No winners in unwise change toward Cuba

Commentary: No winners in unwise change toward Cuba
Posted: Sunday, January 4, 2015 12:00 am
BY JAMES JAY CARAFANO/THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION

WASHINGTON—President Obama's decision to make nice with Cuba's
repressive, anti-American regime creates a great number of losers.
Topping the list, of course, are the people of Cuba. They are starting
from a bad place, lacking fundamental freedoms. And Mr. Obama negotiated
no promises from the Castro brothers to ease up on the repression.
That leaves Cubans saddled with the second-most repressive economy in
the world, according to the "2014 Index of Economic Freedom" published
by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.
It offers no relief from the Freedom House assessment of Cubans'
political rights and civil liberties—"Not Free." It leaves them mired in
170th place—out of 180 countries—in Reporters Without Borders' rankings
of press freedoms.
The claim that opening markets will transform Cuba is utterly bogus. The
kleptocracy that runs the country will figure out how to exploit every
dollar that flows in—just as they have managed to funnel every in-coming
cent of foreign money through the government sieve. Opening a new cash
flow will only allow the regime to further enrich itself and dig in deeper.
Opening markets cannot magically transform totalitarian regimes into
democracies—at least, not as long as the rulers maintain a stranglehold
over civil society.
Look at China. The ruling elite has embraced many free market policies,
yet freedom is waning on the Chinese mainland and Beijing is now
squeezing it out of Hong Kong, too.
Or consider Russia. It, too, embraced Western economic reforms after the
Cold War. Yet Putin resurrected strongman rule and has turned his
country into a Gulag-lite.
Does anyone seriously believe that tourists buying cigars in Havana will
convince the Cuban cabal to change its ways?
Sure, some U.S. companies will turn a profit doing business in a country
under the thumb of thugs. But they could just as well make that money
elsewhere.
If the Obama Administration were really interested in boosting American
business it would cut needlessly costly regulations, reform the tax code
and green-light initiatives like the Keystone XL pipeline that can
generate American jobs and lower consumer prices here at home.
A BAD DEAL
Instead, America loses under this decision. It strengthens an odious
regime that aids our enemies. Cuba encourages and supports some of the
most anti-American countries on earth, from Venezuela and Iran to North
Korea.
Just last year, authorities intercepted a ship bound from Havana and
purportedly bearing a "humanitarian gift of sugar from Cuba to the North
Korean people." Hidden under the sugar were other gifts, including
fighter jet parts, missile components, rocket-propelled weapons and
ammunition.
America also loses because presidents are not supposed to take steps
counter to the intent of current U.S. law without at least consulting
Congress.
Not only did Obama not work with Congress on this matter, he waited
until Congress had adjourned and left town before announcing he was
going to "normalize" relations with Cuba.
Coming on the heels of his end-around action on immigration—extending
executive amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants—the Cuban gambit
destroys any chance of lawmakers working with the Oval Office in trust
and confidence for the next two years.
Finally, America loses because Obama's deal with the dictators betrays
the very thing that has made ours a truly exceptional nation.
"Unlike other nations that derive their meaning and purpose from some
unifying quality—an ethnic character, a common religion, a shared
history, an ancestral land—America is a country dedicated to the
universal ideas of equality and liberty," writes constitutional scholar
David Azerrad.
The premise of our existence is that only government of, by and for the
people is truly legitimate. When Obama embraces the Cuban regime with a
sham freedom agenda, he turns American exceptionalism into American
hypocrisy. Freedom-loving Cubans deserve far better than that.
James Jay Carafano is vice president of Defense and Foreign Policy
Studies for The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org), a conservative
think-tank on Capitol Hill.

Source: Commentary: No winners in unwise change toward Cuba -
Fredericksburg.com: Commentary -
http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/commentary/no-winners-in-unwise-change-toward-cuba/article_1ec6c4a4-64bc-5a73-a3b6-b3ff82666e4c.html