Trying to Make Some Sense

I just finished reading an article in the Sun-Sentinel from David Cazares about Cubans on the island who think that the U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba are hurting the average Cuban.

This is an old topic, but I think it deserves another look. At the surface, one can easily make the conclusion that limiting family trips to once every three years hurts Cubans on the island more than castro and his cronies. However, let's take a closer look.

Quote from the article:
"According to U.S. government and business estimates, the amount of money Cubans receive annually from relatives abroad -- most in the United States -- varies from about $400 million to more than $1 billion."

I don't know about you, but I think that's a lot of money flowing into Cuba. For many years, relatives could go to Cuba once a year to visit relatives, and we saw how little of a difference that made in changing conditions in Cuba. We've seen how Cuba has opened up to tourism from every other country on Earth, and how little of a difference it's made in the way the castro regime operates.

Another quote:
"Only in Cuba has America tried to fight communism by aiming economic sanctions directly at families," (Phil) Peters said. "The policy has succeeded in hurting families, but the Cuban government is as strong as ever. And fewer visits means a reduced flow of information and ideas in a country that the administration wants to change profoundly."

I think Mr. Peters has it wrong. The sanctions are not aimed at families. The first quote proves that. The sanctions are meant to hurt the government. Problem is, no one else wants to join the U.S., therefore rendering the "embargo" as completely toothless and ineffective.

As far as a reduced flow of information is concerned, don't blame that on the sanctions. I find it impossible to believe that the average Cuban doesn't know what's really going on in their country. They've heard the stories from relatives in the U.S. They don't live in a perfect vacuum, regardless of how much castro tries to restrict access to information. Regardless, the average Cuban is not allowed to have internet access, and can only read newspapers with one point of view - the regime's. They can't travel freely around the island or abroad. How in the world can the sanctions be blamed for that?

I think the travel restrictions are a bit excessive. I feel for those who want to visit their relatives. But I draw the line when it comes to blaming the U.S. for Cuba's problems. All the money that Cuban-Americans send, all the trade between the U.S. and Cuba, all of that for what? So that people can continue blaming the U.S. policy instead of placing the blame squarely and completely where it belongs - on castro.

You see, as long as castro continues keeping the money for himself and not sharing it with his country, there will always be those who will continue to fight the good fight. We can open the floodgates and let every sunburnt, corn-fed Midwesterner visit Cuba and its resorts. We can officially eliminate the "embargo" so that trade with Cuba can go unfettered.

This will allow for the free flow of information in Cuba and help bring down the regime, anti-embargo advocates naively argue.

There's one big catch to that theory. castro won't let it happen. Repression is the order of the day in Cuba. It's been proven time and time again. More money into Cuba = more money into castro's pocket, not to the average Cuban. More money = more power. That's life.

A real, multi-lateral embargo, one with teeth, would go a long way toward bringing about change.