Tammerlin Drummond: Rep. Barbara Lee is right; it is time for a change in Cuba policy

By Tammerlin Drummond  |  Inside Bay Area  |  Link to article
April 13, 2009

WHY DOES THE U.S still have a trade embargo against Cuba?

Why do we cling to this failed, Cold War policy?

It was supposed to drive Communist dictator Fidel Castro from power.

Yet instead, nearly five decades later, el comandante, who has more lives than any cat, is still calling the shots from behind the scenes. Even though he stepped down for health reasons and his brother Raul Castro is officially now in charge.

Instead of isolating Cuba, the trade embargo has isolated us. Everyone else in Latin America, and pretty much the rest of the world trades with Cuba. European companies are making a killing there while U.S. businesses sit by, fuming on the sidelines.

In 2009, Cuba is about as much of a threat to our national security as Djibouti.

The fact is, the embargo makes no sense and hasn't for quite some time.

To find out why it continues to exist, one must look to Florida — Miami specifically. It is another world where rabid anti-Castro exiles who fled Cuba after Castro's Communist revolution live as though the Bay of Pigs was just yesterday.

Day in and day out, they await news of Castro's death so they can plan the big victory party. Only they can't take the champagne off ice because the old man won't die.

This very loud, strident minority has sent congressmen and women to Washington whose main mission is to fight efforts to lift the trade embargo.

For far too long, the Cuban-American lobby has had a stranglehold over U.S.-Cuba policy, using political clout to intimidate lawmakers and block any attempts to normalize relations with Cuba — rolling over the moderate voices within the Cuban-exile community.

But now, at long last, that may be changing.

There is a growing movement in Congress and the business community to ease travel and trade restrictions with Cuba.

Legislation to loosen the embargo had passed once before but it died when President George W. Bush threatened to veto it.

But now we have a new president and, we hope, a new era. President Barack Obama has said that he supports lifting some travel and trade restrictions to Cuba. Legislation is pending in both chambers of Congress.

Last week, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, a longtime supporter of increasing relations with Cuba, led a Congressional Black Caucus delegation to Cuba.

Lee and her fellow lawmakers met with Raul Castro and were granted a meeting with Fidel.

It was the first time American officials had met with Fidel Castro since he had emergency intestinal surgery in 2006. Despite continuing reports of Castro's imminent demise, Lee said the former Cuban president was lucid, energetic and forthright about his desire to normalize relations with the U.S. — without preconditions.

"It's time to turn the page on our foreign policy with Cuba," said Lee, who says that Americans ought to be able to travel to the Caribbean island without breaking the law. (Many of them do so anyway).

"America's harsh approach toward our nearest Caribbean neighbor divides families, closes an important market to struggling U.S. farmers, harasses our allies and is based on antiquated Cold War-era thinking."

The reaction from hard-line Cuban exiles was swift and as predictable as ever.

"Propaganda tourism" some screamed. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the son of Cuban immigrants, has vowed to fight any loosening of restrictions.

"Our great nation should always stand for human freedom and democracy and against underwriting regimes that oppress, suppress and murder," Menendez proclaimed.

Hello? China?

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., was equally hot. "Changing travel restrictions for U.S. citizens will simply allow Americans to contribute to the resources available to the Castro regime to perpetuate its repression," he sniffed.

But there is a whole younger generation of Cuban-Americans who are fed up with these anachronistic attitudes. They want to be able to travel freely to the Caribbean island and learn firsthand about their culture. They're tired of fighting their parents' and grandparents' battles.

White House officials have hinted that Obama may announce more changes at the Summit of Americas in Trinidad and Tobago sometime between April 17-19. However, Obama has said he would not support lifting the embargo until Cuba improves its human rights record.

"It's going to be very tough," Lee says. "And it's going to take a while. But it's time."