McCain Vows to Keep U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba

McCain Vows to Keep U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba
Position Sharpens Divide With Obama;
Approval in Miami
By DAVID LUHNOW in Mexico City and ELIZABETH HOLMES in Miami
May 21, 2008; Page A6

John McCain told Cuban-Americans Tuesday that he would maintain the
decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba if he is elected president, and
he attacked Barack Obama for his willingness to meet with Cuba's leader.

Both the likely Republican nominee and the Democratic front-runner spun
Cuba into their familiar lines of attack against each other.

Sen. McCain sharpened the divide between the two candidates over the
issue of holding face-to-face talks with leaders of countries that the
U.S. considers enemies. Sen. Obama responded by equating Sen. McCain's
policies to those of President Bush.

"Sen. Obama said he wants to sit down with no conditions and negotiate
with Raúl Castro," Sen. McCain said to boos from the crowd during a
visit to a Miami memorial for Cuban political prisoners. "That will not
happen when I'm president of the United States," he said to applause.

Sen. Obama accused Sen. McCain of carrying out a third Bush term.
"There's nothing more naive than continuing a policy that has failed for
decades, but that's all John McCain offered today," the Illinois senator
said in a written response Tuesday.

Nearly five decades of a U.S. trade embargo have failed to dislodge the
Cuban government, the Western Hemisphere's only communist country. The
embargo has allowed Cuba to portray itself in the region as a victim of
U.S. aggression. Many Cuba experts say the policy hasn't worked and
needs changing.
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The candidates likely will focus on the issue in the general election
because Florida will be a crucial swing state.

Tuesday's visit suggests Sen. McCain is siding with the hard-line
Cuban-American exiles who have steadfastly opposed detente with Cuba and
consistently backed Republicans in a key battleground state.

"The notion that a tough stand still yields electoral benefits,
especially in Florida," appears to have prevailed in the McCain
campaign, said Michael Shifter, vice president for policy at the
Inter-American Dialogue.

Sen. McCain's stance on Cuba appears to have evolved since the 2000
presidential primaries, when he faced Mr. Bush, then the Texas governor.
At the time, Mr. Bush played to the Cuban-American exile community and
Mr. McCain acted the moderate, recalling his role in normalizing
relations between the U.S. and Vietnam and saying the U.S. could lay out
a similar road map with the regime.

Tuesday, Sen. McCain denied having changed policies, saying he never
supported engagement with Cuba unless it held free elections first. "My
position on Cuba has been exactly the same," he said.

Sen. Obama is the remaining candidate to have broken with the status quo
on Cuba, saying he would keep the embargo but allow Cuban-Americans to
send money to the island and travel there to visit relatives. Leading
dissidents in Cuba also support those steps.

For her part, Sen. Hillary Clinton's approach has been no loosening of
the embargo until Cuba undertakes serious overhauls.

Sen. Obama is expected to make his case for how to deal with Cuba in a
speech Wednesday during a visit to Florida. During a town-hall meeting
in Oregon Sunday, Sen. Obama said he opposed normalizing relations with
Cuba but added that with Raúl Castro now in power, "our relationship may
be at a moment of transition."

The issue of Cuba has become more important since the retirement this
year of the ailing Fidel Castro. Raúl Castro has taken small steps at
reform by allowing Cubans to own cellphones and computers, but hasn't
signaled any major economic or political freedoms.

Analysts say talks with Cuba could resolve a host of issues, including
getting Cuba's help in returning fugitives from U.S. justice.

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