2008 Woodie Awards
Time To Rethink Relationship With Cuba
Greg Pivarnik
Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: Commentary
Fidel Castro, whose health has vastly deteriorated over the past year, forcing him to transfer leadership of Cuba to his brother, has still found time to comment on the politics of the world. Recently in Granma, Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, he commented that a Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama ticket would be unstoppable in the 2008 election. However, Castro does not offer his full support because, as he puts it, "Both of them feel the sacred duty of demanding a democratic government in Cuba." Though Castro is a dictator whose past transgressions against his own people are numerous, he does have a legitimate gripe with official U.S. policy towards his country. There is no reason that an embargo towards Cuba should continue and the U.S., in order to stay consistent with its policies towards other regimes, should end its pettiness and open up trade and travel lanes with one of its closest neighbors.
Since the beginning of the Cold War Era there has been hostilities between the U.S. and Cuba. Events that took place in the late 50s and early 60s did nothing to soften the relationship. The notoriously blundered Bay of Pigs Invasion, orchestrated at the time by President John F. Kennedy and the CIA, was an act of aggression that Castro would not soon forget. Conversely, Castro tried to lend a home to Soviet weapons a few hundred miles from the Florida coast leading to the infamous Cuban missile crisis. Since then the U.S. has established an embargo against Cuba, mostly because of its communist ties, and has refused to budge on its position.
Ever since the embargo, established by President Kennedy on Feb. 7, 1962, it has seemed to be the inherited position of all politicians to renounce the Castro government and fully support this misguided policy. Either they are just stupid and refuse to think logically, or are they are just blind to the hypocrisies of the government for which they work.
One country that the U.S. has lucrative ties with is China. To understand why the policy against Cuba is outdated and arbitrary, it is necessary to examine the relationship the U.S. has with one of communism's only remaining superpowers. That being stated, this is not the only country the U.S. has supported that does not view the ideal government as democratic. In the late 80s and early 90s, the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein's Iraq regime until he decided to threaten our oil interests by invading Kuwait. The U.S. trained and supplied weapons to Tailban fighters in the mid 80s to help fight off the Russians. There was also the support of Manuel Noriega, a brutal dictator of Panama during the 80s, until the U.S. decided the War on Drugs was more important and prosecuted him for cocaine trafficking. The U.S. presently considers Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf an ally in the War on Terror. This behavior is indicative of the hypocrisy not just towards Cuba, but also the goal of attaining democracy in Iraq. Apparently democracy is only necessary when it is convenient to U.S. interests.
Since the beginning of the Cold War Era there has been hostilities between the U.S. and Cuba. Events that took place in the late 50s and early 60s did nothing to soften the relationship. The notoriously blundered Bay of Pigs Invasion, orchestrated at the time by President John F. Kennedy and the CIA, was an act of aggression that Castro would not soon forget. Conversely, Castro tried to lend a home to Soviet weapons a few hundred miles from the Florida coast leading to the infamous Cuban missile crisis. Since then the U.S. has established an embargo against Cuba, mostly because of its communist ties, and has refused to budge on its position.
Ever since the embargo, established by President Kennedy on Feb. 7, 1962, it has seemed to be the inherited position of all politicians to renounce the Castro government and fully support this misguided policy. Either they are just stupid and refuse to think logically, or are they are just blind to the hypocrisies of the government for which they work.
One country that the U.S. has lucrative ties with is China. To understand why the policy against Cuba is outdated and arbitrary, it is necessary to examine the relationship the U.S. has with one of communism's only remaining superpowers. That being stated, this is not the only country the U.S. has supported that does not view the ideal government as democratic. In the late 80s and early 90s, the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein's Iraq regime until he decided to threaten our oil interests by invading Kuwait. The U.S. trained and supplied weapons to Tailban fighters in the mid 80s to help fight off the Russians. There was also the support of Manuel Noriega, a brutal dictator of Panama during the 80s, until the U.S. decided the War on Drugs was more important and prosecuted him for cocaine trafficking. The U.S. presently considers Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf an ally in the War on Terror. This behavior is indicative of the hypocrisy not just towards Cuba, but also the goal of attaining democracy in Iraq. Apparently democracy is only necessary when it is convenient to U.S. interests.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Babs
posted 9/10/07 @ 7:09 PM EST
As a Cuban-American who came to this country in 1962, I thank you for a voice of reason. It is increasingly embarrassing to see presidential hopefuls pander to a small group in Miami's Cuban American community that is holding our foreign policy hostage, contrary to our legitimate best interests. (Continued…)
Abdel Rassi
posted 9/11/07 @ 11:20 AM EST
I agree with you, Greg. I'm a Cuban living in Canada.
Gilbert Quintana
posted 9/12/07 @ 8:49 PM EST
I'm also a Cuban-American and I could not agree more with the previous comment. It's time for this country to change its policy towards Cuba. After all, time has demonstrated that it did not work, all the opposite. (Continued…)
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