Cuba open, not free

LOPEZ: Cuba open, not free
President Obama is not doing enough to secure basic human rights for the
Cuban people
by Carlos Lopez | Feb 05 2016

On Nov. 22, 1963 French journalist Jean Daniel ate lunch with Fidel
Castro in Varadero Beach, Cuba. He was delivering a message of potential
reconciliation from President John F. Kennedy to the Cuban prime
minister — "an indication," as Castro would recall, "of a desire to
establish contact… to establish a certain kind of communication." As
Daniel and Castro were discussing the possibility of better relations,
the telephone rang and Fidel received the news that the president had
been shot. "Everything has changed. Everything is going to change,"
Castro said. And he was right.

Although not always publicly, and most of the time covertly, each
administration since Eisenhower's has attempted to reestablish
connections between Washington and Havana. And with the recent reopening
of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, we can say significant progress has
finally been made. President Barack Obama has defended his engagement
policy with Cuba, claiming that "through a policy of engagement, we can
more effectively stand up for our values and help the Cuban people help
themselves." While Obama's engagement policy with Cuba has removed many
market barriers, the island still seems to be imprisoned by a repressive
regime that has little consideration for basic human rights.

Opening telecommunications, increasing tourism and embracing foreign
culture into the island are all signs that Obama's policy of engagement
has resulted in a Cuba with less restrictions and barriers. Cuba has
become an island of great attraction to many tourists and artists from
the United States. It has received millions of dollars due to more U.S.
tourism and remittances. Yet the humanitarian conditions in the island
don't seem to show any signs of improvement. Although not as frequently
as before, journalists continue being silenced, critics of the regime
are persecuted and individuals voicing their concerns are being detained.

When the president began the normalization of relations between Havana
and Washington, one of the arguments presented by the White House was
that an embassy in Havana would provide U.S. diplomats more freedom and
flexibility to move around the island than the previously established
"interests section." However, according to Cuban dissident Antonio G.
Rodiles, U.S. diplomats are being seen less than before around the
island, and concerns about human rights have been "sidelined" when it
comes to U.S. policy towards Cuba.

But the United States supposedly has a reason for this. According to
Obama, this process of normalization will be a "long journey." Yet the
Castro brothers seem unwilling to embark on this journey towards
normalization, keeping a tight grip on the economy and society as a
whole. They only seem to be preparing the perpetuation of their regime
by passing down the baton of power to their respective heirs with no
signs of doing away with violence and coercion to repress free-speech.

Additionally, Raul Castro's increasingly popular role in foreign affairs
is a sign that the world is starting to recognize the legitimacy of the
island's president. "Raúl Castro has been legitimized and recognized by
the majority of the governments of the planet, and played a leading part
in a Summit of the Americas, amid flashing cameras and meetings with
Barack Obama," Yoani Sanchez wrote in The Washington Post. This is not
only perpetuating the repressive Castro regime within Cuba — it's also
approving of it.

Despite Castro's increasing popularity among political and social elites
throughout the world, harassment, arrests, beatings and intimidation
against critics have shown no sign of stopping. According to a report by
the Human Rights Watch, Raul Castro has kept Cuba's "repressive
machinery" in place instead of dismantling it. According to Sanchez,
several generations of journalists and other information professionals
have had to approach their work through "censorship, ideological
propaganda and the applause of power."

While Obama's policies of engagement with the island have resulted in
the positive lifting of market barriers and reduction of restrictions in
tourism, they have undeniably left a huge hole when it comes to
addressing the island's humanitarian crisis and deeply repressive
regime. Before facilitating Cuba's reintroduction to world market and
letting an influx of cash enter the government's coffers, Obama needs to
ensure the Castro regime is taking the necessary measures to improve the
humanitarian conditions of which the Cuban people are deprived.

The nation of Cuba is an island with a long history and of tremendous
potential for economic, cultural and social fortune. Lifting
market-based barriers and restrictions has proven to be helpful for many
tourists and cultural artists, but has simultaneously left the Cuban
people in the back shadows of U.S. policy toward Cuba. Hopefully, the
United States will recognize the need to shift its policies toward Cuba
from solely market-based open policies to humanitarian, social and
economic policies that will actually put Cuba in a path to modern success.

Carlos Lopez is an Opinion columnist at the Cavalier Daily. He can be
reached at c.lopez@cavalierdaily.com.

Source: The Cavalier Daily - :: LOPEZ: Cuba open, not free -
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2016/02/lopez-cuba-open-not-free