A View on Cuba and Normalization

If you fancy yourself an ardent conservative or even a staunch anti-communist, this week’s Obama bombshell (notice how there is usually one per week, suggesting the adherence to the “hard to hit a moving target” theory of governance) of the normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba must be a blow to your equilibrium. It need not be.

It goes without saying that the Castro regime is oppressive, brutal, and fully capable of fomenting discord throughout the Caribbean and the South American landscapes. Fidel’s leadership history is well known. He sold his atheistic political soul to the Russians, the Chinese, and most recently Hugo Chavez in order to keep the Cuban remnant of communist revolution on life support through cheap subsidies. But to argue that Cuba is a vibrant bulwark of anti-American propaganda in our soft underbelly that must continually be squashed is not accurate.

We have treated Cuba differently in the diplomatic realm than almost all of our global adversaries. Japan yanked the United States into WWII with a sneak attack and after defeating that country, they are today a prized world ally. The same is true for Germany. Russia has shot down one of our spy planes, actively engaged our surrogates (and most likely our Special Forces) in direct combat, and routinely thumbs its diplomatic nose at our incompetent president, yet we routinely deal with them in a multitude of worldly endeavors. We fought a vicious war with Vietnam, yet we have routine relations with them, another communist government. We can’t keep an up-to-date roster on who our current enemies are in the Middle East, yet we actively seek out agents and groups in that cesspool to deal with.

But then we have Cuba, a small island right under our nose. Fidel Castro was trained by our military. He overthrew a dictator, Fulgencio Batista, who not only offered iron-fisted stability for American interests, but also provided a mecca for American organized crime bosses such as Meyer Lansky. But instead of agreeing to continue recognizing the American interests, Castro cast his lot with the Communists. This was a symbolic “flipping the bird” at the United States.  So what do we do? Besides trying to assassinate Fidel Castro and sponsor an invasion of Cuba, JFK offers up a severing of all ties to Cuba and the Congressional instituted trade embargo that stopped all trade with Cuba. An interesting note is that JFK sent Pierre Salinger, one of his aides, to purchase an additional 1,200 Cuban cigars before the embargo was announced. (here) All told, the embargo has been a failure. Even though much of the Cuban economy is subsidized by some patron nations, the economy has grown in the private sector since 1981 from 8% to 23%, so even the Castro regime has loosened some of the restrictions on private industry. (here)

While conservatives may want to hold their collective noses at what Obama has done, it has removed a thorny issue from the political table. The Cuban Americans who live in “Little Havana’s” need to move past any thoughts of reclaiming any lost wealth in Cuba. Renew old friendships and familial ties. God will judge the blood on the hands of Fidel and Raul Castro.