Perhaps the most significant sign that U.S. policy toward Cuba might
change — beyond the lifting of restrictions on how often Cuban-Americans
can travel to Cuba, or how much money they can send to relatives there —
lies not in how enthusiastically President Obama shook somebody's hand
at a Latin-American summit, but in changing attitudes among
Cuban-Americans themselves.
The Cuban American National Foundation has for decades been a guardian
of a hard-line policy toward Castroite Cuba, emphasizing a tight
economic embargo and restrictions that amount to isolating Cuba from the
United States. Since it was initially formed by refugees who fled Cuba
beginning in the early 1960s, it is not surprising that its agenda was
centered on continuing hostility to Fidel Castro.
Just before President Obama announced a modest liberalization of
restrictions on contact with Cuba, the CANF issued a statement saying it
was ready to consider steps toward increasing contacts with Cuba — and
might even be open to reconsidering the economic embargo first imposed
by President John F. Kennedy.
Earlier this month, Bendixen & Associates, which has been polling the
Cuban-American community for 15 years, announced results of a new poll
showing that this attitude is now widely shared. It found that 67
percent of Cuban-Americans now support the lifting of all restrictions
on travel to Cuba, an increase of 18 percent from three years ago, when
the same question was asked. Although Cuban-Americans have traditionally
voted for Republicans, the poll found 67 percent approval for President
Obama himself and 64 percent approval for his new Cuban policies.
The Bendixen poll found that 43 percent of Cuban-Americans now believe
the economic embargo "hasn't worked," up from 36 percent three years ago.
Besides a generational shift — younger Cuban-Americans and those who
arrived more recently are less supportive of restrictive policies toward
Cuba — that pragmatic judgment about the embargo seems to be the main
reason that opinion among Cuban-Americans is shifting. That is
understandable. It would be almost impossible to argue that the embargo
has worked, given that Fidel Castro's younger brother is in power since
Fidel reportedly became too infirm to run the country day-to-day. The
perception that contact might be more effective than isolation at
undermining the Castro regime also seems to play a role.
The changing of Cuban-American attitudes notwithstanding, the United
States should not abandon the embargo without commensurate steps by the
Castro dictatorship to improve relations, starting with the release of
political prisoners. Also note that Cuba trades with most of the rest of
the world, yet poverty on the island is rampant and Cuba has the most
atrocious human rights record in the Western Hemisphere. There is no
guarantee that lifting the American embargo, without change in the
policies and practices of the Cuban government, would change that.
The "stick" of the embargo has not brought down the regime, but it has
taken a heavy toll on the dictatorship's ability to fully function in
the international economic system. It has hurt the Castros, who are most
responsible for the suffering of the Cuban people, in their wallets.
After more than 50 years of cold war between Washington and Havana,
changing attitudes offer hope that a new approach will help accomplish
what the old ways, including the embargo, have not: A free Cuba.
This doesn't mean we should expect dramatic change tomorrow. Most
elected Cuban-American officials still support the embargo and
Cuban-Americans still wield political power in Florida. And if the
embargo is lifted, it would be unlikely that the regime would fall the
next day, or that Raul Castro would immediately release all political
prisoners. As ineffective as the embargo has been, however, support is
clearly growing to eliminate it.
— The Orange County Register & Bradenton Herald
BRADENTON HERALD | EDITORIALS A free Cuba Changing attitudes could pave
way - Our Take - Bradenton.com (6 May 2009)
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