Only 2 solutions to the Cuban problem

Oops, Fidel Castro did it again! He sent 75 citizens and compañeros to prison, many with 20-years-plus sentences, and executed three ferry-boat hijackers. The word on the street is that Castro referred to them as "tres negritos" (three little blacks). Even if you ignore the alleged racism, which I won't, the hijackers committed the crime of wanting freedom. They did it in an incredibly stupid way, but they killed no one.

Amazingly, many left-wing artists, activists and intellectuals have come out in support of Uncle Fidel. We need a Nobel Prize for stupidity. Led by Harry Belafonte, the usual suspects have predictably figured out a way to blame America for Castro's housecleaning of his opposition several days after the start of the war in Iraq. It was a United States diplomat who was "agitating" the dissidents. He met with them. He was planning to "topple Fidel."

Ridiculous. The Varela Project and other efforts to amend the Cuban constitution have been going on for years. This was the noble opposition, looking for a peaceful change. The Sakharovs and Walesas of their time. Castro simply waited for the world's attention to be diverted, then he "executed" his plan.

And, by the way, the 75 he jailed were also activists and intellectuals. And journalists. Some got 28 years. Nelson Mandela did 27. I guess Castro will not be surpassed at anything.

The solution to Castro's past misbehavior, according to some -- including the Sentinel's own Myriam Marquez -- was to send Americans with pockets full of money to show those backward Cubans what liberty is all about.

Strangely enough, the Canadians, Latin Americans, Europeans and some Americans who've been traveling to Cuba for decades have not been able to do that. My God, even the pope tried! And yet, American tourists in their Bermuda shorts and camcorders are going to make Castro see the light. Sure, Castro will fall -- on his knees, laughing.

Let's Be Honest About Cuba*** Along with the same old pack of lies and willful misunderstandings that have always accompanied debate on Cuba, there has emerged a new set that, while shifting blame for Castro's misdeeds directly to the U.S., reveals a more disturbing trend in discussions about Cuba.

Before examining that, however, let's retire one particularly tired and self-contradictory "argument" against U.S. policy toward Cuba: The embargo is a convenient "excuse" for the Castro regime's failures.

At the minimal risk that a generalization like this creates, nobody who believes in (or at the very least understands) capitalism still holds that Cuba is an economic sinkhole because of U.S. foreign policy. As such, it is foolish to claim that the embargo is an "excuse" for the Castro regime's economic failure. This argument shifts blame to the Cuban people, for their implied stupidity. No émigré I've ever met believes their hardship resulted from U.S. policy. The embargo is an "excuse" only to the Left, for whose intellectual shortcomings I make no defense.

Everyone in Havana knows they receive one bar of soap per month because of decisions made by Castro, not Washington. To argue otherwise is to deny the Cuban people an "insight" most Americans take as common sense.

The most recent way to blame the United States for Castro's brutality is by criticizing the actions of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. The argument goes that were it not for U.S. diplomats-invariably portrayed by the media and the Left (quibble, quibble) in C.I.A.-like terms-supporting pro-democracy forces in Cuba, Castro wouldn't have to hand out life sentences like candy.

This is an insidious form of blaming the victim, along the lines of a domestic abuse counselor inquiring, "Why didn't you stop complaining after your husband hit you the first time?"

If only those pesky Cubans didn't want freedom so badly and the U.S. government wasn't so willing to help them, Castro wouldn't have to play the stern father.

What appears to be an attack on American actions turns out to be a much harsher attack on those who support American values from abroad. Imagine blaming the Berlin Wall jumpers for forcing the guards to pick them off like tin ducks in a carnival.

Moral relativism is a valued tradition for the Left, but some on the Right also equate a principled policy decision with the type of restrictions on freedom implemented by Castro.***

There are only two solutions to the Cuban problem. One is the application of a real embargo, prohibiting any money to be sent there from this or any country. Same with travel. An embargo by the whole world. The kind of embargo placed on South Africa during apartheid. Yes, it is hard, but it would work. I have relatives in Cuba, and I have never sent a penny there.

That's harsh. It may be principled, but it's also harsh.

Neither a worldwide embargo nor an invasion of Cuba is going to happen, IMO.

I believe the administration's policy is to wait for Castro to croak and then exploit the transition to bring about a change of political system (how this will be done exactly, I have no idea.)

All bets are off, however, if Castro lets al-Qaeda use Cuba as a forward operating base or something similarly extreme.

When in Cuba, I observed Swiss Toblerones, Volvo tour busses, European cars and numerous other examples of trade with the outside world. Although tourism was down from its peaks of a few years back, I certainly saw impressive indications of activity. It was then that I realized our present embargo might be effective on the margins by reducing trade from what it would otherwise be, but it's very far from eliminating it.

Any country with "middle-tier" hotel rooms going for $110 a night is not exactly without resources, especially when the employees make $20-odd a month and subsist on tips. A country with $25 a plate restaurants for tourists is not exactly a place where people don't spend big bucks. (They serve food almost as lousy as the $2 a plate restaurants Cubans eat at. However, they look a lot nicer. You have been warned).

The problem isn't people's spending; it's how badly the money is wasted. The Cuban tourist system is legendary for soaking up big bucks and providing minimal benefits, thus angering customers. This is a major reason Cuban tourism is down; Castro shot himself in the foot. He really doesn't understand tourists as anything other than walking ATMs who can be attracted by pretty glitz. So he creates glitz in his hotels, but no substance; nice looking rooms but hard beds and sluggish 1950s hydraulic elevators that jerk whenever they stop. Beautiful restaurants with terrible food. And so on.

A worldwide embargo is simply not going to happen. We weren't even able to enforce that on Iraq, and the case for an embargo on Iraq was a lot stronger. Cuba is not developing or threatening us with weapons of mass destruction. Castro is smarter than Saddam; he knows where to stop.

And neither is an invasion. We would face wide-spread international opposition, thanks to all of Castro's pals. More importantly, since Castro is not threatening us as Saddam has, we don't have a good excuse; we just look like International bullies. You and I don't think that way, but middle of the road voters aren't going to buy it.

So what should we do about Cuba? Darned if I know.

D

I liken the present situation which happened at the height of Cuban development, and has been going downhill eversince, to the same thing that happened in Iran. The Shah may not have been God's gift to mankind, but he and his government were far superior, IMHO, to what came after. The same thing applies IMHO to the situation prior to Castro. Too much finger pointing and cries of corruption, and down came one friendly dictator, to be replaced by fidel.

We should have kicked his ass into the ocean at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, and been done with it. Cuba could be the fifty first state, followed by puerto rico and the five or six states we will make out of oh canada. Just color me ready to expand our universe. I liken it to proper parenthood. Act like a child and I'll treat you like one. If cuba was ours, there would be a total reverse of the boat people syndrome. Miami would be empty. Well, it's a thought anyway.

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