Much of the infrastructure was owned by, and much of the profits of the Cuban people's labor went to, absentee landowners in the U.S. This condition persisted until Batista was overthrown by the Cuban Revolution of 1959. There was no concern for democracy and human rights while Batista was in power and committing atrocities against the population with arms and military training supplied by the United States. The most conservative accounts of Batista's brutality dwarf the most inflated accounts of Castro's excesses.
The selective application of democracy and human rights rhetoric as a weapon to punish enemies while remaining silent on the brutality of friends was a fixture of Cold War policy and persists today. The U.S. does not currently embargo numerous states that are, objectively speaking, more repressive than the Cuban state. As the largest purveyor of military assistance and the largest wholesale arms dealer in the world, the U.S. government facilitates the killing of civilians in states like Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan. This is not due to ignorance. Yearly State Department human rights reports document the abuses of our allies and clients. Most of our military assistance and arms clients are not democratic.
The rigidity of the policy towards Cuba suggests that there is no state in the world today where democracy and human rights are more vital to the U.S. government than in Cuba. The embargo against Cuba is the most comprehensive, longest-lasting embargo ever undertaken by the U.S. The United Nations has recognized that this embargo is the only one in the world that restricts medicine and food. The UN has condemned it as a human rights violation for the past several years, in votes that have arrayed the U.S., Israel and the Czech Republic against the world.
According to current law, no item produced or patented in any part in the U.S. may be sold to the Cuban government. This restriction is particularly damaging with respect to medicine, because half the medicines, medical equipment and technologies of the world are patented or produced in the United States. No bank in the U.S. can finance any sale of food to the Cuban government. Thus, while it is legal for U.S. corporations and individuals to sell food to the Cuban government (itself a recent development in the history of the embargo) it is almost impossible to actually do so.
No company incorporated in the U.S. or a subsidiary of one can participate in any economic relation with the Cuban government. No ship that docks in a Cuban port can dock in the U.S. for six months. No U.S. citizen or resident can travel to Cuba without a license and, once there, they cannot legally spend more that $100 over their costs for room and board. Ironically, the U.S. government intends to combat the lack of freedom in Cuba by restricting our freedoms. There are also a number of statutes that impose penalties on foreign companies and their personnel if they "traffic" in the nationalized property of U.S. citizens.
These draconian measures are not justified by the facts of the Cuban government. Although, like most governments, it leaves much to be desired, the Cuban government's achievements are extremely laudable. It continues to provide universal healthcare, education and social indicators comparable to the United States for a Third World country of 11 million people, while suffering under the most comprehensive embargo of the most powerful state in history.
While it may be said that the current policy only prevents dealings with the Cuban government, in the context of a socialist system that most Cubans support, it undermines the very premises of a collectivist society. Ten percent of the Cuban population applies for visas to leave Cuba. This fact must be understood in the context of the uniquely favorable Cuban Adjustment Act, which is designed to entice Cubans to come to the U.S. Even the State Department concedes that most Cubans leave for economic reasons, which are greatly exacerbated by the embargo.
There is no moral basis for the United States to punish the 90 percent of the population that chooses to stay, while, in other parts of the world, we undermine the same principles we invoke for Cuba. I am extremely skeptical of the motives for the policy. The policy is not about democracy and human rights, it is about regaining a colony. On both counts, it has failed.
This lack of logical consistency suggests that our foreign policy, viewed globally, often masks economic and power concerns with the rhetoric of democracy and human rights. The real objectives and effects of policy, when exposed, are actually quite distasteful. The history and facts also suggest that the specific policy towards Cuba is designed to topple the only government in our hemispheric backyard that does not follow the economic and political dictates of Washington.
Having failed to promote substantive change, even after the Cuban economy lost over 75 percent of its total capacity with the fall of the Soviet Union, suggests that our goals must be reassessed. As much as most Cubans might want changes in their government, their lack of response (except to trickle into the U.S.) to the most forceful policy possible short of open war suggests it is time for a new approach.
There has been some recent legislative activity on this issue. The "Bridges to The Cuban People Act" was introduced in both the House and Senate on March 20 by Representatives Jose Serrano (D-NY) and Leach (R-IA) and Senator Dodd (D-CT). Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has also introduced S.171, "Repeal of Certain Trade Sanctions and Travel Provisions," which is co-sponsored by Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL). These bills go a long way towards repealing the most odious food, medicine, travel and financing restrictions.
I encourage anyone to read more about Cuba itself and recent and past legislation. I encourage those concerned about the egregious violations of human rights (as defined by the international community) by our government, in the name of human rights (as defined by elements within our government) to contact their representatives and express support for a new position. I encourage you to join with other students on campus to organize for change.<i>
Chidozie Ugwumba '03 recently visited Cuba with a Witness for Peace delegation of eighteen Amherst students.</i>