Point, Counterpoint
The road to free Cuba is paved with good intentions...
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: Op-Ed
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By Eric Driggs, MPP2
I spent much of my summer in Miami, locked in a strange dance of furious rumor and tense waiting. For a Cuban-American, rumors about Fidel Castro's health are nothing new, but the most recent ones have reached far beyond Miami. Democratic presidential candidates discussed American policy options to hasten a free Cuba: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton favors maintaining current policy until Castro's demise changes the landscape; Senator Barack Obama proposes new measures, which, while well-intentioned, could hamper efforts to create a freer society in Cuba.
The core of Barack Obama's strategy to encourage change in Cuba is "to help the Cuban people become less dependent on the Castro regime in fundamental ways." This is an important - although extremely difficult - goal to accomplish via foreign policy in a country that has spent the last 48 years consolidating its absolute control over its citizens. The Cuban Penal Code, for example, empowers the government to imprison citizens deemed a "criminal risk" for up to four years - even before a crime is committed. And in plain violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Cuban citizens are not allowed to freely leave their own country.
It is in this environment of complete control that Senator Obama proposes unlimited remittances to decrease dependence on the Cuban government. Unfortunately, giving Cubans more disposable income would in fact likely increase their reliance on the Cuban state. Many basic items are only within reach of those Cubans with access to dollars. All of the stores that sell these items to Cubans are owned and operated by none other than the Cuban government. One does not liberate sharecroppers by giving them more money to spend at the landowner's general store. Spending more may make life more comfortable, but it will do little to hasten independence.
Supporters of this policy contend that the unrestricted flow of money helps citizens amass wealth and mobilize to defend the interests this wealth creates. This may work in more open economies, but this is Cuba: one must have satisfactory revolutionary credentials to be put on a list to purchase a car. Even post-hurricane construction materials are meted out not by need, but by affiliation with the Cuban Communist Party.
I spent much of my summer in Miami, locked in a strange dance of furious rumor and tense waiting. For a Cuban-American, rumors about Fidel Castro's health are nothing new, but the most recent ones have reached far beyond Miami. Democratic presidential candidates discussed American policy options to hasten a free Cuba: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton favors maintaining current policy until Castro's demise changes the landscape; Senator Barack Obama proposes new measures, which, while well-intentioned, could hamper efforts to create a freer society in Cuba.
The core of Barack Obama's strategy to encourage change in Cuba is "to help the Cuban people become less dependent on the Castro regime in fundamental ways." This is an important - although extremely difficult - goal to accomplish via foreign policy in a country that has spent the last 48 years consolidating its absolute control over its citizens. The Cuban Penal Code, for example, empowers the government to imprison citizens deemed a "criminal risk" for up to four years - even before a crime is committed. And in plain violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Cuban citizens are not allowed to freely leave their own country.
It is in this environment of complete control that Senator Obama proposes unlimited remittances to decrease dependence on the Cuban government. Unfortunately, giving Cubans more disposable income would in fact likely increase their reliance on the Cuban state. Many basic items are only within reach of those Cubans with access to dollars. All of the stores that sell these items to Cubans are owned and operated by none other than the Cuban government. One does not liberate sharecroppers by giving them more money to spend at the landowner's general store. Spending more may make life more comfortable, but it will do little to hasten independence.
Supporters of this policy contend that the unrestricted flow of money helps citizens amass wealth and mobilize to defend the interests this wealth creates. This may work in more open economies, but this is Cuba: one must have satisfactory revolutionary credentials to be put on a list to purchase a car. Even post-hurricane construction materials are meted out not by need, but by affiliation with the Cuban Communist Party.
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