Oakland - Cuban diplomat discusses state of U.S.-Cuba relations

Oakland: Cuban diplomat discusses state of U.S.-Cuba relations
By Darin Moriki, Correspondent
POSTED: 03/09/2016 04:43:17 PM PST | UPDATED: ABOUT 16 HOURS AGO

OAKLAND -- It has been a little less than two years since President
Barack Obama and his administration unveiled plans to restore diplomatic
ties with Cuba after close to 53 years of tense relations, but a top
Cuban diplomat visiting the Bay Area says more must be done to ensure
that happens.

"Despite these 50 years, if you go to Cuba today, you're going to see
that people don't hate Americans," Miguel Fraga, the first secretary at
the newly re-established Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., said to the
nearly 40 people who attended a nearly hourlong talk on Wednesday at
Merritt College in Oakland. "If you go to Cuba, people want to talk with
you -- you are welcome to Cuba."

But Fraga was quick to note that because of the long-standing diplomatic
issues between the two countries, "we don't believe that we can have
normal relations between Cuba and the United States."

The talk on Cuba's economy and diplomatic stances, sponsored by the
community college's Department of Ethnic Studies, comes at a time when
federal lawmakers are reviewing bills aimed at easing longtime
restrictions and embargoes imposed on the Caribbean island, such as
those on free trade and travel.

It also came just two weeks ahead of Obama's planned two-day visit to
Cuba, the first diplomatic trip of its kind made by a U.S. president in
88 years.

"It's very important, and I think it's going to be a good opportunity,"
Fraga said.

The Cuban diplomat acknowledged that the former Cold War adversaries
have taken steps over the past two years to bolster ties, such as
re-establishing long-shuttered embassies, restoring commercial flight
routes and removing Cuba from a U.S. list of terrorism sponsors.

"I didn't come today to say that we're better than you, and this is
something that I want to stress here," Fraga said during his talk at
Merritt College. "I come here to say that we're proud of many things,
and we're ready to work with the United States for the best of the two
countries. I came here not to teach -- I also came here to learn."

Still, Fraga said, significant barriers remain in place and are making
it difficult to establish a solid relationship with the United States.

Chief among them, he pointed out, are long-standing U.S. trade embargoes
with Cuba that discourage American companies from doing business with
the island nation and limits and restricts most trade and commerce
between the two countries.

Any ship, for example, that docks in Cuban ports is not allowed to dock
at U.S. ports for 180 subsequent days.

"We are an island, and any time we need anything, we need to buy it and
bring it in on a ship to Cuba," Fraga said. "So, every time we need to
ship, we need to pay more for nothing. This is the reality, and we can't
use the American dollar because it's not allowed for us, so every time
we want to buy something, we need to change our currency to another
currency and we lose money."

He also reiterated the Cuban government's stance that land used for the
U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay be returned to the island country. The
U.S. government currently pays an annual $4,085 lease for the land,
though the Cuban government has never cashed those checks out of
principle, Fraga said.

"Again, this is not about the money," he said. "We just want that
territory back because it's our territory."

Siri Brown, chairwoman of Merritt College's Department of Ethnic
Studies, said students and faculty members have taken close to 10 trips
to Cuba over the years and recalled her visit to a juvenile facility in
Havana.

"It was really, really amazing because if you've been to juvenile hall
here, either against your will or as a volunteer, we lock up children,
we try them as adults and say it's over," Brown said. "To go into a
juvenile hall where there's no guns and no barbed wire fences and the
whole aim is to reorient the youth to the goal of the revolution and
treat people with respect, that was so profound for me."

Source: Oakland: Cuban diplomat discusses state of U.S.-Cuba relations -
ContraCostaTimes.com -
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29617584/oakland-cuban-diplomat-discusses-state-u-s-cuba