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Relations With Cuba: Isolate Castro, Not Cuban People
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20117 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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2 / 1992 |
2,163 Words |
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Jose R. Cardenas
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In the U.S. policy debate over Fidel Castro's Cuba, now spanning more than three decades, innumerable voices have been heard--Republicans, Democrats, Castro himself, and foreign friends and enemies but rarely has it included the voices of the Cuban people on the island. Thus, the recent message form the opposition (and illegal) Freedom and Democracy Organization in Havana, recorded by human rights activists in Miami, is notable:
"The Cuban people do not want a dialogue with Fidel Castro. The only thing the Cuban people want is that the Castro brothers leave power. …Enough is enough."
Indeed, enough is enough.
As nations across the globe cast off their Marxist shackles and embrace political and economic freedom, Cuba remains locked in the grip of an unselected, unrepresentative government that, tragically, is fighting against the tide of history. At the recently concluded Fourth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party--thought by some to be the springboard for meaningful political and economic reforms--Fidel Castro only reaffirmed his obstinate dictum: "Socialism or Death."
Not surprisingly, Castro's intransigence, coupled with the collapse of his Soviet economic lifeline, has plunged Cuban society into its deepest political, economic, and social crisis since Castro seized power 33 years ago.
Today, pervasive rationing of the most elementary staples of life, widespread discontent (especially among the youth), an acute shortage of hard currency, high-level defections, purges in the military and security institutions, and increasing international concern over human rights abuses are the norms in Cuba.
To compensate for the decline of Soviet assistance--account in for some 75 percent of Cuba's trade--Castro is forcing upon the Cuban people his "zero option," an outrageous autarkic scenario that would return Cuba to the nineteenth century. Already, Cuba is reindustrializing at an astonishing rate: oxen are replacing machinery in the fields, bicycles are replacing cars, and herbs are replacing medicine. Each day, the Cuban people are called on for more sacrifice and more hardship.
Amid Cuba's crisis, however, lies an opportunity for the United States to initiate a proactive policy that can play a crucial role in fostering change in Cuba. To date,
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