Mr. Obama, Cuba and the O.A.S.
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Published: June 3, 2009
For 50 years, the Cuban people have suffered under Fidel Castro's, and
now Raúl Castro's, repressive rule. But Washington's embargo — a cold
war anachronism kept alive by Florida politics — has not lessened that
suffering and has given the Castros a far-too-convenient excuse to
maintain their iron grip on power.
So we are encouraged to see President Obama's tentative efforts to ease
the embargo and reach out to the Cuban people. At the same time, we are
absolutely puzzled and dismayed by this week's frenzied push by many
Latin American countries to readmit Cuba to the Organization of American
States.
Cuba, which says it has no interest in joining, clearly does not meet
the group's standards for democracy and human rights.
The campaign was led by the O.A.S.'s least-democratic members (Nicaragua
and Venezuela), which seemed intent on picking a fight with Washington —
and deflecting attention from their own unsavory practices. The timing
seems especially odd and counterproductive considering Mr. Obama's
strong overtures to the region and to Cuba.
In April, Mr. Obama changed the regulations to allow Cuban-Americans to
visit their relatives on the island as often as they want (the Bush
administration had limited those visits to once every three years). And
they can now send unlimited gifts and money. He has also cleared the way
for American telecommunications firms to pursue licensing deals in Cuba
in an attempt to expand access to cellphones and satellite television.
The more contacts Cubans have with the outside world — and the more they
learn about the freedoms just 90 miles away — the more likely they are
to question the privations of their one-family rule.
The White House also has offered to negotiate the first direct-mail
service in decades and to resume talks with the Cuban government on
migration, which were suspended by the Bush administration in 2003 along
with most avenues of regular communication. This week, Havana agreed to
the talks on migration and mail service as well as to possible
cooperation on counterterrorism, drug interdiction and hurricane relief.
This is not a reward for the Castro government. Eliciting Cuba's
cooperation is in this country's clear interest. We also suspect that if
Cuban officials talk to their American counterparts regularly, then
they, too, may end up questioning their political allegiances.
The Obama administration was right to resist the push to precipitously
readmit Cuba to the O.A.S. It was right to insist that Havana first
improve its treatment of its citizens and embrace the group's democratic
standards. On Wednesday — after a hyperbole-filled debate that focused
almost solely on past resentments of the United States, rather than
Cuba's ongoing repression — the O.A.S., by acclamation, decided to lift
Cuba's 1962 suspension from the organization.
Officials from the United States and the O.A.S. said that Cuba's
re-entry will not be immediate. It will result only from a dialogue in
line with O.A.S. "practices, purposes and principles." We're not sure
exactly what that means, but we hope Havana will come under strong
regional pressure to release political prisoners and make other
democratic reforms.
We understand the desire to fully reintegrate Cuba into the main
regional organization. But as Human Rights Watch argued this week: "Cuba
is the only country in the hemisphere that repudiates nearly all forms
of political dissent. For nearly five decades, the Cuban government has
enforced political conformity with criminal prosecutions, long- and
short-term detentions, mob harassment, physical abuse and surveillance."
Mr. Obama must go further and press Congress to lift the embargo. And
the O.A.S. must press Havana to join the democratic mainstream — and its
errant members to adhere to the organization's own democratic charter.
Editorial - Mr. Obama, Cuba and the O.A.S. - NYTimes.com (4 June 2009)
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