JOIN USThe US-Cuba relations have reached a historic milestone with the two countries re-establishing diplomatic relations.
A deal providing for exchange of prisoners that was negotiated quietly over the last 18 months has paved the way for this breakthrough. Restoration of diplomatic ties will be accompanied by lifting of restrictions on travel, banking and business.
Cuban President Raul Castro and his American counterpart Barack Obama must be applauded for their decision to end more than five decades of hostility. This hostility can be traced back to 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrew the pro-US dictator Fulgencio Batista to establish a Communist government in Cuba.
The US responded by imposing a crippling economic embargo on Cuba and made countless attempts at regime change there, including the 1962 Bay of Pigs invasion of the island, assassination attempts on Castro, etc. Successive US governments piled on pressure by systematically tightening the embargo and even labelling Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism. But tiny Cuba, its Communist government and Castro were able to survive that pressure and defeat Washington’s machinations.
Sheer pigheadedness lay behind Washington persisting with this flawed and fruitless policy. While the policy was framed in the context of the Cold War, it survived the end of the Cold War. Washington normalised ties with Communist China at the height of the Cold War and even with Vietnam, with which it fought a very bloody war. Yet, relations with Cuba remained frozen. Obama has done well to admit to the failure of this policy and to initiate steps at course correction.
How far the thaw will go is unclear. For it to be meaningful, the US must lift the embargo on Cuba. To do this, Obama will need the support of a Republican-dominated Congress. Obama must leverage American public opinion, which in recent years has been in favour of lifting the embargo, to push Congress to support him on this issue. It will not be easy.
While diplomatic relations have been restored, trade embargo is still on.
Cuba has been deeply affected by this blockade. The Obama administration should now push to defang the trade embargo and remove restrictions on commerce and financial activities. The US Treasury Department is expected to issue a series of regulations to ease agricultural exports.
Easing trade and allowing imports and exports between the two countries will be beneficial to both. The US must, however, ensure that the changes are smooth and gradual and not ride roughshod the Cubans who are a proud people.