediate sectors of travel, food/agricultural, health and some telecommunications, the opportunities for business are still limited. The private sector openings in Cuba are real but also very limited. They are limited by the Obama Administration who has not expanded the opening even further while they still can. They are also limited by Cuba’s response of trying to maintain a cautious methodical approach to the new relationship in the face of overwhelming enthusiasm by both the American and Cuban people. While President Obama’s initiatives and regulatory openings are significant, there are still neither substantial nor transcendent. Transformation requires boldness and risk taking. With the time remaining in the Obama Administration, there should be more proactive steps taken to expand the opening and facilitate the opening. For example, while Cuba was removed from the Terror List, the regulatory impediments that make it possible for them to use U.S. Dollars in the international banking system remain in place. This means the rationale for the infuriating 10 percent surcharge on U.S. dollar exchanges imposed in 2003 remain in place. Who is paying that? Americans and anyone who wants to give up the first ten cents of every U.S. dollar they have when it comes to spending in Cuba. It is disingenuous that we have a real meaningful travel opening when we still put up an onerous cost that easily could be removed by our side. We have also not divorced ourselves from the notion that we are going to somehow decide or how to conduct Cuba’s political future for the Cubans. We are not. That does not mean that Cuba will change. It will. On its own timetable however, not ours. That is the root of the distrust between our two countries and the guarantee for our ultimate disappointment. The best we can accomplish is being a good neighbor and engage in a respectful debate and dialogue.

Similarly Cuba faces its own tantalization by America. They want our goods, our services, and our people to visit and collaborate with them. They need us if they are going to meet their economic growth targets. However, Cuba faces its own existential challenges with 10 percent of its people and their descendants living 90 miles away from the island and another 10 percent living elsewhere abroad. This alters the notion of Cuban identity. How will they keep the values they cherish in the face of a reconciliation with their neighbor to the north? How do they perfect their socialism with capitalism? The Cuba before normalization will not be the same Cuba after normalization completes. What is each side afraid of? Those are the elephants in the room.

The road ahead for businessmen and corporations to do real business will require authentic relationship building with visits in both countries; establishing a meaningful presence; and negotiating deals that create mutually beneficial business transactions that focus on profit and social benefit. If you want to do business in Cuba, you need to get in the business of getting rid of the travel restrictions and trade embargo. That means lobbying at home. With the plethora of consultants and lawyers with Havana dealing on their minds, also remember something a Cuban official stated, “There are those who have come here after December 17, 2014 and those who have come here before. We know them.” Create your Cuba business map and plan beyond tantalization to discover the real opportunities.

United States Cuba Relations: Restoration Day

2015-07-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

So it began. On that historic day of July 20, 2015, the United States and Cuba formally restored diplomatic relations and reopened embassies. It was an honor and privilege to be a witness and guest at that ceremony. On a personal note, this was one more step in the fulfillment of a dream I had on my first trip to Havana in 1999. With the United States and Cuba finally engaged in a diplomatic dialogue, the many challenges and issues left from more than five decades will begin to be addressed in a mutually beneficial manner. It’s time to end the embargo, travel restrictions, and engage Cuba fully and respectfully.

For those opposed to the normalization, this was a bitter pill for the anti-normalization hardliners to swallow. However, there comes a moment when common sense and logical reasoning must prevail over delusion, intransigence, and hatred. There also must come a point when those elected representatives must respect the will of the majority who want normal and full relations with Cuba. The past five decades of our delusional policies with Cuba demonstrate that we cannot impose democracy, regime change, or anything constructive through a hostile and unilateral sanctions policy.

While we will continue to have serious differences with Cuba, we have to ask ourselves if and how we really can improve human rights in Cuba or anywhere for that matter, especially through a sanctions regime? It all sounds good to be for human rights though the truth is actually different. How are we going to get Cuba to change when we cannot achieve for example;

1) Stop Saudi Arabia from prohibiting its women to drive cars or gruesome beheadings there;

2) Stop China from harvesting organs for transplantation from its own prison population;

3) Stop U.S. police brutality and violence upon people of color;

4) Stop the mass incarceration of our people making the U.S. the highest prison population nation in the world at an annual cost of more than 80 billion dollars for a for-profit prison industry!

By the way, we have normal travel and trade with the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both one party authoritarian states. We allow for-profit prison industries to exist and thrive in our country. The State of Florida, where most of the anti-normalization representatives are from, is in the top ten list of states with the highest crime rate in the U.S. Florida is also in the top ten of states with the highest prison population.

America’s stand for democracy and human rights must not be by imposition but by our own example and congruency of action. So that means we still have a lot of work to do at home before we instruct other countries on how to treat their people. Influence could be actually more powerful and constructive if we try it. Interference does not work and makes us hypocrites in the world community.

The U.S. Senate ended last week with the good sense to lift the travel, shipping, and agricultural trade bans on Cuba in the GOP majority Appropriations committee. No Cuban cigars yet though for those cheering this effort. Appropriation bills wind up going to a House Senate Conference Committee where the final compromise between what each house of Congress passed gets worked out. Then the Conference Report has to be agreed upon by each house of Congress. It is possible that the pro-Cuba travel and trade amendments survive the conference (then the ban really gets lifted) or the anti-normalization hardliners try to get that section pulled out. Former Reps. Lincoln Diaz Balart and Tom DeLay did this when the first House passed Flake Amendment lifting the travel ban was pulled out from a House Senate Conference Report in 2003. So stay tuned and informed. Be vigilant.

United States Cuba Relations: Normalization and the Guantanamo Imperative

2015-07-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

With less than a week away from Restoration Day for the United States and Cuba on July 20th, the long journey of normalization begins in earnest. Those in Congress who continue to block normalization efforts have relegated themselves to a triple S strategy; spoil, spite, and sabotage. Not much else for one to do when they choose to be on the wrong side of history. The United States and Cuba will restore, normalize, and finally reconcile their relations putting more than 50 years of animosity in the past and focusing on a future of mutual respect and cooperation, albeit in the midst of some serious differences that both sides will have.

Politically, Congress will continue to reflect the pro-embargo forces though its days are numbered as these interests do not represent either the majority of Americans or even Cuban Americans. The challenge and goal of normalization forces must be to unite to speak with one voice and become a deciding factor in electoral politics. As soon as one Member of Congress loses his or her seat in part to his or her intransigent position on maintaining our failed policies of embargo and restrictions, the pro-embargo firewall in Congress will finally collapse.

All Normalization Roads Will Lead to Guantanamo

The ongoing dialogue and negotiations will evolve to the next and higher levels. How will Cuba satisfy the outstanding United States claims against it for expropriation? How will the United States satisfy the outstanding Cuban claims against it? Therein lies the Guantanamo imperative. Anyone with a claim against the government of Cuba for expropriated property has a real problem ahead. Cuba does not have the capital to satisfy those claims after a combination of more than 50 years of economic isolation and Cuban economics. Similarly, if you have a claim against the government of Cuba what kind of bargaining power will you really have to get your claim settled when it’s a foreign government on the other side you are negotiating with as a private citizen or entity? Enter Guantanamo.

The United States has operated the Guantanamo Naval Base since 1903 when it obtained the $4,085.00 annual lease after we made Cuba “an offer they could not refuse” – which was give us the naval base or if you do not, we’ll invade the entire island. That was essentially the choice. As an island nation that struggled for its independence and total sovereignty under principles established by Jose Marti, it was indeed an offer they could not refuse accepting our hubris instead of accepting another military invasion. Lets be honest about Guantanamo Naval Base. Nowhere else in the world could we have gotten such a deal. Who pays $4085.00 in annual rent for 45 square miles of land? Are we paying fair market value for the land we rent from Cuba? Did we ever? When you consider what we do pay to maintain our military in foreign installations, currently exceeding 265 Billion dollars, you do have to wonder what is Guantanamo Naval Base really worth in terms of rent? The answer is billions. Similarly even if you believe for one second the treaty upon which it was written is legitimate and moral, then you have to ask what happens when you violate a term or condition of your lease? Usually it means the lease is cancelled. Our treaty with Cuba specifies that the land is to be used as a “coaling or naval” station. What happened when we placed Enemy Combatants and made Guantanamo a prison holding terrorists during George W. Bush’s administration? Did we violate the terms of our lease? These are perplexing issues because we will have to eventually address this quagmire in the context of normalization. This is a matter that even transcends the political differences between us and Cuba. It is a matter of international law and diplomacy and what kind of relationship we are going to define in this hemisphere between the United States and our neighbors in the 21^st century. Are we going to be a fair negotiator, lead by example, or does the Monroe doctrine still extend over into the 21^st century? The world and especially our neighbors in Latin America are watching.

The solution? Why not satisfy the claims of both the United States and Cuba through a Guantanamo based resolution? This would look like the United States buying out and paying all the claims against Cuba for expropriated properties in exchange for Cuba dropping all of its claims against the United States for the Guantanamo leasehold and setting a date certain in the future, ie. 10 years for the formal return of the base back to the Government and people of Cuba at that time. The value of those claims in the range of $6-8 billion, more than rectifies what we would have paid out to Cuba in fair market rent over five decades. When you consider the U.S. spends $265 billion plus for our military installations in foreign countries, a one time 8 billion charge is a relatively nominal 3 percent. The U.S. claims can be paid out from the U.S. Treasury or in the form of a Federal Income Tax credit which claimants could use to offset their annual tax bills. Both nations could opt to impose a two cent fee on every U.S. Cuba related transaction to recover their costs over a one or two decade period. Any remaining prisoners on Guantanamo can be relocated to a military installation much farther away from American soil. President Obama would also get to keep a promise he made in his campaign, that he would close Guantanamo. This is one way how he could achieve that as well as transform the U.S. Cuba and U.S. Latin America relationship in one broad swoop.
- Antonio C. Martinez II. - Editor

United States Cuba Relations: Guest Posting/Commentary - "Should Embassies Have "Training Courses" - La Alborada

2015-05-25T09:09:00.000-05:00

Editor: We republish with full credit to La Alborada, www.cubamer.org, its Op-Ed entitled "Should Embassies Have "Training" Courses" and ask the following:

1) Why do we have official "training" courses to begin with at our embassies in foreign countries?

2) Wouldn't journalism courses be more appropriately conducted at private universities and monies spent on "training" courses be better spent instead on actual scholarships for students to visit and attend our colleges?

3)Would we tolerate such "training" courses by foreign countries here in their embassies in the U.S? Why is it acceptable then for us to do it in other foreign countries?

4) One of the stumbling blocks to normalization is what activities the U.S. embassy in Havana would conduct with Cuban civil society. Similarly the Cuban embassy in Washington DC would conduct parallel activities with American society. What is appropriate then and what is not? That is what should be flushed out in black and white, in straightforward English and Spanish and put into writing, and respected by the parties.

5) Would the monies being spent on so called "Democracy" programs be better spent instead in the creation of a United States Cuba Bank for Reconstruction and Reconciliation to promote American and Cuban investment and compensation for all parties affected by the U.S. Trade Embargo?

Should embassies sponsor “training courses”?

La Alborada – May 25

Imagine that Cuba finds a big deposit of commercial-quality oil, so big that it can cover domestic needs and even derive income from exports. Maybe it's enough to fund a series of training programs operating from the new embassy in Washington and dedicated to the self-improvement of young people in the U.S.

The programs would cover four major areas, as follows.

One of the programs would focus on human rights (condition of Indian reservations, treatment of black people by police, jails, massive domestic spying, unaffordable education and health care, homelessness, and so on).

Another would discuss democracy versus oligarchy and plutocracy, covering aspects such as elections that are decided by the amounts of money involved, gerrymandering, rules meant to prevent voting, and the determination of interest groups including some from abroad. Also, special seminars would cover the Deep, or Phantom, State, including the national-security complex, the military-industrial complex, and high-level banks.

A third would address the role of journalists and how to create news media that are independent of the government control exercised through intermediaries like the corporate boards of directors, managing editors, and lower-level editors – even the advertisers. That would include how to use news and social media to impact on national and world opinions.

The fourth would prepare the participants for leadership, meaning how to organize against government levels according to particular demographic areas or social groups, with an eye to eventually bringing all of these together to face off against the national government at the right moment -- maybe even to bring it down.

This training would be accompanied by a few benefits. In order to motivate participation in the courses, those chosen would be granted stipends. In addition, Cuba would invite selected students to travel to the island for periods of total immersion at advanced levels, taught by very experienced personnel. Of course, that would not preclude some R&R at the beaches or Havana nightclubs.

The US would probably object to an educational series of this sort, and properly so. Embassies are for diplomacy, not for intervention in the internal affairs of other countries. Cuba could say, in the new spirit of reciprocity, "but you do things very much like this; why shouldn't we?"

It's a simple question. The answer would not be as simple.

United States Cuba Relations: A Crock of Adam

2015-04-27T15:57:00.000-05:00

Florida Agriculture Commissioner, Adam Putnam, is usually a smart politician and able public servant. Not everyone gets elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at the age of 26 and then heads into statewide office as the Ag Commissioner of one of the most important states in the country. However, everyone has their moments when one is left scratching their head.

Last week Commissioner Putnam wrote a polemic on the reasons against opening the Agriculture trade with Cuba that can best be described as a crock of...well, you get the gist. The letter can be read here: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/60121/1252472/Delegation_Ltr_04-22-2015.pdf

Commissioner Putnam unfortunately got played handily by the Cuba embargo hardliners, who refuse to see the reality that their position is flawed and the majority of Americans, Cuban Americans, and even Cubans want normal relations. So the anti-normalization strategy appears to be manipulate politicians controlled by them and belittle and minimize any progress that gets made.

What is most concerning is that even Commissioner Putnam ignored the fact that the rest of his colleagues from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) have come out endorsing and expanding the Agriculture trade with Cuba and the end of the embargo. Here is NASDA's most recent policy statement on trade with Cuba issued in February, 2015:

"Trade with Cuba Current U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba allow for U.S. food and agricultural sales to Cuba but contain very challenging and specific licensing and financial provisions to which U.S. exporters must adhere. U.S. trade policy to Cuba is inconsistent with trade policy to other countries.

• NASDA urges the Administration and the U.S. Congress to reexamine U.S. policy towards Cuba and lift the current embargo against Cuba. The U.S. should:

• eliminate the “Cash Only” sales provision of the current law as well as extend trade to other areas besides food and medicine;

• streamline laws and regulations related to visa and license requirements to better promote trade activities and

• allow long term contracts, which will provide more efficiencies for both parties;

• allow exchange of biotech research would have a benefit to both countries; 87 NASDA Policy Statements

• allow importation of Cuban products into the U.S. only on the condition that there are appropriate safe guards for our domestic markets, particularly for import-sensitive commodities;

• hold Cuba to the same sanitary/phytosanitary standards as the rest of the world trading community; and

• ease travel and tourism restrictions for both countries, or at the very least, allow plant and animal health officials, as well as food safety officials of both countries to travel to and from Cuba.

• NASDA urges the Administration and the various U.S. government agencies to interpret the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act as broadly as possible, especially the financial terms so companies can compete with other countries in the global marketplace."

So when the rest of your counterparts from the other 49 states can agree on such a statement, one may wonder how Commissioner Putnam's letter can pass the smell test. If Commissioner Putnam really is interested in what is in store for Florida when relations do normalize and is concerned about phytosanitary standards, he ought to do what at least many of his counterparts have done, go to Cuba and see for himself and engage in a dialogue with our neighbor. Especially when the state that stands to be the greatest economic beneficiary of normal relations with Cuba is the Sunshine state.

Considering Commissioner Putnam may be a future Governor or even U.S. Senator from Florida, it is time he divorce himself from the hardline thinking that in this instance does not serve his best long term political interests.

United States Cuba Relations: Republished Post from Progresso Weekly- "Wanted"

2015-04-23T16:28:00.000-05:00

The United States and Cuba fugitive issue summed up in one political cartoon, both countries harbor fugitives wanted by each other. Republished here with thanks to Progreso Weekly.

United States Cuba Relations: Cuomo Connects New York with Cuba

2015-04-21T18:58:00.000-05:00

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) just returned from a whirlwind 26 hour trade mission to Cuba. While he was in a position where he could not satisfy either his critics or supporters over the length of his brief trip, he still achieved his goal of making a difference. The State of New York is now on the Cuba market map and it intends to play a major role in supporting the normalization process as long as he is Governor. That is significant. Cuomo spoke eloquently as to the purpose and value of trade missions by what they can offer to both nations. He outlined the progressive way to address human rights issues, not through sanctions but through a dialogue. “How do you foster the human rights dialogue that everybody says must progress? It’s not through isolation, it’s through engagement.” Gov. Cuomo highlighted the trade opportunity and the importance of ending the embargo and travel restrictions: “Engagement and full relationships are the best way to have a dialogue on the issues that we agree with and on the issues that we disagree about,” “I have no doubt that Cuba is going to be an exciting market to be in for business,” he said. “The question is how quickly it opens and how quickly it develops.” Gov Cuomo also counted on the support of moderate Cuban American groups like CAFE, Cuban Americans for Engagement, which in March, publicly endorsed the Governor's trip and efforts. CAFE's endorsement also countered criticisms from some sectors and individuals in New York who claimed to speak for the entire Cuban American community.

Now the key will be the followup to make this opening expand. Will companies make the time and investment necessary to stake a position and establish relationships in Cuba when the embargo finally lifts? Will the State of New York open its ports in Brooklyn and Staten Island and promote shipping of authorized exports to Cuba? No doubt that Governor Cuomo has serious work ahead and likely will be sending many other New Yorkers to Cuba to strengthen our business and cultural ties with the island nation. All in all a good first step.

United States Cuba Relations: The Fog Lifts

2015-02-17T22:23:00.000-05:00

Now two months since President Obama's announcement, we examine what has taken place and where developments may be headed. There has not been this much activity on U.S. Cuba relations in decades and all of it portends progress in the long run. The only strategy that the opposition to normalization has is to employ the strategy of "death by a thousand cuts", seemingly attempting to weaken every step taken by the Administration or in the Congress. Even that appears to have its limits as recent efforts were not successful. Attacking every incremental step and the use of political fundraising influence by hardliners in Congress appear to be the only things that stand in the way of ultimate success.

1) U.S. Cuba Diplomatic Discussions of January 2015

Key Takeaways:

Making it all about Human rights.

A. Main stumbling block is what will be the official posture of U.S. diplomats in Havana with respect to opposition figures? Cuba's dissident movement is financed in part by the U.S. taxpayer. As we have stated on the blog in prior postings, there are two dissident movements in Cuba. One is genuine and the other is orchestrated and propped by us.

B. Challenges for both sides on Human Rights. How does the United States promote those human rights ideals without the Cubans being mistrustful? How can Cuba see ideals like free press, pluralism, allowing an opposition to exist without interpreting these as a threat to Cuban sovereignty? One Cuban commented to me, "if there are multiple political parties in Cuba, that means one will be controlled and manipulated by Cubans in Miami. That is not acceptable." Where is my copy of the Federalist Papers in Spanish edition?

C. What are the limits on Human Rights in diplomatic negotiations? The United States does not apply the same conditions on China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, or other authoritarian nations. Why is this standard being applied to Cuba?

What is Negotiable. What is Not.

D. Cuban President Raul Castro used a negotiating tactic to drive a point home of what is and what is not negotiable. He stated that a Cuban demand for normalization is the return of Guantanamo Bay. The United States responded in kind, stating that the topic is not on the bargaining table now. Similarly, Cuba explains, its political system is not on the bargaining table either.

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/01/23/at-odds-on-human-rights-us-and-cuba-move-toward-embassies

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0KV0E720150122

2) U.S. Congressional Hearings

Three Congressional hearings were held, one in the U.S. Senate, and two in the House. Testimony was mostly heard from Cuban dissident figures. The opposition's main argument is that Cuban dissidents do not support the U.S. opening with Cuba and the U.S. did not get anything in return for the opening. Testimony at the hearing revealed the contrary, while there are some dissidents who do not support U.S. engagement, many do support the opening. In fact, one dissident admonished the United States not to get involved with Cuban internal politics, that this is a matter for Cubans only.
In another example of the dark influence of money in politics, most Members of Congress who were critical of the Administration's opening had two things in common; except for the Cuban American hardliners, they had never visited Cuba and many had received major contributions from the pro-sanctions U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC. Where they fell short in their presentations was the fact that their questioning and posturing was rehearsed and staged for the most part. You can tell when a Member of Congress is authentically taking a position and when one is not. Kudos to the U.S. State Department team that kept their cool and focus while being bullied by certain members of the committees during the hearings.

One subsequent fallout from the hearings for the dissidents was the repudiation and demand by members of the Ladies in White in Havana for the resignation of its leader, Ms. Berta Soler. Mrs. Soler, who testified before Congress, is a Cuban dissident who supports keeping the U.S. embargo and sanctions policy in place and receives funding from foreign sources.

http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/understanding-the-impact-of-us-policy-changes-on-human-rights-and-democracy-in-cuba

http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/hearing-cuba-assessing-administration-s-sudden-shift

http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-human-rights-cuba-squandered-opportunity

https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2014&cmte=C00387720

3) U.S. Congress Introduce Bipartisan Bills to end Embargo and lift Travel Restrictions

S. 299 - Freedom to travel to Cuba Act of 2015 - Senator Jeff Flake (R-Az)
H.R. 664 - Companion Bill - Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

S.491 - A bill to lift the trade embargo on Cuba - Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Mn)

H.R. 634 & H,R. 635 - Export Enhancements Acts to Cuba - Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

H.R. 403 - Free Trade with Cuba Act -Rep. Charles Rangel

H.R. 735 - Lift Trade Embargo -Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY)

H.R. 570 - Stop Wasting Taxpayer Money on Cuba Broadcasting Act

It is going to take serious and committed grassroots and interests lobbying to get these bills passed.
The triangle of moderate Cuban Americans flanked by business interests on one side and non governmental organizations and think tanks on the other side must be unified and engaged if they are going to overcome the money and influence of the smaller but still powerful pro-embargo side in Congress.

4) U.S. Amends Cuban Assets Control Regulations to Permit Importation of Certain Goods and Services from Cuba Provided They are Provided and or Created by Private Enterprise Sources.

http://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/cuba/515582/index.htm

Consistent with the January OFAC Regulations expanding travel to Cuba, more guidance is offered on what "Support for the Cuban People" means. See 31 CFR 515 sections 515.560 (a)(8) and 31 CFR 515.574. http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=0feb595cb5a5992928afeb85c62b98c6&node=pt31.3.515&rgn=div5

With certain product exceptions, many goods and services created and provided by Cubans engaged in self employment and private enterprise may sell and export them to the United States.

Americans can travel to Cuba to support and engage these private Cuban entities. Clearly from the regulations, they are being empowered to do so now.

5) Congressional Delegations Visit Cuba

Since the announcement of December 17th, three Congressional delegations, two Senate, one House have visited Cuba. We believe the more Members of Congress that visit Cuba, the better. One thing that virtually all conclude from visiting the island, our sanctions policies of embargo, travel restrictions, and hostility have done nothing to change Cuba or improve the lives of the Cuban people.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/16/politics/congressional-delegation-travels-to-cuba/

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2015/02/nancy-pelosi-leads-congressional-delegation-to-cuba.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/17/us-cuba-usa-idUSKBN0LL1K120150217

United States Cuba Relations: The Genie Is Out Of The Bottle

2015-01-15T09:54:00.002-05:00

We will have comment and analysis forthcoming. However, the bottomline is that Americans can now engage Cuba in meaningful ways. Americans can travel to Cuba with minimal bureaucratic hassle and good faith compliance now...

FACT SHEET: Treasury and Commerce Announce Regulatory Amendments to the Cuba Sanctions

1/15/2015

Amendments Implement Changes Announced by the President on December 17 Related to the Easing of Cuba Sanctions

WASHINGTON - On December 17, 2014 the President announced a set of diplomatic and economic changes to chart a new course in U.S. relations with Cuba and to further engage and empower the Cuban people. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce today are announcing the forthcoming publication of the revised Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which implement the changes announced on December 17 to the sanctions administered by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). The changes take effect tomorrow, when the regulations are published in the Federal Register.

These measures will facilitate travel to Cuba for authorized purposes, facilitate the provision by travel agents and airlines of authorized travel services and the forwarding by certain entities of authorized remittances, raise the limits on and generally authorize certain categories of remittances to Cuba, allow U.S. financial institutions to open correspondent accounts at Cuban financial institutions to facilitate the processing of authorized transactions, authorize certain transactions with Cuban nationals located outside of Cuba, and allow a number of other activities related to, among other areas, telecommunications, financial services, trade, and shipping. Persons must comply with all provisions of the revised regulations; violations of the terms and conditions could result in penalties under U.S. law.

To see the Treasury regulations, which can be found at 31 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 515, please see here. To see the Commerce regulations, which can be found at 15 CFR parts 730-774, please see here. The regulations will be effective as of Friday, January 16. Major elements of the changes in the revised regulations include:

Travel –

In all 12 existing categories of authorized travel, travel previously authorized by specific license will be authorized by general license, subject to appropriate conditions. This means that individuals who meet the conditions laid out in the regulations will not need to apply for a license to travel to Cuba.
These categories are: family visits; official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations; journalistic activity; professional research and professional meetings; educational activities; religious activities; public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions; support for the Cuban people; humanitarian projects; activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes; exportation, importation, or transmission of information or information materials; and certain authorized export transactions.
The per diem rate previously imposed on authorized travelers will no longer apply, and there is no specific dollar limit on authorized expenses. Authorized travelers will be allowed to engage in transactions ordinarily incident to travel within Cuba, including payment of living expenses and the acquisition in Cuba of goods for personal consumption there.
Additionally, travelers will now be allowed to use U.S. credit and debit cards in Cuba.

Travel and Carrier Services –

Travel agents and airlines will be authorized to provide authorized travel and air carrier services without the need for a specific license from OFAC.

Insurance –

U.S. insurers will be authorized to provide coverage for global health, life, or travel insurance policies for individuals ordinarily resident in a third country who travel to or within Cuba. Health, life, and travel insurance-related services will continue to be permitted for authorized U.S. travelers to Cuba.

Importation of Goods –

Authorized U.S. travelers to Cuba will be allowed to import up to $400 worth of goods acquired in Cuba for personal use. This includes no more than $100 of alcohol or tobacco products.

Telecommunications –

In order to better provide efficient and adequate telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba, a new OFAC general license will facilitate the establishment of commercial telecommunications facilities linking third countries and Cuba and in Cuba.
The commercial export of certain items that will contribute to the ability of the Cuban people to communicate with people within Cuba, in the United States, and the rest of the world will be authorized under a new Commerce license exception (Support for the Cuban People (SCP)) without requiring a license. This will include the commercial sale of certain consumer communications devices, related software, applications, hardware, and services, and items for the establishment and update of communications-related systems.
Additional services incident to internet-based communications and related to certain exportations and reexportations of communications items will also be authorized by OFAC general license.

Consumer Communications Devices –

Commercial sales, as well as donations, of the export and reexport of consumer communications devices that enable the flow of information to from and among the Cuban people – such as personal computers, mobile phones, televisions, memory devices, recording devices, and consumer software – will be authorized under Commerce’s Consumer Communication Devices (CCD) license exception instead of requiring licenses.

Financial Services –

Depository institutions will be permitted to open and maintain correspondent accounts at a financial institution that is a national of Cuba to facilitate the processing of authorized transactions.
U.S. financial institutions will be authorized to enroll merchants and process credit and debit card transactions for travel-related and other transactions consistent with section 515.560 of the CACR. These measures will improve the speed and efficiency of authorized payments between the United States and Cuba.

Remittances –

The limits on generally licensed remittances to Cuban nationals other than certain prohibited Cuban Government and Cuban Communist Party officials will be increased from $500 to $2,000 per quarter.

Certain remittances to Cuban nationals for humanitarian projects, support for the Cuban people, or development of private businesses will be generally authorized without limitation. These general licenses will allow remittances for humanitarian projects in or related to Cuba that are designed to directly benefit the Cuban people; to support the Cuban people through activities of recognized human rights organizations, independent organizations designed to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy, and activities of individuals and non-governmental organizations that promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba; and to support the development of private businesses, including small farms.

Authorized travelers will be allowed to carry with them to Cuba $10,000 in total family remittances, periodic remittances, remittances to religious organizations in Cuba, and remittances to students in Cuba pursuant to an educational license.
Under an expanded general license, banking institutions, including U.S.-registered brokers or dealers in securities and U.S.-registered money transmitters, will be permitted to process authorized remittances to Cuba without having to apply for a specific license.

Third-Country Effects –

U.S.-owned or -controlled entities in third countries, including banks, will be authorized to provide goods and services to an individual Cuban national located outside of Cuba, provided the transaction does not involve a commercial exportation of goods or services to or from Cuba.
OFAC will generally authorize the unblocking of accounts of Cuban nationals who have permanently relocated outside of Cuba.
OFAC is issuing a general license that will authorize transactions related to third-country conferences attended by Cuban nationals.
In addition, a general license will authorize foreign vessels to enter the United States after engaging in certain trade with Cuba.

Small Business Growth –

Certain micro-financing projects and entrepreneurial and business training, such as for private business and agricultural operations, will be authorized.
Also, commercial imports of certain independent Cuban entrepreneur-produced goods and services, as determined by the State Department on a list to be published on its website, will be authorized.

“Cash in Advance” –

The regulatory interpretation of “cash in advance” is being redefined from “cash before shipment” to “cash before transfer of title to, and control of,” the exported items to allow expanded financing of authorized trade with Cuba.

Supporting Diplomatic Relations and USG Official Business –

The President announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. To facilitate that process, OFAC is adding a general license authorizing transactions with Cuban official missions and their employees in the United States.
In addition, in an effort to support important U.S. government interests, an expanded general license will authorize Cuba-related transactions by employees, grantees, and contractors of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain international organizations in their official capacities.

Support for the Cuban People –

Exports and reexports to provide support for the Cuban people in three areas: improving living conditions and supporting independent economic activity; strengthening civil society; and improving communications – will be eligible under Commerce’s SCP license exception.
To improve living conditions and support independent economic activity, SCP will authorize: (1) building materials, equipment, and tools for use by the private sector to construct or renovate privately-owned buildings, including privately-owned residences, businesses, places of worship, and building for private sector social or recreational use; (2) tools and equipment for private agricultural activity; and (3) tools, equipment, supplies, and instruments for use by private sector entrepreneurs.
To strengthen civil society, SCP will authorize export and reexport of donated items and temporary export and reexport by travelers to Cuba of items for use in scientific, archaeological, cultural, ecological, educational, historic preservation, or sporting activities. SCP will also authorize exports and reexports to human rights organizations, individuals, or non-governmental organizations that promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society.
Travelers will also be able to export temporarily items for use in professional research in the traveler’s profession or full time field of study under SCP. The activities or research must not be related to items on the United States Munitions List or items controlled for sensitive reasons on the Commerce Control List.
To improve communications, SCP will authorize exports and reexports of items for use by news media personnel and U.S. news bureaus.
SCP will not authorize the export of items on the Commerce Control List for sensitive reasons such as national security, nuclear proliferation, regional stability, missile technology, and other reasons of similar sensitivity.

Gift Parcels –

Consolidated shipments of gift parcels will be eligible for the same Commerce license exception that authorizes individual gift parcels.

Liberalizing License Application Review Policy –

Commerce will set forth a general policy of approval for applications to export or reexport items necessary for the environmental protection or enhancement of U.S. and international air and water quality or coastlines (including items that enhance environmental quality through energy efficiency).

United States Cuba Relations: A Transformative 2014 and the Promise of 2015

2014-12-31T13:17:00.000-05:00

For this end of year posting we interviewed Antonio C. Martinez II., Attorney, Political Consultant, and Editor of USCubaPolitics.com to discuss the historical moments of December 2014 and what bodes next for Cuba policy in the U.S. Congress, the Obama Administration, and the 2016 elections on the horizon:

1. In light of the announcement of December 17^th of the restoration of diplomatic relations what is likely to happen in the 114^th Congress?

On May 2, 2012, we published here “The Freedom of Alan Gross and The Cuban Five” which was a dramatic portrayal of events forecasted in the future. (see http://www.uscubapolitics.com/2012/05/united-states-cuba-relations-freedom-of.html ) I was very pleased that the envisioned scenario then pretty much played out in real life two and half years later. I understand now why the White House did not acknowledge the letter I had sent it earlier this year outlining this scenario. Alan Gross came back home to his family. The remaining three of the Cuban Five went home to theirs. One of them will be a new father to a baby girl soon thanks to the humanitarian effort of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) and his staff. The Cuban government also released political prisoners and freed a Cuban intelligence officer who had served the CIA and sent him to the United States. So there was a balance in the actual deal.

2. Why did President Obama take this action?

I believe he wisely chose to take a principled stand to end our incongruent and hypocritical foreign policy. He clearly saw that it was time to do a reset of our relations with Cuba. The crisis of Alan Gross’ and the Cuban Five’s imprisonment gave the opening to transform the relationship. The “adults in the room” prevailed. That began with providing immediate relief to the individuals caught in the sordid web that has been our relations with Cuba. Emotional maturity prevailed. Logic and reason prevailed.

This was a correction of the flawed narrative that had developed on U.S. Cuba relations—that somehow we could force Cuba to change its way of government and its political leadership through sanctions by a policy driven by Cuban Americans here in the U.S. and using the U.S. taxpayer to support it. More than one billion tax dollars have been spent on our failed U.S. Cuba policies. Billions more have been lost by both countries. By extension, it was like the Cuban Revolution of 1959 never ended but was carried over between Miami and Havana via Washington DC. A valuable lesson has been learned. Political and economic isolation to achieve regime change does not work and in Latin America is just more salt in the wounds of our dark history as a country that supports coups and installing our preferred dictators. Latin America wants partnership with the United States, not to be its client. The sooner we embrace the notion, the better the entire hemisphere will be.

President Obama seized the opportunity to make history as being the U.S. President that restored diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than five decades and began the process of ending the embargo. I believe we will see more history made in the remaining two years of his term.

3. Cuban dissidents feel the U.S. betrayed them by this act of recognizing the Cuban government. Was this a betrayal?

President Obama did not betray anyone. He was acting in the strategic and best interests of the United States, which is what his job is to do. He chose not to continue a policy that does not work. When more Americans go to Cuba to visit now, they will discover for themselves the challenges that the Cuban people face and compare it to what they had been told as part of the narrative. Through the natural ebb and flow of travel and trade, we will be able to positively influence Cuba instead of trying to interfere with it.

4. At the time of this interview, the Cuban government shut down the proposed #YoTambienExijo public demonstration in Havana that was to occur on December 30, 2014 and arrested or detained organizers. Could acts like this sabotage the normalization process?

Possibly. However, lets look at what happened. The White House has rightfully condemned these events. I would say to our Cuban friends, what are you afraid of by having an open microphone in a public square and letting your citizens speak their minds freely without fear of arrest or harassment? I believe the Cubans perceive any sort of demonstration that is connected to Cuban Americans and this one has such a connection is a contrived and orchestrated event organized indirectly by the United States. You have to understand the history that is involved here. The Cubans won’t tolerate what they perceive is interference from foreigners. So instead of an act of airing grievances and aspirations, to them it is somehow inauthentic because of the U.S. connections. I recall something that I was told when I have been in Cuba, that there are actually two dissident movements. There is one that is relatively a small group of people who rely on U.S. support and do not have an audience or major following on the island. Then there is a much larger dissident movement which reflects the majority of the population. It is tired and frustrated by the limitations imposed upon them by their own government and the U.S. embargo. We must not allow events like this to drive this normalization effort off course. There will probably be efforts to divert the normalization effort from its conclusion. We just need to get ourselves out of the way and extend the hand of friendship and we will be able to positively influence Cuba for the better. There is a Cuban saying, “todo se consigue por las buenas” or “you can better get what you want through goodwill".

5. What is likely to happen in the new 114^th Congress and Republican Majority?

Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fl), Rafael Eduardo “Ted” Cruz (R-Tx), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fl), Albio Sires (D-NJ), and newly elected Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fl) all have gone on record as being against lifting the embargo and the establishment of diplomatic relations. They have stated they intend to block and obfuscate all efforts to allow these relations to develop through Congressional action. They may get some traction and trade their votes on issues with other members for support for theirs on Cuba, but in the long run, their unprincipled and hypocritical stands will come out and that will be why they ultimately fail. If I were a U.S. Senator who supports President Obama’s initiative with Cuba, I would have a series of amendments to offer during the debate. These would be amendments to call on cutting off diplomatic relations and trade with every country that we say is autocratic, communist, or violates human rights. I would also ask on the floor of these Members when was the last time they visited Havana? Every member of the press and media should be asking the same questions of any Member of Congress. When were you last in Havana, Cuba? This will drive home the point that if they are going to vote on U.S. Cuba issues, how can they properly arrive at an informed, independent, judgment without even first visiting the country? The hardliners will have more success in the House because of the rules of that body of Congress limit amendments, but all Members can speak on the floor.

6. What can the average person who supports normalization and lifting the embargo can do with respect to Congress?

-The single most important thing you can do as a constituent is request that your Senators and Representative in Congress personally visit Cuba to assess the sanctions and whether the embargo should be lifted. The more Members of Congress who visit Cuba will likely arrive at the same conclusion that is the overwhelming majority of those who visit Cuba. The embargo has not worked and it should be lifted as quickly as possible. Engagement is better than isolation. This constituent inoculation should help stave off the dark influence of political money and hamstringing in Congress that will go on to stop normalization.

-Work with groups who support this kind of grassroots activity. I had been particularly critical of some of these groups and NGOs as to their effectiveness. However, their efforts cumulatively helped move the normalization debate in the right direction and I have to acknowledge and recognize their contributions.

-Because there is pro-embargo/anti-engagement campaign money circulating, the pro-normalization side must step up its political game too. Cuban American moderates led by groups like CAFÉ and CubaNow should evolve politically to lead voter registration efforts in New Jersey and Florida. There must be commitments made to candidates who support engagement and lifting the embargo. The opposition is marshalling its forces in Congress and on the campaign trail. The challenge out there for 2016 will be which side of the Cuban American electorate can deliver votes and money and most importantly determine the election?

7. What were the take away lessons from the November 2014 elections with respect to U.S. Cuba relations?

There were two elections of import to the issue. The first was the Florida Governor’s race. The second was the Garcia-Curbelo Congressional race in the 26^th CD in Florida. While pro-engagement candidate Charlie Crist did receive the majority of the Cuban American vote in the election, it was not enough to get him to victory. So there is the lesson of delivering votes and money again, but more importantly being a determining factor in an election outcome.

Joe Garcia ran a flawed campaign and entered into it hobbled by scandals around him concerning his staff. His U.S. Cuba policy flaws were several. He was half pregnant on the issue of Cuba, supporting travel and engagement but also supporting the embargo. He ran a political ad with a Cuban dissident which probably was not a smart move. He allied himself with his political enemies. Why would he ever allow himself to be photographed with Mario Diaz-Balart or Ileana Ros Lehtinen, when those two were only thinking about how to defeat Garcia from the moment he was first sworn in?

Carlos Curbelo had the advantage then in the race. However, he has no independence of thought on Cuba as he is owned by the hardliners and his family history on this issue. He has never been to Cuba himself so how can he ever objectively determine if sanctions work? He is trapped by history and apparent ignorance. He intends to make fighting President Obama on Cuba the hallmark of his freshman term. We will see if that was a wise political move.

If Garcia challenges Curbelo in a rematch or whoever challenges Curbelo in 2016, my advice to the candidate is go all in on Cuba. Spend these next two years creating and seeding jobs in the district related to Cuba opening. In Florida there is going to be an economic multiplier because of the Cuba opening. Let Curbelo’s intransigence be his weakness at the ballot box in November 2016.

8. What about the issues of American fugitives in Cuba? Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) recently called upon President Obama to demand the extradition of Joanne Chesimard from Cuba.

In the scenario I wrote in May 2012, the return of American fugitives was part of the bargain that was struck. The reality is more complicated. The benefit of having normal relations is that we can have an extradition treaty in place between both countries. I hope Governor Christie actually studies the history of this issue more as he will discover that New Jersey was once a hotbed of Cuban American related violence and bombing in the late 70’s and early 80’s. There is even a still unsolved murder of one Cuban American from Hudson County, NJ named Eulalio Negrin, whose offense at the time was his support and efforts to reconcile Cubans and travel to Cuba to visit relatives. There is information that requires intervention at the highest levels to get released that could help solve another murder, of a Cuban American killed in Puerto Rico, Carlos Muniz Varela. The other challenge we have is that we have given refuge to Cubans who were involved with the downing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 and other acts of sabotage and terror in Cuba. So it is a complicated conversation.

Hopefully we will work out something with the Cubans where there will be no more fugitives. I think whatever fugitives we can get extradited back to face justice ie. those recently involved with Medicare fraud, we should pursue that in the negotiations.

9. What happens to the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA)?

It can no longer be justified. Democrats should offer amendments on immigration bills that would provide the same benefits of the CAA to America’s twelve million undocumented immigrants who are already here. Why shouldn’t the wet foot dry foot policy apply to them too? The CAA is essentially legal amnesty now. Anti-immigrant Republicans will have a hard time reconciling the CAA which creates a pathway to citizenship for Cubans, but not support legislation that does the same for others, especially Hispanic immigrants.

As for Cubans who truly face political persecution, there is ample authority under current law to provide political asylum.

10. What about claims and reparations for nationalized properties?

This is going to be complicated. However it should be solved with creativity and flexibility. The capital to pay off claims must be raised. So the issue will be how to do that in a mutually beneficial way. As much as we will ask the Cubans how they intend to compensate our claims, I am wondering what we are going to hear from the Cubans on the other side of this. History will come into the conversations. For example, most do not know that when Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown in 1959, he and members of his government and their families took with them approximately one billion dollars from the Cuban Treasury at the time. Allegedly more than $464 million of those monies were deposited in U.S. bank accounts. What happens to that stolen money? So as we claim for properties that were stolen or taken from Americans, Cubans are going to ask the same of us. Both sides will need to get past this history.

11. What happens in Cuba next?

With diplomatic and normal relations, things should improve. Justifications for repression and siege mentality in Cuba should begin to lift. I am confident that Cubans will figure it out. There are 11 million people living on the island and about 3 million abroad, most in the United States and with great economic power to bear on the island. So you have an interesting demographic situation where a nation finds twenty percent of its people reside abroad. Reconciliation of the Cuban family and nation should be the focus, in spite of whatever anyone thinks about the Castros. We made U.S. Cuba relations about the Castros and where did that get us? Better as Cuba’s friend and respectful of their sovereignty we can actually influence them and offer them our counsel and opinions and work together where we can to increase economic activity and solve medical and scientific challenges.

We do not have to do much for people to know that pluralism of ideas is the natural order of man’s thinking and exists. It must be tolerated in a truly free society. Also we must show that political power should circulate. Do the Castros really want their legacy to be that they established a dynasty of autocratic power in Cuba, which would be contrary to everything they said was about their Cuban Revolution? One benefit of stopping our own hypocrisy is that congruency allows one to point out hypocrisy elsewhere with integrity. In the air of normal relations, I believe Cuba will be fully open to and explore the question – can their economy be saved with more capitalism added to it? I think the answer is yes, provided that it springs from a Cuban and not any foreigner. That does not mean that we cannot stimulate conversation or show examples to drive the point across. Political and economic extremes are not useful and are actually self destructive to the society. So instead of rubbing it in their faces, which no one likes, we can have more rational and intelligent conversations about how peoples and nations can progress.

12. What are the next evolutions of President Obama’s U.S. Cuba agenda?

I think the next rounds of conversations that we will have with Cuba will continue to be productive. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Roberta Jacobson will lead those negotiations at the end of January. That should lead to a historic Summit of the Americas in April. I predict a Presidential visit to Havana is in store before President Obama leaves office. 2015 will be another historic year for U.S. Cuba relations.

______________________________

“We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought” – John F Kennedy.

“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations...entangling alliances with none” – Thomas Jefferson

United States Cuba Relations: The U.S. and Cuba Have an "Adults in the Room" Moment

2014-12-17T13:12:00.000-05:00

As we had predicted here and posted on this blog in May, 2012 in The Freedom of Alan Gross and The Cuban Five, peace and courage have prevailed and Alan Gross is back in the U.S. and the remaining three of the Cuban Five have been freed and sent back to Cuba! This historic moment for the resetting of relations and the opportunity to meaningfully engage Cuba bodes well for the future. Emotional and intellectual maturity have prevailed over political posturing, denial, and egos. This was no easy task.

We salute President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and the team who worked very hard to resolve these human issues. Very serious hard work remains to be done. Similarly, those who oppose this rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba on Capitol Hill will be able to throw obstacles on the normalization pathway that finally begins to unfold. We will have a year end overview and outlook, including analysis of this announcement by President Obama and what the new makeup of Congress will have in store for U.S. Cuba relations.

On a personal note, this year has been one of challenges and growth. We look forward to resuming publishing regular updates and analysis. We welcome the participation of other similarly minded writers who are interested in working with us.

-Tony Martinez, Editor

United States Cuba Relations: Great Expectations in Miami March 15th

2014-03-10T06:36:00.003-05:00

This weekend March 15, 2014, a very important meeting will take place in Miami, FL where Cuban Americans For Engagement CAFE, will lead a conference of individuals from various groups and the Cuban American moderate community with the purpose to develop ways to improve U.S. Cuba relations. This translates actually to the lifting of travel restrictions and an end to the insane embargo that just about everyone agrees should end. However, the hardline in Miami and Union City disagrees and actually controls these issues . The challenge will be how to get there. For more than ten years there have been meetings like the one that is about to take place. With much fanfare and excitement, the community seemingly gets together, but then the follow through has been paltry and segregated. The results speak for themselves. The status quo remains the same. For as many people who will attend, thousands of others and the media will be watching to see just how serious this effort is going to be.

During next weekend's meeting, participants must choose to be different than other past conferences. If there is going to be a real campaign to change U.S. Cuba relations, those attending must leave that conference united in a single purpose and focused on taking genuine committed action to actually achieve what everyone says they want. Lifting the travel restrictions will require an Act of Congress. Lifting the embargo will require an Act of Congress. President Obama has done whatever he is going to do on Cuba. There is no political justification yet for the Administration to do more. No poll, petition, email, or phone call can make that happen unless we also have the voters and politicians elected to make that a reality. The dark and true reality is the reverse. There is a voting bloc that elects politicians and contributes to keep the restrictions and embargo in place. While the pro-embargo anti U.S. Cuba engagement side is annoyed by the Atlantic Council's recent poll showing overwhelming support to end the embargo, it still holds the cards and has the Congressional politicians to hold the policy in place. They will only be concerned by one thing - how serious this conference will be and will it result in raising money and organizing votes to change our policies. U.S. Cuba relations will go nowhere unless the pro-embargo constituency is ultimately challenged and defeated at the ballot box. NGOs, think tanks, and academics writing from ivory towers will not change this political reality either nor can they provide the leadership required to enact political change.

In this election year, such a conference's effectiveness ultimately can only be measured by how many voters it will register in this election cycle and turnout to vote. How can this group actually influence and win elections? That is the challenge before this constituency. Moreover, the critical question on how many political donors such a conference can create is one to pursue since everyone who is either a Legal Permanent Resident or a U.S. Citizen can legally make a political contribution under Federal election law. With more than 400,000 traveling to Cuba legally each year, why aren't there at least as many political contributions being made? With that many and more Americans and Cuban Americans who favor unrestricted travel to Cuba, a political contribution of the equivalent of a night out at the movies $20-$30 per person can actually add up to some serious political capital in Washington DC, especially in an election year. Everyone gets to be politically influential in such a scenario. Who are going to unite and lead this community to electoral victory?

May Cuban Americans and Americans who think alike unite like never before in a common purpose to bring an end to failed policies and reconcile two countries long divided for far too long. Whatever aspirations we may have for Cuba, nothing good has come or will come from our politics of isolation and revenge. Democracy has no roots in travel restrictions or an embargo. Time to play the game to win.

"Once more unto the breach dear friends. Once more..." - Henry V- Shakespeare

United States Cuba Relations: Please Come to Miami for Sunshine and CAFE March 15, 2014

2014-02-24T19:25:00.002-05:00

Cuban Americans For Engagement (CAFE)
CONFERENCE UPDATE & EARLY REGISTRATION

February 19, 2014

The time is right to get engaged! Everyone is doing it!
More than 64% of Miami-Dade County wants to!
Let's do it! In Miami, March 15th.
RSVP NOW!!

The last few weeks we've seen a whirlwind of activity in favor of normalizing government relations and healing human relationships across the Florida Straits. The Atlantic Council's Public Opinion Poll exposed the fallacy of the "Florida vote" excuse for maintaining the embargo. Senators Flake and Leahy published an op-ed in the Miami Herald, supporting normalization. Senators, Sanders, Tester and Heitkamp returned from Cuba calling for renewed relations. Florida Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist shined a spotlight on his campaign by announcing his anti-embargo platform. And let's not forget Alfy Fanjul openly displaying his capacity for dialogue. He is not alone.

Cuban Americans For Engagement, joined by FORNORM, Generacion Cambio Cubano & Cuba Educational Travel invite you to the Sofitel Hotel of Miami to participate in the one-day conference/gathering

“US/Cuba Relations, the Second Obama Administration:

The Cuban-American Community and changes in Cuba-Building bridges for better relations.”

Early Bird lunch discount before March 1st Email: cafeconferencia@gmail.com

Here's a sampling of panelists!

Silvia Wilhelm- Founder and Executive Director of Puentes Cubanos Inc. and of the Cuban-American Commission for Family Rights.

Antonio Zamora- Author of What I Learned About Cuba By Going To Cuba, Law Professor at FIU, and co-owner of CubaNews.

Dr. Guillermo Grenier- FIU Professor, author, and lead investigator of FIU Cuba Poll, cosponsored by Cuban Research Institute.

Yasmin Portales- Coordinator Proyecto Arcoiris/Rainbow Project, blogger, and participant of Red Observatorio Crítico.

Roberto Veiga & Lenier González- Editors of Espacio Laical, publication of the Archbishop of Havana.

United States Cuba Relations: Is the Cuban Embargo Eternal?

2014-01-08T15:50:00.000-05:00

By: Tim Ashby, Senior Research Fellow for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Former senior official at the United States Commerce Department, and current best-selling author.

Commenting on the recent passing of Nelson Mandela, President Obama referred to the legendary South African figure as “one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth.” Yet, until just five years ago, Mr. Mandela was on the U.S. terror watch list, a grossly anachronistic Cold War absurdity equaled only by the continuation of Cuba on the same discredited list. Sadly, despite fundamental changes both in Cuba and the global geo-strategic balance, the Caribbean island will probably remain as an “enemy” for decades to come due to the rigidities of U.S. domestic politics and the lack of immediate incentives to propel change.

The position that the Obama administration holds, just as its predecessors did, is that Cuba is intrinsically different from any of its adversaries in the Cold War and thus requires an unremitting campaign of hostility. It seems that it is well beyond the ability of the White House to mobilize credible strategies to cure a diplomatic paralysis that seemingly has lasted forever. We now know, despite what the administration has stated on scores of prior occasions, that it will never allow an entente cordiale to develop between Washington and Havana unless the Castro leadership eliminates itself. This stipulation has never yet seen itself applied in various versions, but has never entirely been different from the likes of Iran or North Korea. That is why we must take note of the fact that the embargo aimed at Havana may be more of a political strategy than an economic one. If it were economic, it would be even more open to a rational solution than has proven to be the case.

Cuba Has Changed on Its Own Accord, Not Because of the Creativity of US Policy

The U.S. trade embargo has done enduring damage to Cuba’s economy, with the effects of sanctions being registered every day by Cubans and by international businesses engaged in commercial transactions with their governments. Despite U.S. efforts to strangle the island’s economy, over the past five years, Cuba has undertaken a multitude of inventive economic, fiscal and social reforms. Despite some setbacks, small, private businesses are beginning to thrive, ordinary Cubans can buy and sell real estate and motor vehicles, Cubans can travel abroad without fear of being denied reentry to their country. There is a new sense of optimism about the future, in which the bests of two worlds will be brought forth.

The generation of Cubans born after the Revolution is increasingly well educated and generally more aware of other economic and political systems. Most will readily admit that the original communist economic model has failed, and they are now at least cautiously optimistic that it is being gradually replaced by a model that will incorporate the positive goals of the Revolution – universal education, health care, social equality – with an expansion of market forces.

Despite over half a century of active hostility by the U.S. and decades of purportedly subversive activities, Cuba has cooperated with the U.S. in a variety of areas including drug interdiction and hurricane warnings. The island has also been a market for billions of dollars of American exports, despite the fact that the trade is overwhelmingly one way (Cuban imports are illegal in the United States).

U.S. Policy – Hypocrisy and Timidity

Last month (November 2013) President Obama was the honored guest at a private fundraiser held at the Miami home of Jorge Mas, president of the Cuban American National Foundation. Obama’s remarks were specific about the need for U.S. policy change towards Cuba, but were muddled over how it would be manifested, indicating how tangled and confused Washington policy remained. Obama declared:

“We’ve started to see changes on the island. Now, I think we all understand that, ultimately, freedom in Cuba will come because of extraordinary activists and the incredible courage of folks like we see here today. But the United States can help. And we have to be creative. And we have to be thoughtful. And we have to continue to update our policies. Keep in mind that when Castro came to power, I was just born. So the notion that the same policies that we put in place in 1961 would somehow still be as effective as they are today in the age of the Internet and Google and world travel doesn’t make sense.”

While the president’s remarks were greeted by warm applause from the largely Cuban-American audience, they are merely rhetorical – a reworking of hackneyed phrases dating back to Obama’s days as a senator. The radical wing of Cuban-Americans represented by politicians such as Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Senator Robert Menendez perpetuate a feral mentality that would only disappear with the overthrow of the Cuban government and its replacement by descendants of those who ruled Cuba under Batista. For example, former Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart (ironically, Fidel Castro’s nephew), is obsessed with becoming President of Cuba. While serving as a U.S. Congressman, he openly advocated the assassination of Fidel Castro (illegal under U.S. law), he defended Velentin Hernández, who was convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government. He also lobbied extensively for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, a bona fide and self-admitted terrorist who was involved in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455 which killed 78 passengers.

No Change Can Be Expected

Regardless of who succeeds Obama as president, Washington’s anachronistic policy towards Cuba can be expected to continue even with the inevitable succession of a new generation of leaders on the island. The Cuban embargo has been a treasured legacy passed from Republicans to Democrats and back. Nevertheless, most U.S. politicians have no idea why they should continue to support the embargo. It is now part of the American cultural and social legacy, Monday Night Football.

During one of the author’s visits to Cuba, a senior official told with a bitter shake of his grey head: “Your government will never be satisfied even if we [the Cuban government] stood on the Malecón with pistols to our heads and blew our brains out.”

The U.S. propensity to act with dignity and provide a solution to diplomatic problems in other parts of the world seems to be beyond Washington’s ability when applied to Cuba. Washington would be wise to understand that, if it has any hope for even a remotely respectable policy towards Cuba, it must give up its lunatic stance that has no prospects for success or respectability.

Tim Ashby, Senior Research Fellow for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, former counter-terrorism consultant at the State Department, and current best-selling author.

This article is a contribution from the Council On Hemispheric Affairs. Reprinted with permission.

United States Cuba Relations: Alan Gross' Fourth Anniversary - Negotiations and a Vision for his Freedom

2013-12-03T14:14:00.001-05:00

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Alan Gross' imprisonment in Cuba. This crisis should be an opportunity to transform the U.S. Cuba relationship for the better and bring the human beings caught in the U.S. Cuba web home. It is an encouraging sign that sixty six United States Senators have expressed support for President Obama to conduct negotiations in principle with Cuba to get Alan Gross home.

We republish our blog posting from May 2, 2012 where we describe a dramatic portrayal of a future we hope will one day be a reality and Alan Gross comes home as told by the President of the United States in a Presidential Press Conference:

THE WHITE HOUSE
EAST ROOM

STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENTS WITH CUBA

THE PRESIDENT [joined by the Secretary of State and several Cuban American individuals at the podium]

Good morning. I have an announcement about our relations with Cuba and several important developments to share with you and the American people. A little more than one hour ago, a U.S. government jet left Havana, Cuba bound for Washington DC carrying American Alan Gross who has been freed by the Government of Cuba. I spoke with Mr. Gross by telephone and told him we were glad that he is finally coming home. He is being brought home accompanied by the U.S. Special Envoy to Cuba and the Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. I know his wife and family are finally relieved that his imprisonment is over and shortly, the Gross family will be reunited. I want to thank the hard work of our diplomats and the Secretary of State for a job well done and what I have been told were long and oftentimes difficult negotiations. I spoke with Cuban leader Raul Castro and told him these were important steps forward and more needs to be taken on both sides. The cause of Mr. Gross’ imprisonment, a well intended, but ill advised and failed program to support democracy in Cuba has been suspended indefinitely. If we are going to be a positive and constructive influence for democracy in Cuba, it must be through other ways.

Similarly, I want to announce that I have exercised my authority as President of the United States to pardon five Cuban nationals, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González, each who were convicted of several crimes here back in 2001. As we speak now, they are on a private plane headed to Havana to be returned to their families. I have made this decision after personally reviewing the files and case histories of these five men, discussing this matter with individuals with differing views as well as having heard from numerous world leaders on this case. I have determined that it is in the best interests of the United States that these men be returned to Cuba and end this ongoing controversy once and for all. There can be no real improvement of relations between both countries without a resolution of the human issues that have been present on both sides. Clearly Alan Gross’ imprisonment and the imprisonment of these five Cubans here in the U.S. were stumbling blocks that made any significant progress unlikely.

I know this decision will not sit well with some folks in Miami, FL and Union City, NJ. However, I have to point out that these steps being taken are supported by an overwhelming number of Americans and Cuban Americans, who want to see an end to the failed policies we have with Cuba as well as our position of an imposed hostility towards Cuba. This has not achieved anything constructive between our two countries in more than fifty years. We also have to recognize and acknowledge that the entire Latin American community of nations disagreed with us concerning our policies with Cuba. If we are going to improve our relations with our neighbors, we cannot ignore the feedback we have been given on this issue multiple times and most recently at the Summit of the Americas in April, 2012.

In addition, I am pleased to announce that Cuba released a number of political prisoners still held in their jails. These men and women will be allowed to remain in their country and will not be exiled to Spain or the United States. In the community of nations and human society, pluralism of ideas exists. So do political views and dissension. Every society must tolerate differing views. Human existence and thinking is not monolithic. The nature of government should have a foundation in its structure to permit the expression of differing views and an accountable system of government to the people who give it their power.

I also want to announce that a team of FBI agents and special aircraft are in Havana, Cuba right now to take into custody a number of American fugitives, who have been arrested by the Government of Cuba to be extradited back to the United States to face long overdue justice here at home. It is also time to restore a further degree of normalcy between our two countries and that means that Cuba is no longer a safe haven for fugitives from American justice in the future. We still have a long way to go to improve relations between both countries and I remain committed to engaging in a genuine dialogue with Cuba.

There will be further developments to share with you soon on that front. However, this is a moment right now to celebrate for the Gross family. Now I want to open up for some questions.

PRESS REPORTER 1: Mr. President, right now some people in Miami are deploring this announcement and condemning the pardon of the Cuban Five. The State Department had said on numerous occasions in the past that there would be no quid pro quo. How is this action not a quid pro quo?

THE PRESIDENT: Good question. The freedom of Mr. Gross and the Five may appear like a quid pro quo, but a fundamental change has occurred. I have decided that as President of the United States, the flawed and failed policies that my predecessors since JFK and I have followed must be brought to a conclusion. A whole host of human beings have been caught in this tortured web of U.S. Cuba relations over many decades. Lives have been lost and there has been much suffering on both sides. There was this thinking among some here that we should not engage the Cubans until Alan Gross was freed first. However, Gross was in trouble for following our programs in a foreign country where it is a crime to do what he was doing and he was languishing in a Cuban jail feeling abandoned by his government. I think we had been viewing this crisis inflexibly, instead of seeing the opportunity that exists to change the overall course and direction of the bilateral relationship. The overriding issue facing both countries is how do we reset a strained relationship? The only way to reset the relationship is to first provide immediate relief for all the people and families on the front lines caught in the web on both sides. I think you see from the combination of efforts being announced today, that this is hardly a quid pro quo.

PRESS REPORTER 2: What about the impact of this decision on electoral politics sir? You realize this alienates your party from a significant political voting and financial bloc in Florida?

THE PRESIDENT: Lets be clear, the voting bloc you refer to, did not support my election and while my party may have received some financial support from that bloc, none of this changes our commitment and responsibility to act what it is in the best strategic and national interests of the United States and even the entire region of Latin America– among which are an ending to the failed policies we have with Cuba.

PRESS REPORTER 3: Isn’t this a capitulation then to a dictatorship on our doorstep off the coast of Florida?

THE PRESIDENT: Respectfully, the policies we have had with Cuba have empowered the very form and exercise of government authority we have been complaining about for more than fifty years. Ironically, while we object over the leadership and political system in Cuba, we conduct normal trade and relations with a number of countries whose political systems and government exercise of power we take exception to. And when it comes to dictatorship, lets not forget our own history with the region. How many dictators have we supported or empowered in Latin America in the 20th century? I am determined that our country commence a new beginning with the region and that means a fundamental respect for our neighbors, even those we disagree with. What I learned from speaking with leaders in Latin America and from summits and visits we have had is this – Latin America wants partnership with the United States in an environment of mutual benefit and respect. We want to find ways we can build upon that so that our entire hemisphere is stronger economically and most importantly, at peace. We offered to work with the Cuban government on the current energy exploration going on in the Gulf and to collaborate on a number of public health and scientific matters.

PRESS REPORTER 4: Will you be meeting Mr. Gross and his family anytime soon?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. After Mr. Gross has had some time to be with his family and recover, I plan to invite him and his family to the White House for a private visit.

PRESS REPORTER 5: You said you spoke with Cuban leader Raul Castro. Can you share with us what your exchange was?

THE PRESIDENT: We agreed that it was time to take steps to improve the relationship between both countries and that it was critical to resolve the immediate issues of Gross, the Cuban Five, political prisoners, and American fugitives in Cuba. In addition, we shared ideas, suggestions, and steps each country could take to improve its relations with its citizens. I think there will be more on that later and leave it to Mr. Castro and other Cuban leaders to address steps the Cuban government is taking to improve its relationship with their own people on the island and living abroad. For example, Cubans will now be able to travel freely to and from their country without undue burden.

During our diplomatic discussions, we raised these points with each other. In the end, Mr. Castro invited me to visit with him in Havana in what I believe will be a historic visit. I accepted the invitation. I think you have to reflect on the historical significance of President Nixon’s visit to China and what that led to. Now is the time for a sitting American President to go to Cuba. More on that later.

PRESS REPORTER 6: Mr. President, several hardline Cuban American members of Congress in both parties are outraged at these actions and say they will do everything they can to block your efforts. What do you say to them and the Congress?

THE PRESIDENT: I say to them as I have said again and again – represent the people of the United States, act in the best interests of the United States, and be consistent in the exercise of our foreign policy and defense of human rights around the world. Our hypocrisy with Cuba has cost us far more than we ever imagined. And if they choose to block the efforts to reset our relationship with Cuba and the hemisphere, they are going to discover that they are going to be isolated politically by their own colleagues and the people. They are respectfully, on the wrong side of history. I know for some of these Members, their interest regarding Cuba is deeply personal, family related, and even tied directly to the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro himself, who is even the uncle of one of the Congressmen. As we have learned from history repeatedly and through the conduct of international relations and diplomacy, personal agendas and vengeance make for bad foreign policy. They cause wars and do not break the cycle of violence and destruction. We have to find a better way. Our past policy behavior has been an exercise in failure and waste of more than one billion tax dollars over the years that have not yielded much. There was irrational and illogical resistance on the part of some towards resolving these issues. It was somewhat strident until I personally became involved and exercised my authority. With regards to Alan Gross, I was not going to let that man languish in a Cuban jail anymore at the expense of an agenda of a few on Capitol Hill.

PRESS REPORTER 7: Certain elements of the Cuban American community in Florida feel completely betrayed by these actions. They lost the lives they once knew, their property in Cuba, and always held out hope that the United States would rally to them. Sir, they say you let Castro win now.

THE PRESIDENT: I understand that Cuban Americans made incredible sacrifices at the time of the Cuban Revolution, the Peter Pan migration, Mariel boatlift, and the thousands who made the journey to America by raft with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. I want to say this to them – America welcomed you with open arms and gave you every preference and advantage under the law – no immigrant group today receives better treatment or gets to stay in the United States and adjust their status like a Cuban does. Talk about immigration reform…the Cuban American community is probably the most successful Hispanic immigrant group socially and economically. They transformed South Florida and even the American political and social landscape. However, to expect that the United States was going to intervene militarily or continue to conduct a foreign policy that is to the detriment and harmful to our strategic and national interests, is unreasonable and no longer something we can afford to do. I respect their voting and financial power. However, there is a fundamental disagreement with the approach they support and their position is no longer supported by a majority of this nation or even the world community.

What I say to them is that given the legacy you have earned as a community, you have a tremendous capacity to positively influence the nation of your heritage. How can Cuban Americans be a real influence for good and change back in Cuba? Consider first that the economic power of Cuban Americans and Cubans living abroad are actually more than the entire nation of Cuba! Its time to use that power constructively to influence positive changes. Cuban Americans with relatives still in Cuba are an incredible lifeline of social and economic support and hope. I intend to extend that possibility to all Americans by expanding the travel licenses and passing legislation to permanently lift the travel ban.

Cuba’s government, political system, and leadership will have to engage and deal with their own people.
They have a lot of work ahead of them in the healing of a divided Cuban nation. One other thing I reminded Mr. Castro is that a great thing about elections is that the American President can only serve a total of eight years in office. Power rotates and circulates here and that is a hallmark of authentic democracy. No matter how great or important or indispensable a leader thinks he or she may be to their country, there is a time for service and then a time for retirement. And former leaders like former Presidents can still remain relevant to the discourse and future of their country. But as with any sovereign country, it is up to the people and their leadership to determine the exercise of that power. Mr. Castro remains to be judged for his actions and record by the Cuban people, but not America now. Cuba is not threatening our security as a nation or pointing missiles at us as was the state of affairs in October, 1962. Cuba is not harboring terrorists on the island. Several hundred thousand Cuban Americans and Americans visit the island annually, without threat to their safety. On the contrary, Cuba wants to trade with us and collaborate with us in the areas of science, healthcare, and education. So I have to rationally judge foremost by that criteria at this moment in history. Discussions were had about compensation for nationalized properties. We were reminded of the Cuban offer made to the Kennedy administration on the same issue at a meeting in Punta del Este, Uruguay. There will be further discussions about this. I want to move this issue forward so that those who did lose their properties can finally get compensated. They have been waiting for more than fifty years.

I think we have learned once more that we cannot impose ideals but must inspire and empower them by our actions. May the United States, Cuba, and other nations be inspired and empowered to work for the resolution of human conflict. America will continue to stand for democracy and human rights, not by imposition but by example and congruency of action. Thank you and that’s all for now. We will meet with you again soon when further developments are announced.

[The preceding was a fictionalized account of a possible scenario for the release of Alan Gross, the Cuban Four (formerly the Five - Rene Gonzalez has served his prison time and is back home in Cuba), and lays a prospective foundation for a resetting of U.S. Cuba relations. It is dramatically presented this way to get the reader to visualize the possibility and potential outcomes of such a scenario. Some things have changed since this was written.
Some will welcome this. Others fear this. Most hope for this.

The time is now to think critically and creatively to resolve these issues while the men and their families who suffer each day due to the decisions of their governments, continue to wait for answers and freedom. This is one such scenario. May peace and reconciliation of the Cuban and American peoples prevail. Again, we ask why not? – Tony Martinez - Editor]

United States Cuba Relations: Book Review - Cuban Revelations, Behind the Scenes in Havana

2013-12-02T10:50:00.000-05:00

A Cuba Book For President Obama’s Christmas Stocking

Dawn Gable

HAVANA TIMES — If you are reading any other book on Cuba right now, close it. If you were thinking about giving another title as a Christmas gift to a beloved Cubaphile, don’t. Make better use of your time and money with Marc Frank’s Cuba Revelations.

This 325 page (30% post-consumer recycled, acid-free) treasure is the most informative, accurate, insightful, detailed account available on 21st century Cuba available. As an avid reader of anything written on Cuba, I place this book firmly on the top tier, virtually alone and towering over most.

You won’t find ideology or an agenda in here, but rather a comprehensive composition covering the multilayered, and often quite complex, reform process that has been underway in Cuba since at least 2006.
The treatment is appropriately contextualized -temporally, geopolitically, and meteorologically- and told with the preciseness of an old-school journalist, the detail known only by a witness, and the familiarity reserved for those exceptional foreigners who have managed to insert themselves into local life. This book is based on solid sources, first hand investigation, “behind the scenes” access, and an understanding of Cuba and Cubans that is very, very rare.

But don’t worry, this is no dry, drawn-out news article. Scattered among the chronicles and statistics are entertaining and invaluable anecdotes and conversations with friends. However, it is not an airing of gossip, speculation, or wishful or spiteful thinking.

Books that rely on anecdotes typically land in my circular file after the first chapter or two because most authors on Cuba use them, real or contrived, as a passive-aggressive tool for introducing their personal views and furthering their own agenda. But that is not Frank’s style. He shares these glimpses of day-to-day life and familiar chatter to deepen and enrich the discussion.

In fact, the author dispels many rumors and simplifications. My favorite example of this is his telling of the downfall of former foreign minister Perez Roque and former council of state vice president Carlos Lage.
By reconstructing events, as well as the contents of four “eyes only” DVDs that were shown to select Party cadres, he reveals the pair’s indiscretions and careless behavior that made them unwitting informants to Spanish intelligence.

Apparently Lage had been under investigation since before February 23, 2008 when he was, inexplicably it seemed, over looked for the first-vice president position that virtually everyone thought would be his.

On the more day-to-day scale, Frank seeks out the impact of Raul Castro’s tweeks to the system on the average person, not by educated guessing or pretending that Havana is Cuba (despite the book’s subtitle), but by traveling the island and talking to people, studying statistics, and examining, rather than discounting, the Cuban press and the government’s statements, both public and semi-private.
He shares proceedings of neighborhood meetings called to discuss mechanisms of economic reform and he describes what he calls “stealth reform,” that is, regional pilot projects that quietly go national (e.g. suburban organic farms) and unannounced policy shifts that seem to occur overnight (e.g. private control of barbershops) that armchair naysayers have brushed off as insignificant, but Frank recognizes as signs of a fundamental shift.

In addition to Cuba’s domestic scene, Frank takes full advantage of his unique “gringo in Havana” position to present a forest view of U.S.-Cuba policy, while not ignoring the important trees that make up and explain the poisoned relationship.

Moreover, he astutely passes on the background noise that many authors spend entire volumes on. Refreshingly, his analysis is not from the typical blue-blood perspective, nor is it full of Cuban rhetoric. It is more a sober, pragmatic analysis from the island side of the straits.

President Obama would do well to give this a read.

In fact, I’d say this is a required stocking stuffer for anyone calling themselves a Cuba expert, consultant, or activist; all Cubans living in the U.S.; anyone involved in U.S.-Cuba policy or engaging Cuba economically; and especially those who think they have a strong grasp on Cuba because they spent significant time there in the last century…. and boy don’t we all know a bunch of those…

I only caution that it may be a little too “insider” for readers with just a casual interest in Cuba, those wanting their political views to be supported or attacked, or those looking for shallow tales of salsa, rum and Santeria. They’ll have to look elsewhere.

- See more at: http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=100370#sthash.otluYSQu.dpuf

Review republished by permission of the authors.

You can order the book in Hardcover or Kindle by clicking on the Amazon.com link right next to the review on this page.

United States Cuba Relations: Post UN Embargo Vote Analysis-Where Do We Go From Here

2013-10-30T18:42:00.001-05:00

Dear U.S. Cuba Politics.com

FORGET IT! FORGET IT!

Forget the US Congress regarding anything to do with US/Cuba relations.

Congress is not going to repeal Helms -Burton any time in the next 10 years. That is a fact!

The only exception to the aforementioned is if there is a serious effort to raise money for a Political Action Committee -- United States Cuba Now PAC-- ( visit www.uscubanowpac.com ) and distribute political contributions to various members of the House and Senate and congressional candidates.

All the letters, e-mails, petitions and resolutions mean absolutely nothing at this time. We are way passed the time when letters etc. will have any measurable impact.

All efforts should be placed on three fronts.

One: Remove Cuba from the list of terrorist countries. It will take more than a petition to do that.

Two: Lobby the White House and State Department to issue an Executive order to allow Americans to travel to Cuba under a "General License".

Three: US/Cuba negotiate the release of Alan Gross and the Cuban Five are pardoned and returned to Cuba.

Any other efforts will not have an positive impact on enhancing US/Cuba relations.

Albert A. Fox, Jr.
President
Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation
8675 Hidden River Parkway
Tampa, FL 33637
www.responsiblecubapolicy.org
813-632-3319

United States Cuba Relations: Groundhog Day* in the United Nations

2013-10-27T17:21:00.002-05:00

This week will mark the 22nd time the United Nations General Assembly reminds us that our horrifically stupid policy of our trade embargo against Cuba should end. Unfortunately, our hearing is selective in the United Nations. We will not listen. Why? Well the embargo is the law, codified by the infamous Helms Burton Act. So inasmuch the entire world disagrees with our position, once more we will show up as the stubborn one, unrelenting to heed what our neighbors have been asking and pleading with us to do, end the embargo. Not only because it is a failed and a mutually destructive policy for Cuba and the United States, but for simply that it has failed to achieve anything constructive or influencing change in Cuba. So if we are supposedly committed to reaching out to Cuba and helping the people, how can it ever be done through an insane embargo or costly travel restrictions? If there was ever an example to demonstrate how sanctions do not work, it is the U.S. Cuban embargo. The seeds of democracy and freedom are not sown in a stew of social and economic isolation and humiliation.

The embargo's longevity is driven only by domestic politics, where regretfully there is a core constituency who have played the American political game by the rules, and without any effective opposition. Since the embargo is the law, it is going to take old fashioned retail politics, organizing votes and raising political dollars to impact and affect the elections to bring this foreign policy disaster to an end. It will require an Act of Congress to end the embargo. It is going to take Representatives and Senators to fight for passage of legislation to end the embargo and to stand up to and face down those who would defend the stupid policy on the floors of the House and Senate. They are just not there, yet. Right now, there will only be a lonely few in Congress until people who say they are committed to changing the law start doing what is politically required. The only side that organizes itself into a voting bloc and raises political dollars are those who embrace and defend the embargo. They ensure that there will be empowered politicians elected to every Congress who will block and sabotage any effort to lift the embargo or travel restrictions. On Capitol Hill, politicians know the hardline pro-embargo side can influence elections and raise money consistently. The easiest way to get a check for your next campaign is to simply go on record as supporting the embargo. On the other hand say you are against the embargo and for lifting the travel restrictions and guess what that gets you? An email or a petition. Congressman, who is the more serious and committed side in this fight? In the short and mindless attention span that this issue gets inside the beltway, somehow being pro-embargo has become as American as apple pie. Why change a policy that appears to get votes, influence elections, and raise money for the next campaign?

Those who say they are opposed to the embargo, what are they doing? Signing petitions and emails, but no retail politics. For some reason getting political to end the embargo and lifting the travel restrictions is either something to be left to someone else or that somehow those who would like to see the embargo lifted and travel restrictions ended are excused from abiding by the rules of the political game. Guess what is not going to end as long as this is the strategy?

So once more the broken record skips again on October 29th. United Nations to the United States: "End the embargo on Cuba." United States to the United Nations: "I'm sorry can you repeat that. I can't hear what you are saying...." See you next year.

*-From the movie, Groundhog Day, where the main character is caught in an endless loop of the same day repeating itself until he decided to change.