Subject: [big campaign] New Huff Post from Creamer-Cuba Policy Changes Welcome-Time to Normalize Relatio
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 07:36:36 -0500 (EST)
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Changes in U.S. Cuba Policy Good First Step – But  It’s Time To Normalize 
Relations 
The changes in U.S. Cuba policy announced Friday by the Obama  
Administration represent a welcome first step in changing the failed  half-century old 
policy that has sought to bring change in Cuba by isolating the island nation 
from the  United  States.  
The Administration announced that within the next two weeks it would make  
it easier for religious and academic organizations to send delegations to  
Cuba; return regulations  governing people-to-people trips to Cuba to those 
that pertained during  the Clinton Administration; and expand the number of 
airports that can be used  by tour operators as embarkation points to the 
island. 
In addition, it expanded the amount of money that can be sent by  Americans 
to ordinary Cuban citizens.  
Administration spokespeople explained that all of these steps were taken  
to strengthen Cuban civil society.  They will certainly have that effect.  
In fact, the time has come to  completely normalize relations with Cuba, 
end our economic embargo.   Here’s  why: 
1). Our policy of  isolating Cuba has failed to  bring change to Cuba. 
Fidel Castro and his  successor Raul Castro, have outlasted presidents 
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson,  Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II 
and two years of the Obama  Administration.  
The definition  of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and 
expecting to get a different  result.  By that definition, the  past policy of 
attempting to isolate Cuba was – to put it charitably –  daft.  
This failed approach to Cuba was originally justified as part of the Cold  
War policy of “containment” of the Soviet  Union.  That policy has  now 
outlasted the Soviet Union by over two  decades.   
A shooting war in Vietnam in which almost 50,000  Americans were killed has 
come and gone.  Vietnam is now a  reliable U.S. trading partner  and 
favorite tourist destination, but the policy of isolating  Cuba – with which we 
have never had a  violent conflict – remains. 
Richard Nixon long ago made peace with China which,  though still an 
officially Communist country, is now one of our most crucial  trading partners and 
holds much of our country’s debt.   But our policy of isolating  relatively 
tiny Cuba – just 90 miles from our shore –  continues.  
Of course one of the reasons for the failure of this ancient policy is  
that it was long ago abandoned by every other country in the world.  Canadians 
vacation at Cuban  resorts.  South Americans sell Cuban  agricultural 
products.  Our European  allies all have friendly relations, but our policy of 
isolating  Cuba persists. 
2). The only real accomplishment of past  isolationist policies toward Cuba 
was to restrict the rights of U.S.  citizens.  Even after the  changes 
announced Friday, most ordinary Americans are still prevented from  traveling to 
Cuba.  It is the only place on earth to which  our own government prevents 
us from traveling.  It is the freedom of Americans that is  being abridged – 
and we should be just as outraged by that limitation on our  freedom as we 
are by a gag order on our freedom of speech or an abridgment of  our freedom 
of religion.  
What is particularly galling is  that past restrictions on our freedom to 
travel to Cuba have  actually helped limit the opening of Cuban society that 
is its alleged  rationale.  Want to open up  Cuban society?  Then engage 
them in  travel and trade.  Invite their  students to the United  States and 
encourage our students to study in  their universities.  Encourage  cultural 
exchanges, baseball games, soccer tournaments.  The new policy begins to do 
those  things, and it’s about time. 
But to the extent it persists, the policy of isolating  Cuba and limiting 
American  travel there not only limits our freedom – it actually prevents the 
presumed  goal of our policy – to open up Cuba.   
3). By maintaining our economic embargo we penalize the American economy  
and cost American jobs. 
Our economic  “boycott” does not so much prevent Cuba from getting the 
things its  needs (though it definitely makes the lives of ordinary Cubans more 
difficult),  as it prevents American companies and farmers from selling 
them American  products.  
Creating American jobs should be our government’s number one priority yet  
the Cuban embargo prevents the sales of American-made products to a customer 
 that would be ready and willing to buy. The result? Other countries sell  
Cuba the same products and  benefit by the creation of jobs in their 
countries rather than the  United  States. 
4). Our failure to normalize relations with  Cuba undermines American  
interests throughout the world – and particular in Latin  America. 
U.S. policy  towards Cuba has been a major  sore point with other countries 
in Latin  America, who view it as a vestige of Yankee paternalism toward 
the  entire region. And it is used by those who want to harm America as  
another piece of anti-American propaganda. 
Far from isolating  Cuba, we have isolated  ourselves.  Virtually all of  
America’s major allies have  normal economic and political relationships with 
Cuba. Last year,  the United Nations General Assembly voted for the 
seventeenth time – in  seventeen years – to condemn our economic embargo of Cuba – 
this time  by a vote of 185 to 3.  
In December the thirty-three Caribbean and Latin American nations that  are 
members of the Rio Group voted to give Cuba full membership and called on 
the  U.S. to end the embargo.  
5). Domestic political support  for the embargo – especially among Cuban 
Americans in Florida -- has  crumbled.  
The proximate political reason for our past Cuba policy has been the large 
Cuban American  voter block in southern Florida.  Many Cuban Americans 
emigrated here immediately after the Cuban  Revolution half a century ago and 
were virulently anti-Castro.   
In fact, with the Republican takeover of the House, hard line anti-Cuba  
Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen is now the Chair of the House Committee on  
International Relations. She works with an organized hard-line lobby, that 
has  raised a large financial war chest to punish Members of Congress who 
support  changing our relations with Cuba. But Ros-Lehtinen and her hard  line 
allies are increasingly isolated in the Cuban American community itself.  
Polls now show that 67% percent of Cuban Americans support allowing all  
Americans to travel to Cuba (Bendixen poll: Conducted April 14-16, 2009 – 
Cuban  Americans only).  
The Obama  Administration’s recent announcement of limited changes in Cuban 
travel policy  is overwhelmingly supported by Cuban Americans. A December 
poll showed a strong  majority of Florida voters (67 percent) and  Florida’s 
Cuban American voters (59 percent)  support permitting Americans to visit 
Cuba for limited purposes such as  academic exchanges, travel by religious and 
cultural groups, athletic events and  research missions.  
The same poll showed that  Cuba policy is far from the most  important 
issue affecting the votes of Cuban Americans today.  In an open-ended question 
asking Florida  Cuban Americans which issues would be most important in 
determining their vote  for President in 2012, the economy was first (45 percent) 
and jobs was second  (13 percent). Less than one percent of Cuban voters 
mentioned  Cuba in any way.   
When asked if they would be  more or less likely to support President Obama 
if he restored full diplomatic  relations, 28% of Florida Cuban Americans 
said it would make them more likely  and 29% said less likely.  In other  
words, the Cuba issue has ceased to be a factor  in determining the votes of 
the majority of Florida Cuban Americans.    
In fact, another poll of  Cuban Americans taken last November showed 55% of 
Cuban Americans favored  lifting the embargo. 
A massive array of organizations has welcomed the Administration’s new  
initiatives and support further change.  The Catholic Church, both in Cuba and 
the United States  has repeatedly called for an end to the economic embargo. 
 
Friday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) praised  
the Administration’s actions.  The  Chairman of the USCCB, Bishop Howard J. 
Hubbard of Albany, New  York, issued a statement that said:  
These needed new policies are modest but important steps towards  advancing 
our hopes for a better relationship between our people and the people  of 
Cuba, a relationship which  holds great promise of fostering positive and 
real change in Cuba. 
Amen to that. 
Robert Creamer is a long-time  political organizer and strategist, and 
author of the book:  Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can  Win, available on 
_Amazon.com._ 
(http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Your-Mother-Straight-Progressives/dp/0979585295/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213241439&sr=8-1)

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