OUR OPINION: U.S. CAN HELP BREAK THE ISOLATION IMPOSED ON CUBAN PEOPLE
Posted on Wed, Nov. 07, 2007
Slowly but surely, change is coming to Cuba. Even Cuban teens are
risking arrest to wear plastic bracelets stamped cambio (change). Now is
the time for the United States to do its part to follow the advice of
the late Pope John Paul II for the world to ''open itself to Cuba.'' The
U.S. government should lift harsh restrictions on travel and remittances
to the island to encourage more people-to-people contacts and support
for Cubans pushing for democracy.
Castro's fantasy
Fissures among the communist regime's ruling elite are becoming more
evident. Last week at the United Nations, Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez
Roque said that Cuba was ready to renounce ''its sovereignty'' to ''join
a grand bloc of Latin American and Caribbean nations.'' The comment may
reflect Fidel Castro's fantasy, now adopted by Venezuela's Hugo Chávez,
of a ''revolutionary'' empire. But it contradicts years of nationalist
fervor fanned by the regime.
More telling is that the minister's remarks weren't published in Cuba's
official press. This could be a sign of divisions between Castro
loyalists and those who favor Fidel's brother, Raúl, the provisional
ruler since Fidel became ill last year. Other signs suggest many within
the official ranks may be fed up with the totalitarian system that
offers no better future.
This is why President Bush was correct in his recent speech on Cuba to
encourage Cubans in the military, police and government to strive for
reconciliation and democratic change. After nearly 50 years of
dictatorship, Cubans deserve better than cosmetic economic reform
without human rights.
The U.S. government should do more to break the regime's imposed
isolation of the Cuban people. How will civil society grow without
outside resources and contacts? How will Cubans, including government
and military officials, overcome their fear of change?
More family travel and cultural and academic exchanges would open a
world of information and supportive contacts for Cubans on the island.
More remittances would help sustain political prisoners as well as Cuban
democrats stripped of jobs. This would allow Cubans to compare democracy
and free markets to the regime's alternative.
Isolation a tool
President Bush should take the advice of experts like Vaclav Havel and
Lech Walesa, who lived the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe,
and most Cuban dissidents including hard-liner Martha Beatriz Roque. All
push for more openings, travel and contact with Cuba. It is no accident
that Cuba and North Korea are the longest-lasting dictatorships left.
Both have used isolation to keep people enslaved.
After Fidel Castro dies, Cubans will have a chance to shape their
destiny. Opening up to Cuba now will encourage a transition to freedom.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/298486.html
No comments:
Post a Comment