Time to look at Cuba

The time comes when the broken relations between neighboring countries demands a hard look and consideration of change. That time is now for the United States and Cuba.

Thirty-nine years ago when Fidel Castro brought Soviet-style communism to the Western Hemisphere, Washington’s hard trade embargo made some sense politically. Not now. Now Castro and Cuba stand in the international shadows. The Cuban people deserve a break. Lifting the embargo enough to allow U.S. companies to sell them food, medicines and medical equipment could bring them relief.

In Castro’s long reign, the people have suffered under an obsolete economic and political system that has deprived them of the most elementary freedoms. Their plight has been exacerbated by the embargo, which made life more painful while failing to rewrite political realities. Suddenly, a handful of forces are coming together that could create historic change. The day to examine the options is here.

Two U.S. senators, Democrat Christopher Dodd (Conn.) and Republican John Warner (Va.), have introduced a bill to allow the sale and export of food, medicines and medical equipment to Cuba. A similar bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Esteban Edward Torres (D-Pico Rivera) and a group of Republican representatives led by Rep. James A. Leach (R-Iowa). Both bills have been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The timing of the bills may be auspicious. A new generation of Cuban Americans, people who played no role in the 1958 revolution or the fumbled attempts at counterrevolution, are replacing the hard-line exiles who have shaped U.S. policy toward Cuba. A recent survey by Florida International University showed that 56% of Cuban Americans favored allowing U.S. companies to sell medicines on the island.

Miami’s Cuban community too is changing politically. The impact of anti-Castro politicians and the propaganda of hard-line radio stations is fading in the second generation of the Cuban diaspora. The recent death of Jorge Mas Canosa, a capable political operator who heavily influenced Washington’s Cuba policy, has created a leadership void that a more moderate generation will fill.

It was Mas Canosa, the man who wanted to be the first American president of Cuba, who championed the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, congressional legislation that effectively eliminated normalization of relations with Havana as long as Fidel Castro and his brother Raul remain in power. Helms-Burton turned into law what was a U.S. foreign policy formulation, essentially codifying the embargo imposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and other sanctions pressed against Cuba since then.

The negative effects of Helms-Burton have created unnecessary frictions between the United States and its most important trade partners, Canada, Mexico and the European Union. In effect, the law transfers from the executive to Congress the authority to dictate U.S. policy in a post-Castro Cuba.

Congress should pay close attention to what Pope John Paul II has been able to achieve even before his planned visit to Cuba in January. Hundreds of Western journalists will be roaming the country before, during and after the papal visit. Cuban Americans will be permitted entry to visit their relatives. Christmas will be celebrated as an official holiday. This may be a changing Cuba, and Washington would do well to look for positive opportunities.