Fight for human rights
BY FRANK CALZON
frank.calzon@cubacenter.org
Is it possible that our charismatic President Obama -- though now a
Nobel Laureate -- has adopted Henry Kissinger's realpolitick model for
conducting foreign policy? A model cloaked in pragmatism but devoid of
passion for freedom and human rights? Consider:
• Last April, China said that the president should not meet with the
Dalai Lama during his October visit to Washington. Obama's policy
advisors apparently agreed that the meeting would risk ``damaging U.S.
relations with China.'' So the Dalai Lama visited Washington as planned
but did not meet with Obama -- the first time in 18 years that the Dalai
Lama wasn't invited to meet with the sitting president.
• On Oct. 6, The Boston Globe reported that as the ``Iran Human Rights
Documentation Center was ramping up to investigate abuses of protesters
after the disputed presidential election, the group received word that
-- for the first time since it was formed -- its federal funding request
had been denied.'' The State Department's decision to cut funding to
human-rights advocates finds support among some policy experts. Suzanne
Maloney, a former State Department official now with the Brookings
Institution was quoted in June that, ``The best thing we can do for
Iranian democracy is sit back and let Iranians fight it out for
themselves.''
• Funding to encourage Egyptians trying to build civic participation is
one-fifth of what it was a year ago. Months ago, speaking in Cairo,
Obama defended democracy and political reform, but Egyptian officials
and opposition leaders now say American priorities have shifted to
emphasize political stability. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is
expected to name his son as successor.
• What about Cuba? Early on, Obama called on Raúl Castro to release
political prisoners, while Washington relaxed travel restrictions on
Cuban Americans and remittances to their families in Cuba. Castro
refused. In June, when the National Endowment for Democracy recognized
five Cuban dissidents with an award, The Washington Post reported,
``Their representative was not invited to the White House.''
In February the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs released a report,
``Changing Cuba Policy -- In The United States' National Interest,''
that stated when congressional staff asked what U.S. gestures Havana
would find positive, the Cuban officials ``expressed concern with
programs by USAID intended to facilitate a transition to democracy in
Cuba.''
Recently, a deputy assistant secretary of state visited Cuba to meet
with dissidents and government officials. In a departure from American
policy going back many years, however, the Cuban dissidents were not
invited to attend a diplomatic reception held during the visit lest
their presence offend Cuban officials present. At State there are some
who believe the promotion of democracy by American diplomats is a
mistake and a subterfuge.
• There is more: After Moscow's objections, the United States recently
canceled the deployment of missiles so carefully negotiated with Poland
and the Czech Republic. Reportedly those governments received notice of
the change by telephone. Are they not justified in thinking that the
United States reversed its policy simply to avoid offending Moscow? How
vulnerable do they, who were once under Soviet domination, feel?
History will tell whether the cause of world peace and American security
has been advanced by Washington's accommodation of hostile regimes, and
by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the president. But there is
no doubt that in years past, accommodations to undemocratic, brutal
dictators contributed to the suffering of millions and to the lost of
American lives.
Obama is focusing on many serious issues -- Iraq and Afghanistan, the
economy, healthcare reform and the effort to maintain support for his
agenda among his own Democratic Party. As a candidate Obama awakened
hope in the United States; as president, he inspires and raises hopes
worldwide. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize reflects those hopes. It
also challenges the president to recommit America's leadership to the
cause of human rights and freedom around the world.
Frank Calzon is executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, which
receives USAID funding.
Fight for human rights - Other Views - MiamiHerald.com (14 October 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/1281787.html
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