JOIN USFull diplomatic relations have been established between the United States and Cuba 54 years after Washington snapped ties with its tiny neighbour. This is a momentous event not just for US-Cuba bilateral relations but for international politics. An important flashpoint of the Cold War, the US-Cuba conflict survived the Cold War’s end and raged on for 24 years thereafter. That the conflict has ended formally now with the restoration of diplomatic relations marks the triumph of engagement over confrontation in resolving global conflicts. So piqued was the US by the Cuban revolution, the overthrow of the US-backed dictator Batista and the coming to power of Fidel Castro, that it snapped ties with Cuba and imposed a wide range of economic and other sanctions to isolate it. Several attempts to overthrow the Castro regime followed. However, successive administrations in Washington were neither able to dislodge Castro’s Communist regime nor break Cuba’s spirit; so resolute was Cuba in its defiance of American bullying.
Then US President Jimmy Carter did try to end the bilateral acrimony. He failed as his attempts faced fierce opposition in Congress. Thirty years later, during his election campaign in 2008, Barack Obama promised normalisation of relations with Cuba. On becoming president, he followed up on his promise by lifting some sanctions and travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans. Quiet negotiations followed and these finally bore fruit on July 20 with full diplomatic ties being restored. This is a major victory for Obama on the foreign policy front. Together with the nuclear deal with Iran, the normalisation of US relations with Cuba are legacy-defining achievements of his presidency. Obama’s re-setting of relations with Cuba will go a long way in bridging the growing distance between the US and Latin America.
However, handshakes, re-opening embassies and rest-oring diplomatic relations are just the first step. How the two countries engage with each other will be closely watched the world over. The US needs to rethink its foreign policy and to shift away from the arrogant manner in which it has been conducting it. It must treat Cuba, Cubans and their political and economic beliefs with respect. American tourists, politicians and investors must resist the temptation to impose their ideas, interests and views on Cubans. Concern over human rights violations in Cuba is understandable but hectoring Havana on this subject and demanding that it mend its ways is unproductive. Changing Cuba is for Cubans to decide and achieve on their own, not for Americans to impose on them. Cubans are fully capable of achieving their own revolutions.