Visiting Prof Urges Cooperation with Cuba

Visiting Prof Urges Cooperation with Cuba
CRIMSON/ ALAN C. CHIU
Published On Tuesday, December 05, 2006 1:53 AM
By ROBERT T. HAMLIN
Contributing Writer

The Kennedy administration should have capitalized on three secret
diplomatic encounters with Cuban officials in the 1960s, which might
have sidestepped the "dead-end" policy of embargo, esteemed Cuban
historian Rafael M. Hernández argued last night during a presentation at
the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.

The Kennedy visiting professor told a crowd of about 40 scholars and
students that the three covert meetings could have matured into a more
fruitful diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

"The embargo became central in U.S. policy towards Cuba," said
Hernández, a faculty member at the University of Havana. "Its dense web
of regulations, prohibitions, and exclusions narrowed the legal space to
experiment with an alternative policy and tightened the hands of future
decision-makers willing to 'carrot' [Cuban dictator] Fidel Castro,
instead of just 'stick' him."

After three instances of covert diplomatic contact in the early
1960s—the first with Cuban official Ernesto "Che" Guevara to discuss
Castro's agenda; the second, a meeting concerning prisoner exchange; the
third, a series of talks which dissolved after squabbles—the White House
under John F. Kennedy '40 chose not to build on these successes,
Hernández said.

And Kennedy simultaneously employed confrontational strategies with this
low-key engagement, he added, poisoning the diplomatic climate.

Modern-day restrictions—a possible consequence of this uncooperative
climate—nearly kept Hernández from making it to Harvard in the first
place. The status of his visa was mired in legal limbo up until shopping
period, so much so that Hernández stepped off his plane and right into
his first class.

During the speech, Hernández speculated how Kennedy—had he lived and won
a second term—would have dealt with Cuba.

"He might have accepted the Cuban revolution as a fact of life, since
Cuba was certainly not a Soviet satellite," Hernández said.

He told The Crimson that the present generation can learn from these
mistakes by recognizing the necessity of greater cooperation between the
communist island and its neighbor to the north.

"The academic exchange between America and Cuba today is one of the
fundamental channels of communication between the two sides," Hernández
said.

"We hope that through these kinds of appointments—like the Robert F.
Kennedy visting professorship—that we can build a deeper and deeper
relationship with the region, in particular countries like Cuba," said
Merilee S. Grindle, director of the Rockefeller Center.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516181