http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090413/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cuba
Today President Obama lifted some of the restrictions placed on Cuba by the Bush Administration. This eases travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans and allows others to possibly to visit Cuba, but does not fully allow complete access for all Americans. This also allows Cuban-Americans to send money back to family in Cuba. This did not lift the trade embargo placed on Cuba either, yet it was a step in the right direction.
This issue actually applies directly to Bentley University in particular. A few years ago, Bentley was able to receive permission to enter Cuba for educational purposes. A group of students along with some professors were going to go to Cuba and take some international courses there. However, President Bush banned all travel to Cuba for any reason along with any type of money transfer to the country and the planned trip was cancelled.
This particular decision by the Obama administration was purely political. It does not allow free travel to Cuba, and does not remove the trade embargo. In essence, it simply gives Cuban-Americans the right to travel back to their home country and for them to send money to their own families. These basic rights should never have been taken away. It is simply designed to help Obama’s image within the immigrant populations and to separate him further from the Bush administration.
The Obama administration should use this as a stepping-stone and continue to improve U.S.-Cuba relations. Another stepping-stone could be to allow Cuban Diplomats to travel outside of Washington D.C. Currently, Cuban Diplomats are not allowed to leave the capital city. Eventually all travel restrictions should be lifted. Then, in time, the trade embargo should be removed too.
Cuba is slowly starting to become more and more capitalist. Cell phones are now allowed on the island. Part of this may be due to the fact Fidel Castro was replaced by Raul Castro. The easiest way to speed up this change is to allow Americans to enter the country. Once some American college students enter the country, Cuba will very quickly have to adapt to American culture. The easiest way to end Cuba’s communism is to immerse them with American culture. Once most Cubans begin to experience many American conveniences, communism will not last much longer. This will also greatly increase the U.S.’s “soft power” with Cuba. Cuba will also benefit in that their tourism industry will quickly become the most profitable industry in the country. It will actually have to build many more hotels in order to accommodate the large influx of tourists.
Cuba could one day become a valuable trade partner for the U.S. Since they have been missing many conveniences for many years, U.S. imports could become important to many Cubans. In addition, many U.S. agricultural lobbyists argue for an end to the trade embargo, because they hope that they can ship their products to Cuba too. Overall, the trade embargo only hurts the Cuban people and may do more harm than good in terms of trying to convince them to become democratic. It obviously has not done anything to convince Cuba to change their ways in the last 50 years. What will convince them to change in the next few years?
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7 comments:
While this topic is certainly not the most exciting available, it does signify a shift from the standard over the last fifty years. CaptainMorgan is correct; this is a positive change.
Our position with China is much friendlier than with Cuba, yet China seems a whole lot worse. Struggling with human rights and basic needs, the Far East government occupies our attention for economic reasons primarily. We should be equally involved with our neighbor as we are with China. Trade among nations makes everyone better off, and it doesn’t make sense to fruitlessly punish not only the Cubans but also Americans.
Where I disagree with the original post is when he said that the move is purely political. I think that the change matches a grand scheme in the administration to revamp the way we conduct diplomacy. This is a move in the right direction. Think of when you have a disagreement with a friend. Rarely are either side served when communication is cut off. The problem either remains stagnant, and it is usually compounded. The relationship is the same between nations, albeit a bit more complex.
Ultimately, this is good for democracy. Although capitalism is an economic theory and democracy is a government theory, the two are often pictured together. One is economic freedom, and the other is personal freedom. When one is increased (in this case, economic), the other is usually sought, as well.
What President Obama must be careful with is the fact that Cuba may see this as us condoning Communism. It might be seen as though we are succumbing to the island nation’s will. In return for this, we should seek some sort of concession on their part. That would promote equal exchange instead of a one-sided deal. We do not need their help or partnership, and we need to make that known. We want to for everyone’s best interest, and this step is one of many increments that must be taken. An all out reversal of policies may not work, as CaptainMorgan seems to suggest.
Americans always profit from globalization. When jobs move overseas, more jobs are created in America. Praising globalization sounds heretical, but it is the right thing to do.
It is unfortunate that this does not fit into our readings, as it is a worthy topic.
In response to the previous post, I am in agreement with CaptainMorgan when he said that the move was purely political. Though this issue has economic implications, it was a purely political move by the Obama administration. In this less strict policy with Cuba, Obama stated that he is open to dialogue with Cuba, but that he would “only lift the trade embargo if Cuba has political change.” This clearly shows that Obama’s intentions were clearly political.
However, this does not rule out that this impending change will have economic implications. By transforming Cuba into a capitalist nation, their economy will change and American economy will hopefully change for the better as well due to better trade relations with Cuba.
In addition, in March of 2009, President Obama signed into law a Congressional spending bill which eased some economic sanctions on Cuba and eased travel restrictions on Cuban Americans traveling to Cuba. This new legislation that CaptainMorgan wrote about are executive-branch changes further removed time limits on Cuban American travel to the island.\
As CaptainMorgan said, Cuba can become a valuable trade partner for the United States and make for a significant increase in United States and Cuban economy. Cuba has an absolute advantage in trading bread and coffee, while also having a lucrative sugar trade. This legislation will hopefully lead to political change in Cuba, leading them away from communism which historically has not worked. By leading Cuba away from communism and into capitalism, their economy, and in turn ours, will increase as a result. As rjsabasteanski said, America can always profit from globalization and this is an imperative time where we need to profit from something.
President Obama's decision to ease travel for Cuban-Americans back to their homeland is a cautious yet smart approach to the eventual lifting of trade barriers which is sure to come in the subsequent decades. It is very important to the economy to open up these trade barriers because it would give the U.S. another trading partner only an extremely short distance away, cutting down shipping costs and expanding global markets. However, some Democratic lawmakers have made it clear that this plan would have "devastating consequences" because it invited the Cuban government to take advantage of U.S. generosity by taking part of the money that Cuban-Americans would be able to send home to help their families who were unable to emigrate to America (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090413/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cuba). The Cuban government is taking "30 cents on the dollar" as a usury fee for every check that is sent to Cuba from America, and this incredibly high rate will probably prevent most transactions between the two nations. Because of this, some people believe that Obama's move is merely political, because it will actually affect the economy or the Cuban-Americans very little, if at all. However, this was a savvy political move because it paves the way for future expansions of this agreement to include more open trade between the nations. This is merely the first step in what will hopefully turn out to be hundreds, but as seemingly small as this first step is, it is usually the hardest to make.
President Obama has been trying to invoke in this country the idea of a "new" way of doing politics ever since he started his campaign for the presidency, and here is another example of that. While there have been restrictions regarding the United States and Cuba for the past few decades, President Obama understands that times are changing and a move to lighten the restrictions that have been placed on Cuba over the last 50 years could bring about important improvements to both countries. Cuba would certainly benefit more than the United States would, with improvements in the standard of living for Cubans as money that is made in America can now be shipped to families back in Cuba, and the future improvements of certain industries, such as travel and vacationing in Cuba. Cuba is geographically in a great spot to take advantage if a future law is made to make commercial vacationing easily accessible in Cuba. Havana, the capital of Cuba, is located just 200 miles from Miami, which is home to two of the world's largest cruise ship operators: Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Cuba would be an ideal stop on a cruise of the Caribbean, and it would be easy to access via plane. There are many agencies in Europe that offer trips to Cuba, and sources say that 2 million European tourists visit the island each year (http://uk.reuters.com/article/globalNews/idUKTRE53E4S620090415). As Cuba rakes in the money from tourism, they will be able to spend more on other industries and improving the welfare of the country. International trade is another aspect that is sure to be enhanced through this act, and both the United States and Cuba would benefit from each others exports. This is a great step in the improvement of the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, and both would benefit greatly if Obama continues to break down the barricades that have separated the two nations for the past 50 years.
President Obama’s decision to allow travel for Cuban-Americans was an intelligent and very complex one, both economically and politically. This allows President Obama, like Morgan said, to shy away from the Bush administration, and to show that he plans to help the United States economically, and to open the trade relationship between the two countries. Like Ross said in his comment, capitalism and democracy often go hand-in-hand, and Obama’s current action is a depiction of a trend.
Many Cubans are extremely happy with this current raise of the trading restrictions between the U.S. and their country; in the Communist Cuba, many working families are finding it hard to make ends meet, and to be able to transfer funds from family and friends in the United States helps their situation exponentially. They are essentially stuck in Cuba, with a barrier that separates them from America; this will really help families that are in need; this will have a major impact on Cuba’s economy.
Obama broke a policy that has been in place for fifty years, and this is a groundbreaking step in easing restraints and promoting freedom with Cuba; it is, however, highly unlikely that Obama will end the trade embargo, or let Americans visit the island without restrictions. Obama is turning the page in Cuban-American relations, and this new step could potentially lead to educational, cultural, and scientific changes in Cuba, thus slowly changing Cuba from a communist country to one of capitalism. Let’s hope that Obama will continue to lead this country in a way that will help facilitate improvements in Cuba, where so many residents living there need America’s economic and political help.
Foreign attitudes may have changed in the world, but Cuba has undoubtedly remained the same. How then can you justify Obama’s recent actions? Relaxing the restrictions on our Caribbean neighbor is dangerous, as it could easily segue into lifting the half-century old embargo. Though communism has lost its momentum and globalization has made diplomacy the preferred foreign policy, the embargo serves a purpose, if not a principal, that would be abandoned if we lift it while Cuba is still under communism. Cuba’s dictatorship has repressed its people and threatened American sovereignty. The embargo serves as a symbol of democratic strength. Assume we continue to relax our relations with Cuba, as all of you suggest, and ultimately end the embargo. What does that accomplish? Cubans will still be repressed. Elections will still be prohibited. And America will still have a communist dictatorship in its back yard. Political and economic advancement will not be spurred by our decision to trade with them. I’m not advocating for democracy, I’m advocating for freedom; freedom cannot be preserved under communism. Opening our economic wealth to Cuba will only perpetuate Castro’s regime and lead other foreign democracies to follow suit. Using China as an example is unfair, as we are essentially bound to them economically. We do not rely on Cuba, so would it be that advantageous to open our ports to them at the expense of the world’s human rights? I really think we should assess what Obama is doing. Diplomacy for the sake of diplomacy will only lead to more foreign entanglements down the road.
To respond to rjsabasteanski I would say that you are not really disagreeing with me, because you are actually stating that the move is purely political. I would agree that this move may be viewed as a step in the right direction, in order to improve relations with Cuba so something actually relevant may be done. However, Obama still has immigrant populations on his mind as he did not actually do anything significant. This is a stepping-stone in the right direction. Now Obama made the first move in the chess match and is waiting for Cuba to respond, so that something significant may actually be accomplished eventually. This is still politics. I was simply stating that Obama did not make this move because he thought it would greatly help out Cuba in anyway, or that he thought this was a huge move in the right direction. It is a move in the right direction, but a small one.
Baldino_Stephen briefly mentioned Cuba’s lucrative sugar industry. Creating ethanol ffrom corn is highly inefficient, and not cost effective. The United States’ plan to create large amounts of ethanol from corn was not realistic. Sugar cane, however, is much more efficient and cost effective. Cuba’s sugar cane industry has the potential to create a lot of ethanol. Experts believe that Cuba could easily create over 3 billion gallons of ethanol fuel annually, making it the third largest producer behind the U.S. and Brazil. If the U.S. were to lift its trade embargo eventually, we could greatly benefit from this ethanol, and reduce our dependence on oil. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/07/18/cuba/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/conason)
To clarify comments made by Corey Imbriaco, These restrictions Obama released were put in place recently by the Bush administration, and have not been in place for 50 years. He does bring up a good point in the fact that Cuba could greatly benefit from Tourism. In fact, a larger problem would be how Cuba would be able to handle the influx of tourists. There are nowhere near enough hotels to accommodate all of the tourists that would flock to Cuba. Tourism has the potential to completely revive Cuba’s struggling economy, but they would need to greatly improve its accommodations, and many changes would need to be made since it is not currently built around tourism.
To respond to comments made by Katie S., Cubans will be happy about this decision, but not overjoyed. It is not really that significant in the larger picture. When Katie S. stated “this will really help families that are in need; this will have a major impact on Cuba’s economy” she was exaggerating. First, Cuban-American immigrants are not making enough money to be able to send home a lot of money and make a huge difference. Second, as Ross pointed out, the Cuban government is taking 30% of all money transferred to the country, which further reduces the small amount of money that is being sent home to begin with. Basically, Cuba’s economy is not bad enough that its main industry will now be small amounts of revenue received from Cuban- American immigrants.
To clarify, Obama’s decision actually only changes policy decisions put in place by the Bush Administration. Technically there were laws preventing absolute unlimited travel by Cuban-American’s put in place about 30 years ago, but these rules were not really enforced until the Clinton administration restricted travel to once a year. Even then, this was not really enforced until the Bush Administration severely limited travel by Cuban-Americans to visiting for no more than 3 weeks at a time every three years. This basically only reverses this Bush decision.
To respond to Carl, I think it is important to make sure that Obama’s kindness is not taken for weakness. He has made it clear it is now Cuba’s turn to reverse a decision. He will not just take away all of the real restrictions with Cuba, unless they make some sacrifices. Most suspect that now Cuba will decide whether or not to release its many political prisoners. If this happens than Obama may take another step. In essence, Obama is actually improving conditions in Cuba in terms of freedom and human rights. Secondly, the easiest way to end communism in Cuba is to open them up to American Tourists. As I stated in my original post, immersing Cubans with American culture, along with stimulating their economy will eventually end communism in the country. Third, you say “We do not rely on Cuba, so would it be that advantageous to open our ports to them at the expense of the world’s human rights?” Actually many American businesses do rely on Cuba with the embargo in place. Some agricultural companies in America were able to find loopholes in both the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act and the 1996 Helms-Burton law which effectively ended trade with Cuba, along with a new 2000 law. As a result, Cuba has bought more than $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products since 2000, including $1 billion in 2007 and 2008. If the embargo were to be released this number would increase significantly, increasing our reliance on them. (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cuba-policy14-2009apr14,0,875117.story?page=2)
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