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Cuba: Ninety miles and a half century away

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The Island Nation of Cuba has had a tumultuous relationship with the United States of America. Prior to the Fidel Castro led socialist revolution of 1959 Cuba was a Latin American paradise. Following the overthrow of then Cuban President Batista, Cuba has been reliant upon the aid and trade of the erstwhile Soviet Union, and totalitarian regimes of the Western Hemisphere. Currently, with their economy in decline, an infrastructure in dire disrepair, and an average national wage of $20 a month, poverty has enveloped the country. With the Soviet Union’s successor the Russian Federation immersed in its own problems, internally and in Eastern Europe and Asia, the Russians have allowed their once staunch ally to lay fallow. Cuba now longs for a suitor to aid in its economic recovery while simultaneously preserving the power of its communist dictator octogenarian, Raul Castro.

Then along came Barack H. Obama, our perhaps impetuous current president.

The president’s intentions beg some significant questions. Why attempt to normalize relations with a still communist and totalitarian government? Should not we hold our olive branch in check until Castro leaves office, thus being assured we do not reward him or his brother for their constant overt enmity toward America? Also, how does the United States reverse the programmed sentiment among Cuban citizens caused by 50 years of propaganda which held America culpable for all of Cuba’s woes? Additionally, are we re-establishing relations with a downtrodden country who will become another aid dependent nation with an umbilical cord of financial support attached to the United States for decades to come?

President Obama’s motivation for reinitiating diplomatic ties with our former enemy is speculative. Perhaps he believes opening relations with Cuba is a just gesture for the sake of most Cubans who are suffering. Or maybe he is worried about his legacy with only two years left in his term. So as a result, he is searching for his “Nixonesque moment.” Or maybe he wishes to continue to rile his Republican adversaries through another over reaching executive order.

Sons of Cuban immigrants, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida and Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey have condemned the president for this initiative. Both Senators, along with Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, feel opening diplomatic relations with Cuba gives license to the human rights atrocities perpetrated by the Castros on their opponents.

Fidel Castro had supported, with troops and treasure, murderous revolutionary groups such as the MPLA in Angola and the MHM in Ethiopia throughout his tenure in office. Likewise, his brother Raul has imprisoned, without a due process of law, thousands of potential political adversaries. According to Human Rights Watch, with a population of eleven million, Cuba has more prison cots per capita than any other country in the hemisphere and may have over 50,000 political prisoners.

Cuba has been dominated by great powers throughout its history both to its betterment and detriment. Claimed for Spain by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Cuba remained under Spanish rule until the 1890s and then changed hands after the hard fought results of the Spanish American War. What followed was a nominal independence under the wing of American influence. Cuba flourished from 1902 to the revolutionary year of 1959. At the time of the switch from relative democracy to socialism, Cuba was a thriving economy, a tourist Mecca, and had a literate and financially comfortable middle class.

The Cuba of today is frozen in time. Decaying streets are decorated with ancient autos from America’s past. Buildings whisper a crumbling architecture of faint past memories. People bear the look of a defeated populous devoid of hope.

As Americans we must ask ourselves the following question: should we risk rewarding a heinous and unjust government in order to possibly help a desperate population? Or by aiding the country do we give some sort of endorsement to an undemocratic system that we detest? Whether President Obama is acting as a true altruist or a political opportunist is fairly irrelevant to the gravity and importance of those pertinent questions.

The United States has always embraced the paradigm that once we assist an errand nation we often infuse our culture and ideals through our largess. We do not know if that will be the case with the country 90 miles south of Florida. In the last decade we have increased travel, increased exports of chicken and other foodstuffs, and incepted some cultural exchanges. Hopefully we have begun to lay a foundation, now we need to decide whether or not we truly want to build upon it.

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  • HortensiaOHoulihan

    “Prior to the Fidel Castro led socialist revolution of 1959 Cuba was a Latin American paradise” Apparently what Mr. Curran lacks in facts he makes up for in comedy! I’m sure Cuba was a Latin American paradise for the wealthy, but certainly not for the poor. Prior to the revolution, and under President Batista’s regime, there was a huge social and economic dichotomy between the rich and the poor in Cuba, essentially creating an ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Undoubtedly this was a contributing factor to the Cuban Revolution. Of course, this is typical with any country that begins to adopt capitalist ideals and practices – and one can certainly make the argument that there have been generations of Americans dwelling in the lower economic classes who feel this burden, as many Cubans did prior to the revolution. So, let’s not pretend that this “paradise” went to hell after Fidel took power. During his regime, Batista joined forces with wealthy landowners, had dealings with the American mafia for profit, did little to quell the strife of crippling poverty felt by the Cuban masses, and even curtailed individual civil liberties in the process. What a great guy!!!

    Here’s a quote for ya Curran:

    "I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country’s policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear."

    — U.S. President John F. Kennedy, interview with Jean Daniel, 24 October 1963

    I suppose we should dismiss these social injustices because Batista’s economic policies were more aligned with the American capitalist system than his demon communist successor-by-coup Fidel Castro. Communist or Capitalist, it’s what a person does with his or her power that establishes their legacy.

    The fact of the matter is that we are entering into year 2015 and, if there is any hope for change in world and subduing old enemies, we should try to make the Cold War a distant memory. Perhaps strengthening foreign ties with countries we once considered a threat, loosening sanctions, and integrating our economies and cultural norms, is a sure bet towards a modern age of mutual acceptance and influences. We did it with Japan and even China (moderately), why not Cuba? Are we still so wrapped up in this anti-commie McCarthy vigilantism that we are unable to realize how a gradual renovated relationship between the two nations could benefit both Americans and Cubans in the long run? If so, America is less evolved than how it portrays itself.

    The Cold War strategies of mutual destruction didn’t seem to work…how about we try something else.

    Saturday, December 27, 2014 Report this

  • markyc

    Cuba is playing the US/President Obama. The government leaders are hoping for some type of US bailout/cash infusion due to the fact there is so much poverty & there is NO WAY they can expect any help from Russia-Russia can't even help itself. Once the US provides some form of limited welfare assistance, it will be business as usual. Whomever runs the Cuban government won't allow any US companies to set up shop there. President Obama can only offer limited help without Congressional authority. We should be leery of Cuba & move cautiously.

    Monday, December 29, 2014 Report this