Obama administration turns a blind eye to Cuba’s transgressions

Obama administration turns a blind eye to Cuba's transgressions
BY FRANK CALZON
frank.calzon@cubacenter.org

As Gen. Raúl Castro celebrates his removal from the U.S. State
Department's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, President Obama's
finding that Havana "no longer supports international terrorism" is not
one to be taken seriously in Washington.

On Feb. 28, just weeks before the U.S. president embraced the Cuban
dictator in Panama, the Colombian Navy seized a Chinese freighter, the
Da Dan Xia en route to Havana. The vessel's cargo? "Around 100 tons of
powder, 2.6 million detonators, 99 projectiles and around 3,000 cannon
shells," according to Colombia's daily, El Espectador. The weapons and
war materiel were hidden in the hole of the ship under 28,451 tons of
cereal. Norinco, a Chinese government enterprise, was readily identified
as the manufacturer.

Colombia's defense minister told the newspaper the military "has
confiscated from FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a
communist insurgency), and destroyed, Norinco-manufactured rifles and
pistols throughout the country."

China characterized the Da Dan Xia's cargo as "an absolutely normal
operation of commercial and military cooperation." It offered no
explanation as to why a "normal" transaction would be buried under
cereal. For Havana, hiding its trade in weaponry and war materiel
appears to be its modus operandi. Two years ago, Cuba attempted to
export war planes and missiles parts to North Korea under tons of Cuban
sugar. That trade was in direct violation of sanctions imposed by the
United Nations.

Given President Obama's commitment to normalizing relations with Cuba,
and Colombia's ongoing negotiations in Havana with the FARC to end the
insurgency, the Da Dan Xia was released along with its cargo.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is not a firebrand looking for a
showdown with President Obama, like, say, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.
Santos wasn't going to risk spoiling the summit for either the United
States or Cuba. Much of Latin America faces the same dilemmas that
Colombia faces.

For the sake of American security, however, the U.S. Congress should be
asking more questions about Obama's U.S.-Cuba rapprochement and whether
there are any real benefits for Cubans or the United States absent any
true economic or political reforms in Cuba.

The Panama Summit was an unprecedented "love fest" for Raúl Castro and
President Obama. Castro flew hundreds of Cuban security agents to Panama
to disrupt conferences on civil society that the Panamanian government
had organized to coincide with the summit. Among those agents was Alexis
Frutos Weeden, an intelligence officer stationed in Caracas who has been
advising and training Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's police force
on how to repress Venezuela's democratic opposition.

Panamanian TV broadcast Col. Frutos beating up Americans trying to place
a wreath at the base of a statue of Jose Martí, Cuba's national hero.
Washington officials believe the beating of Americans by Cuban
intelligence agents is a "judicial" matter for the Panamanian courts.

After acquiescing to demands to delist Cuba from the list of terrorist
states, the administration has little clout to steer Cuba under Raúl
toward reform.

Raúl won't get more reasonable about establishing a rule of law in Cuba,
holding free elections, introducing and sustaining economic reforms. Nor
is he likely to allow the United States to try the Cuban military pilots
indicted for murder in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian American
aircraft over the Straits of Florida that killed three Americans and one
Florida resident. Raúl, who headed Cuba's military at the time, gave the
order to down the planes and gave the pilots medals for their "courage."

Many believe Obama has granted Raúl impunity now and forever for that
crime or others, but having put away the U.S. "stick" he's certainly
come close to being Raúl's enabler.

FRANK CALZON IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR A FREE CUBA.

Source: Obama administration turns a blind eye to Cuba's transgressions
| Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article22826469.html