Time to rethink 'concession' mentality on Cuba

By Ric Herrero, Special to CNN



Editor's note: Ric Herrero is the executive director of #CubaNow, a

Miami-based democracy advocacy group. The views expressed are the

writer's own.



Late last month, 44 former high-level U.S. officials and thought

leaders, including prominent members of the Cuban-American community,

signed a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to revise our Cuba

policy to allow Americans to better engage with the island's growing

civil society, particularly its fledgling entrepreneurial sector.

The logic behind the letter is simple: by empowering the Cuban people

with more access to U.S. contacts and resources, they can create greater

freedoms for themselves.

Unfortunately, that concept appears to be too difficult to understand

for those who depend on keeping things just the way they are. Almost

immediately, the predictable responses began to flow from a tag team of

shrill hardliners in Washington DC and Havana, all trying to protect the

status quo.

In Washington, the pro-embargo lobby – or what is left of them – began

to mischaracterize the letter as a "concession" to the regime, and

cherry picked quotes by some dissidents and exile leaders to make it

seem as if there is widespread opposition to increasing support for

Cuban civil society.

In Havana, the supposed beneficiaries of these "concessions" reacted in

equally predictable fashion. As they've done every time there's been a

potential thaw, the Cuban regime's hardliners are going out of their way

to thwart political momentum in the U.S. for a new approach. Let's face

it, one of the regime's favorite strategies is to blame American policy

for all of their own shortcomings. It has helped them stay in power. If

they wanted better relations, they would release Alan Gross, or stop

beating up the Ladies in White, or cease detaining pro-rights activists,

or loosen customs and import restrictions. They haven't, of course,

because like the hardliners here, they want everything their way.

Both sides have something else in common – they will twist anything to

fit their view of the world, even when it makes no sense. Washington

hardliners are quick to pose for photo ops or send press releases

praising the bravery of Cuban activists. Yet by denying those activists

real support, and refusing to accept that civil society needs economic

resources to thrive, they are doing them a disservice.

To suggest that an increase in the flow of contacts and resources to the

Cuban people is a "concession" to the Castro brothers plays directly

into the hands of the most unyielding forces within the Cuban

government. As WLRN's Tim Padgett noted last month, "Incredibly,

[hardliners] somehow convinced themselves that denying Cuba's fledgling

entrepreneurs more seed money, cell phones and sage advice – that

keeping them in the micro-economic Middle Ages – is the best way to

change Cuba." It isn't.

The "concessions" talking point might be a cute sound bite, but it's

wrong. For decades, the American people have been force-fed the baseless

notion that any reform of Cuba policy, no matter how practical, is

tantamount to rewarding the regime for its iron grip over the island.

In fact, easing the embargo to support the island's nascent

entrepreneurial class puts more pressure on the Cuban regime to respect

human rights because they have a stronger independent private sector and

civil society with which to contend. And if the argument from hardliners

is that we should not support entrepreneurs because there can be no

private sector without rights, then that would mean we couldn't support

dissidents either. We must do both.

Dissidents are battling to create a better and more inclusive future

where their families and fellow Cubans can be free. They do so in simple

but powerful ways – a peaceful street protest, a petition tens of

thousands strong, a blog post, an independent media outlet. The same

logic applies to self-employed entrepreneurs, and to every single Cuban

seeking to increase their independence from the state, whether they are

a hairdresser, a computer programmer, or a taxi driver.

Entrepreneurs may not be allowed to legally incorporate, or to have

foreigners legally "invest" in their businesses, but they are fighting

every day to gain these rights. How? By using remittances, mostly from

the United States, as seed capital. By hiring and paying salaries far

above those of state workers. By taking government officials to court

over zoning, licensing and property disputes. They are conjuring every

creative interpretation of Cuban law to scale their businesses or press

for new categories of self-employment that were previously prohibited.

We should encourage that, not stand in its way.

After 54 years it's time to call a spade a shovel. The only real

concession the United States can make to the Cuban regime is to continue

to treat Castro's favorite propaganda tool as a sacred cow. We can do

better.



Post by:

CNN's Jason Miks

Topics: Cuba



Source: Time to rethink 'concession' mentality on Cuba – Global Public

Square - CNN.com Blogs -

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/12/time-to-rethink-concession-mentality-on-cuba/