A Small Step Towards Sanity and the High Road
Other than raw vindictiveness, there is no reason to view this as anything other than an unqualified good, no matter what your attitude towards the Castro regime. It’s a small step, only easing the tight restrictions on groups already permitted to travel to Cuba, but a step nonetheless.
It continues to amaze me that even this small step in the right direction is fraught with political peril, meaning that there remains a tremendous political constituency for whom vindictiveness and the “low road” approach remains an end unto itself without any consideration for whether that approach is actually capable of achieving the purported end of bringing down the Castro regime.
The embargo against Cuba is a particularly egregious example of the failure of the “low road.” It has been in place now for 50 years with the purported goal of “putting pressure” on the Castro regime and ideally of forcing that regime to stand down. Indeed, this may well have made sense at first, at least if you buy into the notion that the “low road” of trade embargoes actually “puts pressure” on the target regime and can force it out of power. After all, Cuba lies just miles off the Florida coast and by all accounts Cuba’s economy should be uniquely dependent on the economic behemoth that lies to its North.
But 50 years later, what is there to show for all of this? Is the Castro regime any less secure than it was in 1960? Obviously not. Are the people of Cuba better off in any sense of the word as a result of the embargo? Again, the obvious answer is a resounding “NO.” To the contrary, Cuba – along with our other senior citizen age embargo target, North Korea – remains one of the last remnants of the Cold War.
Yet we continue to value the vindictiveness of the “low road” so much that the most that is politically feasible is the loosening of restrictions on people who are already permitted to travel to Cuba. It makes us feel good to know that we are trying to punch our sworn enemies, the Castro brothers. So we keep throwing the punches, missing with every blow, tiring ourselves out in the process, and connecting only on the Cuban people sitting ringside. Needless to say, this doesn’t do much to get those ringside spectators to start shouting “ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY!” Quite the opposite I’d imagine.
Still we refuse to consider even the possibility that the high road is the solution, and if not the solution, will at least be an improvement over the status quo. At the bare minimum, we’d all be able to enjoy a fine Cuban cigar again with the knowledge that buying that cigar maybe made some laborer in Havana a little bit better off while doing absolutely nothing to strengthen the Castros’ position, or at least no more than the lost cigar purchases under the embargo are strengthening the Castros’ positon.
Yes! A small step, but a step all the same.
My guess is that Raul Castro, at least, is likely to try to emulate China by liberalizing economically while keeping the country a dictatorship, knowing that communist economics and not dictatorship is what the US objects to. I hope I’m wrong – it would be nice if Cuba could democratize without losing the best medical care in Latin America.Report
In the words of Rick Mercer “Cuba should just join Canada. We’d call it Canuba and if the Americans didn’t like it we’d just say shaddap, we’ve got ya surrounded.”Report
I’ve been a big proponent of lifting the embargo for years. It’s ridiculous. There is an American population that would be falling all over themselves to visit Cuba if it became a tourist destination. Forget the military…the greatest force for Cuban democracy is a floatilla of cruise ships filled to capcity with Americans and their money.Report
@Mike at The Big Stick, One of the first things I found startling when moving to Toronto were the travel posters for Cuba. I should say that I’ve American friends who have researched there and all of them speak very warmly of Havana as the sort of city one yearns to return to. So, I’d agree that that could be a good way to undermine the Castros.Report
@Rufus, There was a lengthy article about Cuba in a magazine years ago (I can’t remember where I read it) that talked about how amazing it would be as a full-scale tourist spot. Fantastic fishing, scuba diving, beaches, etc. I’ve also heard that there is an extensive network of trails from the revolutionary days which are now excellent for mountain biking. Plus I have no doubt the food and liquor are superb.Report
@Mike at The Big Stick, “There is an American population that would be falling all over themselves to visit Cuba if it became a tourist destination.”
Hrm….maybe that’s actually the reason the embargo exists. The embargo is good for Puerto Rico’s tourism industry. So the bargain for keeping Puerto Rico as a territory rather than making it a state or giving it independence is that we keep the embargo against Cuba in place.
Admit it – it’s a pretty fantastic conspiracy theory. Ok, maybe not. But at least that would be an explanation that would make more sense than “we’re putting pressure on the Castro regime.”
And, yeah, an invading force of American tourists quite often has the propensity to be a more powerful weapon than the Third Infantry. That effect gets magnified by several orders when you add in the fact that Cuba would suddenly become the Spring Break destination to end all Spring Break destinations. I’m imagining the look of utter confusion on the Castros’ faces upon seeing beautiful, drunk and privileged upper-middle-class American college girls unironically prancing around Havana in Che Guevara bikinis. You can’t tell me that the Castros wouldn’t just give up then and there out of pure frustration and bewilderment.Report
@Mark Thompson, I’d like to think the cruise industry could just incorporate Cuba into a robust 7-day package that would still include Puerto Rico.
And yeah, American teens would have that place capitalized in no time.Report