Pro and anti-reform sentiments surfaced last week.
Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (pictured above), was quoted in Spain:
When asked about the direction U.S. policy would take toward Cuba this year, Valenzuela said that Washington will seek “to resume some of the conversations” held with Havana “on matters of common interest.”“And in that sense, we have set conversations on immigration issues, postal issues ...” he said, emphasizing the “efforts” of the U.S. administration to “have a direct dialogue with the Cuban government.”
As an example of that dialogue, the official cited the earthquake in Haiti, where the United States has maintained “a conversation directly with the Cubans ... (about) the possibility of directly supporting Cuban doctors working in Haiti.”
Barack Obama’s administration in 2010 also wants “to reverse some of the measures taken by the previous U.S. government not to permit more fluid connections between U.S. citizens and their counterparts in Cuba,” Valenzuela added.
“We’re opening up those measures to have much more communication from one society to the other society,” he said.
If the Administration is finally serious about using its authority to open up non-tourist travel, it needs to move quickly so universities, World Affairs Councils, museums, elder hostel and others can incorporate Cuba into budgets and program plans for the 2010-2011 academic year. The devil will be in the details. Granting general rather than specific licenses to IRS recognized not-for-profits and eliminating the Travel Service Provider monopoly will avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks. Moreover, such a common sense initiative can inspire Congress to finish the job by enacting complete freedom to travel.
Coincidentally (?), a weak showing of the anti-reform bloc in the House fired a warning shot at the Administration in a letter to the Secretary of State from Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL), Mike Pence (IN), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Dan Burton (IN), Connie Mack (FL), Thaddeus McCotter (MI), Todd Tiahrt (KS) and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL).
We urge you to suspend all talks with the Cuban dictatorship until Mr. Gross is freed, and that you demand that he be immediately released. We also respectfully request that you call on USAID to proceed swiftly with the solicitation process, as called for by U.S. law, so that all interested non-governmental organizations may submit grant requests to provide needed assistance to Cuba’s pro-democracy movement.
They were trying to derail bilateral migration talks, but primarily concerned with protecting the flow of pork for intervention, as well as for pro-embargo advocacy from the Cuba Transition Project at the University of Miami. Ironically, were they taken seriously, when USAID subcontractor Alan Gross is released by Cuba the desired funds can provide a steady stream of replacement detainees.
(My own view as written in an earlier post is that Gross should be released and USAID should spend no more money in Cuba that does not follow normal diplomatic protocol of approval by the host country.)
When Mauricio Claver-Carone published the letter on his Capitol Hill Cubans blog, he didn't bother to point out that six of the eight signers were beneficiaries of the US-Cuba Democracy PAC which he directs. So far in the 2008 and 2010 election cycles they received a total of $30,500.
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And we wonder why the Bush Administration got it so wrong...
Condoleezza Rice speaking in Sarasota, FL
Rice predicted an "explosion" in Cuba after Fidel Castro dies. She said Cubans will not accept his brother Raul Castro as the dictator because he created so many enemies because he was the "enforcer" of the revolution. Instead, Cubans will demand a more democratic or liberal government.
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Links and resources
"End of the Rogue" The world that created 'rogue states' is gone, and the sooner Washington recognizes it, the better, the international context for US policy on Cuba. By Nader Mousavizadeh | NEWSWEEK
"From Hanoi to Havana: The Rocky Road to Reconciliation", public radio broadcast of my talk at the World Affairs Council of Anchorage
Revealing Reuters articles by Marc Frank on the uneven pace of economic reform in Cuba.
Americans Learning from Cuba's Medical System, a report showing why educational exchange is a two way street.