Editorial Board
Biden Should Return to Engagement With Cuba
It would benefit
ordinary Cubans and put the onus on the regime to respond.
By
March 11, 2021, 8:00 AM
EST
House Democrats are reportedly pressing
President Joe Biden to reverse U.S. policy on Cuba once again, returning to the
detente that prevailed before Donald Trump took office. Biden should indeed
take the first steps toward renewed openness — and put the onus on Cuba’s
Communist leaders to respond.
As with so many of his predecessor’s policies, Trump was quick to
declare the Obama administration’s rapprochement with Cuba a “bad deal” and
began dismantling it wholesale, imposing or re-imposing more than 200 restrictions on
travel, trade, and financial and diplomatic ties. The clampdown won Trump votes in
southern Florida, but by almost any other measure it failed. Cuba’s Communist
regime remains firmly entrenched. If anything, it’s grown even more dependent
on U.S. rivals Venezuela, Russia and China. Hardliners in Havana have continued
to crack down on
dissent. Cuban entrepreneurs flourished when Americans were allowed to visit
the island, but the combined impact of revived U.S. restrictions and the
pandemic have left them struggling.
None of
this serves U.S. interests. Under Obama, the U.S. and Cuba struck more than 20
agreements that addressed U.S. security concerns, on issues ranging from
counter-narcotics to the environment. Biden should open the door to renewing
such cooperation.
That will require lifting Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of
terrorism, which the Trump administration imposed in its closing days
with no real justification. Biden
will also need to restore frayed diplomatic ties — appointing an ambassador,
staffing up the U.S. embassy (taking additional security precautions while the
cause of a mysterious illness that
struck U.S. diplomats in recent years remains under investigation), and
resuming consular services so Cubans can travel to the U.S. again. The two
sides should cooperate on public health to combat the pandemic and restart
talks on security issues.
Further opening should focus for now on improving the lives of
Cubans on and off the island. The administration should lift restrictions on remittances. And it
should allow travel to the island, because American visitors are good for local
enterprise. That means permitting flights to cities other than Havana and
people-to-people exchanges, while drawing up a shorter “restricted list” of
entities with which Americans are forbidden to do business.
Cuba shouldn’t expect the U.S. to lift more targeted sanctions,
however, let alone the decades-old embargo — whose provisions are now
codified into U.S. law — unless it begins to move, too. Among other
things, that means addressing certified claims for property seized after the
1959 revolution, now estimated at nearly $9 billion with
interest. Cuba’s leaders should play a constructive role in resolving the Venezuelan
crisis and improve their record on human rights at home. The government has
recently taken some steps to rationalize the country’s currency system and
promote the private sector, but
should do more to open the economy to outside investment. The Communist Party
transition next month, when 89-year-old Raul Castro is scheduled to step down, offers
a moment for the regime to affirm its intention to reform.
Stubborn and suspicious as they may be, Cuba’s leaders should
remember two things. First, all these measures are in their nation’s own best
interests. Second, any thaw in relations will be temporary unless Biden can
point to results. The Cuban regime made a big mistake in failing to build on
Obama’s initiative, leading many in the U.S. to conclude that
engagement was pointless. The next detente will fail unless it benefits
Americans and Cubans alike.
To contact the senior
editor responsible for Bloomberg Opinion’s editorials: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net .
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-11/biden-should-open-travel-trade-ties-with-cuba-again
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