A Presidential Trip, Or An Ego Trip, To Cuba?

A Presidential Trip, Or An Ego Trip, To Cuba?
01/05/2016 07:25 PM ET

Politics: In search of a legacy and Latino votes for Democrats, the
White House says President Obama will likely visit Cuba this year. So
far from this being about U.S. interests or even Cuban liberty, it's
just another ego trip.

'Cynical" is the word that springs to mind as news leaks about President
Obama seeking to visit Cuba's dictatorship without any evidence of change.

Until a few days ago, the official U.S. line was that the president
would travel to the communist island if it "bolsters its human rights
record," as Bloomberg reported.

This has been consistent with U.S. policy for the past 56 years: Pariah
states that clean up at least some of their act get rewarded with
presidential visits.

But who cares about that when there's a legacy to seal? Apparently,
Obama is so desperate to make it to the island before his presidential
term ends, his deputy national security advisor, Ben Rhodes, now says
the visit itself could "be the change," he told the New York Times.

It's wishful thinking comparable to Rhodes' other great foreign policy
advice: the Cairo speech, which far from being "the change," set the
Arabic world afire. And we think he cynically knows this.

How do we know? When President Obama announced last year he would
normalize relations with Cuba, he sold the plan to Americans by saying
renewed ties themselves would lead to a freer Cuba. They didn't.

There have been 6,000 dissidents arrests, a renewed crackdown by
Castro's mobs, and an unexpected border surge from Cubans fearful their
migration privileges could end. Since the thaw, life has only gotten
harder and less free for Cubans as the Castroite regime strengthened and
the Obama goodies to it flowed.

What we are seeing now is rationalization for this trip, based on
Obama's desire to make "a historic" visit. Obama's advisors have told
the press they want a success, while Rhodes has said he wants to make
sure no Republican successor can undo Obama's act.

What's worse, the Times reports Obama also seeks to influence the 2016
election by undercutting the campaigns of two Cuban-American GOP
political foes (Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio), and by whipping up Latino
votes outside the Cuban-American community.

So the visit has nothing to do with U.S. interests. It's just another
bid to win Democrat votes. Castro wins. Obama wins. Democrats win.

But, as for Cuba's people, never mind.

Source: A Presidential Trip, Or An Ego Trip, To Cuba? - Investors.com -
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/010516-788201-a-presidential-trip-or-an-ego-trip-to-cuba.htm