In an op-ed last Wednesday, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet — a physician and human rights advocate living in Havana, Cuba — argued that “[S]ome of [America’s] recent policy changes will only make it more difficult for Cubans to bring about the future they deserve.” Interestingly enough, the majority of Americans appear to agree.
A Pew Research Center survey published in January 2015 found that most Americans favor re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba (63 percent) and ending the embargo against the island nation (66 percent). But roughly the same share (63 percent) believes that these policy changes will not lead to a more democratic Cuba.
As Biscet points out, President Obama shouldn’t sell Americans on the idea that negotiations and freer trade would lead to democratic change. Surveys of Cubans taken by Univision, as reported in the Washington Post in April, found that barely one in three (37 percent) felt re-established relations with the U.S. would lead to political change.
There is good reason for this. Cuba’s persecution of dissidents and abysmal human rights record have gotten considerably worse since the recently revealed 18-month “secret” negotiations between the two countries took place.
As reported last month in a Washington Examiner editorial entitled “Cuba’s crackdown should make Obama think twice,” the Castro regime has ramped-up persecution of its Christian community, threatening “…to confiscate as many as 100 Protestant church properties in eastern Cuba…”
This bolsters Dr. Biscet’s argument that lifting trade embargoes and re-establishing diplomatic relations will only tighten the Castro regime’s grip on the Cuban people.
More ominous is the prospect of offering priceless credibility to a tyrannical regime, which could weaken America’s hand as it pushes foreign policy initiatives with other dictatorial governments (e.g. Iran and China). Obama already offered a prelude to such legitimization by shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro during Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December 2013.
Given the response uncovered in the Pew survey, it’s easy to understand America’s skepticism about negotiating with long-standing enemies.
Lifting the trade embargo wouldn’t help most ordinary Cubans, as most households would not benefit from U.S. imports. While freer trade with the U.S. is overwhelmingly welcomed by Cubans (97 percent support it), only a fraction of Cubans (13 percent) operate their own businesses, leaving the vast majority of their incomes in control of the state.
Additionally, Cuban exports are strictly controlled by the Castro regime, which would be the main beneficiaries of any realized commercial profits. According to Pew’s Drew Desilver, direct government or state-owned industry still accounts for two-thirds of Cuba’s economy.
In short, based on polls and surveys, Dr. Biscet’s perspective on President Obama’s ongoing diplomatic overtures toward Cuba is on the mark. No amount of free trade or embargo lifting will lead to democratic change in Cuba. Ultimately, as Biscet correctly points out: “[I]t is the Cuban people who must claim our liberty and establish our democracy.”
Vincent Amoroso graduated from York College with a BA in English and from John Jay University with a BA in Criminal Justice. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
