Two Recent Signs of Change in Washington’s Cuba Policies

Two Recent Signs of Change in Washington's Cuba Policies
November 22, 2013
Wilfredo Cancio Isla (Café Fuerte)

HAVANA TIMES — Within a short 10-day period, US President Barack Obama
and Secretary of State John Kerry have addressed Washington's Cuba
policy and have insisted on the need to update and creatively re-shape a
policy implemented over fifty years ago, a policy which must be placed
in step with the times.

Politicians tend to publicly address only the tip of the iceberg and
often conceal the more important maneuvers. I can't be certain that
we'll be seeing some unprecedented decisions on the matter immediately,
but the moderation of recent pronouncements and the White House's stance
towards the timid but real changes taking place in Cuba today (such as
the proliferation of self-employment and the laxer travel legislation)
are indeed curious.

In the five short years since Obama entered office, more than 100
thousand Cubans have been granted visas to travel to the United States
to reunite with their families and as part of cultural, educational or
religious exchanges. This year, the State Department announced that it
would grant five-year travel visas to Cubans with relatives in the
United States, as part of the "normalization" of the way in which Cuban
applicants are treated by US migratory authorities.

Closer Ties

In addition, Obama and Kerry's statements reaffirm the decisions
regarding the lifting of restrictions on travel and the sending of
remittances to the island (made effective in 2009), as well as increased
travel to Cuba by US citizens and so-called "people-to-people" contacts
(operative since 2011).

This year, the two countries resumed migratory talks and conversations
surrounding the re-establishment of direct mail services between Cuba
and the United States. It is also evident that restrictions on the
movement of US and Cuban diplomats outside their respective missions
have been relaxed.

In the short span of time between Obama's statements at a fund-raiser
and Kerry's speech at the OAS, an official Cuban delegation (headed by
two diplomats) visited the cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa and
participated in a meeting aimed at reaching a regional cooperation
agreement on oil spills. The gathering involved officials from the
pertinent US agencies.

The meeting between the Cubans and US officials who attended the
gathering was held in an atmosphere of understanding and cooperation.
According to sources who participated in the talks, the agreement is now
ready to be signed by the parties. Curiously enough, the Treasury
Department's Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) raised no
objections about hotel bills and stipends of Cuban invitees, who
participated in a forum sponsored by oil companies.

No Comments about Alan Gross

In their respective speeches (whose Cuba-related fragments are
reproduced below), neither Obama nor Kerry made any mention of
contractor Alan Gross, convicted to 15 years in prison in Cuba. As we
know, Gross is one of the chief hurdles standing in the way of improved
bilateral relations.

During his visit to Havana in February, Senator Patrick Leahy
recommended that the Gross case be negotiated "discretely", a suggestion
which has apparently not fallen upon deaf ears in Washington.

At the beginning of July, the Cuban government authorized an independent
medical team to visit Gross in Havana, an incident which was not
reported on by the US press. Gross' own family has maintained a low
profile in connection with the case, even after nearly four years since
his arrest, which took place on December 3, 2009.

These are some of the signs that suggest relations between Washington
and Havana may be evolving. We should not jump to any conclusions. The
embargo is still in place and seems to be set in stone for the time
being. What we can say is that the map of political and social relations
between the two countries is beginning to be drawn up with a different
rhetoric.

Source: "Two Recent Signs of Change in Washington's Cuba Policies -
Havana Times.org" - http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=100234