Posted on Wed, Oct. 03, 2007
By FRANK CALZON
fcalzon@cubacenter.org
The ''Stockholm syndrome'' describes the phenomenon of hostages who
identify, cooperate with and, finally, defend their kidnappers. The
longer they are held, the more victims are likely to be affected by the
syndrome, because they are totally dependent on their abusers. The
control over every aspect of life convinces the victim that he or she is
alone, there will be no help from others; resistance is useless and only
makes things worse.
That's the kind of control Fidel Castro, and now his brother Raúl,
exercise in Cuba.
There, everything comes from Castro and his government. The regime wants
the Cuban people to believe they have no other friends. And, alas, even
foreign diplomats and their dependents stationed in Havana begin after
time to feel this intimidating dependency and to become reluctant to
protest outrages directed at them because ``it only results in more abuse.''
Castro's abuse -- his ability to order windows smashed or call out
street demonstrations -- becomes ''revenge'' for inviting unapproved
Cuban guests to the embassy, for reaching out to engage ordinary Cubans
in ways not preapproved by Castro's government.
Foreign observers in Cuba seem to have great difficulty imagining what
the regime will do next. One reason why is that they keep looking for
logical reasons to explain the regime's actions. Yet the reality is that
much of what has happened in Cuba over the last 50 years cannot be
explained, except as the whim of a man whose only goal is to be in
control of everything Cuban. Castro has a lot in common with Stalin.
The Castro regime simply deems any independent action -- however small
-- to be a challenge to its totalitarian control. Thus, inviting Cuba's
political dissidents to an embassy event is ''a hostile act.'' To give a
short-wave radio to a Cuban national is, curiously enough, ''a violation
of human rights.'' Any Cuban daring to voice support for change in Cuba
is ''a paid agent'' of the United States.
What to do in a situation such as this? The principle that should guide
foreign governments is that they should show Cubans that they have
friends on the outside.
Foreign governments can start by, at the very least, always insisting on
reciprocity in the freedom allowed Castro's diplomats and embassies to
operate in their capitals. This is not what happened. Foreign missions
-- America's among them -- accede to Castro's restrictions on how their
diplomats and embassies function in Cuba.
Cuba's diplomats take full advantage of their freedoms in the U.S.
capital. They attend congressional hearings, have access to the American
media, develop relationships with businessmen and ''progressive''
activists, host student groups, speak at universities and enjoy
tax-exempt status. Yet U.S. diplomats in Cuba have no similar privileges
in Havana. They are subject to petty harassments. The Cuban government
goes so far as to detain shipping containers of supplies sent to the
U.S. Interests Section in Cuba and has broken into the U.S. diplomatic
pouch.
Attempting to appease Cuba's kidnappers will backfire, as it always has.
It is instructive that the refugee crises in 1980 and 1994, which
involved 125,000 and 30,000 Cubans respectively, and the 1996 murder of
Brothers to the Rescue crews over the Florida Straits occurred at times
when Washington actually was trying to improve relations.
Eventually, Cuba's long nightmare will end. If governments around the
world would also shake free of ''the Havana Syndrome,'' they might
hasten Cuba's democratic awakening.
Fidel and Raúl Castro will attempt to turn their day of reckoning into a
negotiation with Washington -- a negotiation excluding dissidents and
exiles. Yet it is Cubans who must decide the fate of Cuba. All evidence
indicates that President Bush will remain firm. If the Department of
State does not flinch, Cuba's interim president and new leaders will
have to talk with and listen to their political opponents. That is what
democracy means and that is what the world community should boldly
support today.
Frank Calzon is executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba in
Washington, D.C.
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