Jun 09 2009
Obama and Cuba
Alright. Everyone fasten your seat belts and brace yourself for this. I’m really pleased with something Obama is doing.
Indicating a willingness to talk to Cuban leaders is a huge step in the right direction.
A) This is not the Cold War. We do not need to have an us vs. them attitude.
B) This is not the Cold War era. Modern technology makes it possible to send a text message or millions of dollars across the world in a split second. Doesn’t it seem futile to try to ignore a country 90 miles away?
C) This is not the Cold War era. The world is not polarized, and we don’t have meaningful support for our approach with the Cubans.
D) This is not the Cold War era. We are no longer the undisputed global hegemon. Other countries have economic and political capabilities. Economic and political sanctions by any nation, even the United States, become useless when B meets D.
E) There are a lot of Cubans within our borders. They have a right to communicate with, share money with, and visit with their relatives in their homeland just like someone from Mexico or Europe does. They also have a right to introduce their children and grandchildren to their homeland and its culture.
F) I’ve always been a fan of the free flow of people, goods, and ideas. Not going to get too much into this here.
G) Most importantly, decades later we are still pursuing a policy that obviously has not worked. We have yet to bring meaningful change to Cuba or the lives of its citizens. If we learn one thing from Iraq, it is that when you exert force and it doesn’t work, you have two options. Exert more force or back off. Exerting more force (as we learned in Iraq), can be politically dangerous. Stagnating with the same policies will continue to hurt the Cuban people more than it hurts Castro and company. It is time to walk away from our failed attempts to bring change through isolation.
The big problems with Castro started in the Kennedy administration. Kennedy was hell-bent on blowing Cuba off the map. His agressions earned him the attention of the real power in Cuba, at that time, Russia…then the bomb drills in America’s public schools started. I know, I was there and we had little idea why we were ordered to duck and cover??
Castro is still no threat, but some of his associations would well be watched if we do open talks and allow equal tourism with Cuba.
If we were still a powerful nation, we would not be considering a lot of things, but then again, we would not have thugs like Kim Jong-il testing our metal?? Who knows what will come of Obama-talk and run tactics? I don’t honestly know which is better, do you?
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Although in retrospect, the whole Cold War seems pretty ridiculous, at the time it was taken very seriously. Given that background, our relations with Cuba make sense. But let’s look at some factors.
First, Cuba alone could never take on the United States. They are not a threat. Even Chavez and Lulo have not expressed any desire to actually attack us.
Second, it’s obvious that we are not really isolating Cuba (politically, economically or culturally). In fact, even Americans get into Cuba simply by going through Canada or Mexico first. We are not going to change Cuba’s policies when our relationship doesn’t really apply any pressure.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!