SIMON MORALES – In early June, President Obama restored diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba.[1] Shortly thereafter, on August 31, 2016, the first flight in over fifty years, landed in Santa Clara, Cuba.[2] A clear win for our foreign relations ties with Cuba. But is it?
While many Cubans rejoiced to the idea of an open relationship with our neighbor to the south, there are many that are not so happy. Roughly half of Cuban-American voters in Miami-Dade disagree with normalizing relations with the Castro dictatorship.[3] They often insist that this was a bad deal because the Cuban government did not give anything up in negotiations with the United States.[4]
The Cuban-American generational gap is to blame for this difference in opinions. The older generation, the ones who escaped the dictator’s regime, shudder at the idea of returning to the island while the Castros are in power.[5] Whereas, Cuban-Americans born in the U.S., yearn for the opportunity to return to their ancestral lands and experience their culture firsthand.[6]
Regardless of what we think, evidence suggests that the Cuban embargo has not achieved its intended results.[7] In fact, it’s failed in every way possible. It has “failed to dislodge the Castros, [it has] hurt the Cuban people, and [it has] stoked anti-Americanism in the rest of Latin America.”[8]
Lifting the embargo and restoring diplomatic ties between the countries would have immediate positive impacts. Allowing commercial flights to Cuba would increase tourism on the island and expand their economy.[9] Likewise, lifting the trade embargo would create an atmosphere of cooperation between the nations—benefitting business, manufacturing, and commercial exports.[10] Fixing relations between the countries would also start the healing process necessary to repair the U.S.’s reputation.[11]
In all, lifting the embargo is a necessary step to undo decades of animosity and harm towards the people and governments of the United States and Cuba.
[1] H.T., Why the United States and Cuba are cosying up, The Economist (2015), http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/05/economist-explains-37.
[2] Michael Weissenstein, New commercial flights mean big change for US-Cuba relations, The Washington Post (2016), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/ap-reporter-returns-to-cuba-on-1st-commercial-flight-from-us/2016/09/01/c1c26c54-6ff9-11e6-993f-73c693a89820_story.html.
[3] Nora Gamez Torrezs, Cuban-American voters are wary of the ‘thaw’ in U.S.-Cuba relations, In Cuba Today (2016), http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article77049117.html.
[4] Id.
[5] Alyson Krueger, The Cuban-American generational gap, The New York Times (Aug. 16, 2016), http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/fashion/cuban-american-parents-children-travel.html.
[6] Id.
[7] Dan Glickman, Why Normalized US-Cuba Relations Benefit Both Countries, The Aspen Institute: Law and Public Policy (Dec. 17, 2014), https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/why-normalized-us-cuban-relations-benefits-both-countries/.
[8] H.T., Why the United States and Cuba are cosying up, The Economist (2015), http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/05/economist-explains-37.
[9] Dan Glickman, Why Normalized US-Cuba Relations Benefit Both Countries, The Aspen Institute: Law and Public Policy (Dec. 17, 2014), https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/why-normalized-us-cuban-relations-benefits-both-countries/.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
