Why doesn't the USA trade with Cuba?

That you can't travel from America to Cuba as a tourist?

I was talking to a friend yesterday who just came out from Ireland. Hh was travelling with an American he worked with and when in Europe, his American partner need VISAS for almost everywhere they went, thus slowing the trip by many days and costing his company money.

My friend has a British passport and freely travelled everywhere without question, when they came out here a few days ago, his American friend even needed a VISA to get in to Canada!!

Damn glad I still hold MY British Passport, at least I have freedoms with it, I can even go to Cuba for a vacation.

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All of the following are from published reports:

Human Rights Watch has been monitoring human rights conditions in Cuba for more than 15 years. Severe political repression has been constant throughout this time. Cuba has long been a one-party state. It has long restricted nearly all avenues of political dissent. It has long denied its people basic rights to fair trial, free expression, association, assembly, movement and the press. It has frequently sought to silence its critics by using short term detentions, house arrests, travel restrictions, threats, surveillance, politically motivated dismissals from employment, and other harassment.

Julia Cecilia Delgado, an independent librarian and president of a nongovernmental group, had been serving a one-year sentence for "disrespect."

March 4, 2003 became a year that Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva and seven other human rights activists remain confined in inhumane prison conditions, awaiting trial for carrying out a peaceful protest at a hospital in the city of Ciego de Avila, Cuba, in solidarity with an independent journalist beaten by Cuban State Security. They are all charged with committing crimes which carry sentences of up to eight years.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, a blind lawyer and president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights is very ill from the physical and mental torture he has and is suffering at the State Security Prison in Holguin. For two months, since January 2003, he was prevented from going out of his cell to take the sun and because his mattress was taken away, he is forced to sleep on the bare, humid floor. Gonzalez Leiva is experiencing chronic severe headaches and a throat infection due to what he has described to his family as toxic fumes and noxious particles continuously introduced in his cell. The inflammation of all tissues in his left ocular cavity is such that he is unable to introduce the prosthesis that replaces his missing eye.

The Cuban government's intolerance of democracy and free expression remained unique in the region. A one-party state, Cuba restricted nearly all avenues of political dissent. Although dissidents occasionally faced criminal prosecution, the government relied more frequently on short-term detentions, house arrest, travel restrictions, threats, surveillance, politically-motivated dismissals from employment, and other forms of harassment.

Jos? Orlando Gonz?lez Bridon, leader of the Confederation of Democratic Workers of Cuba, an unofficial union, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment in May for "spreading false news." The charges stemmed from an article he published on an Internet site in August 2000 that criticized local police for negligence in the death of another labor rights activist.

Cecilio Monteagudo S?nchez, a member of the unofficial Democratic Solidarity Party (Partido Solidaridad Democr?tica), was released from prison in June. He had been convicted of "enemy propaganda" and sentenced to four years of imprisonment in 1998. Cuban police originally detained him in September 1997, after he had drafted, but not published, a document calling for abstention from local elections.

Human rights conditions in Cuba have recently deteriorated. Over the past month and a half, the Cuban government has carried out a full-scale offensive against nonviolent dissidents, independent journalists, human rights advocates, independent librarians and others brave enough to challenge the government?s monopoly on truth.

Seventy-five people were convicted of violating laws that criminalize a broad range of nonviolent statements of opinion, infringing fundamental rights of free expression. Their sentences range from 6 to 28 years of imprisonment, with an average sentence of more than 19 years.

---------- end of excerpts from various reports (but there could be thousands of such stories) ----------

Cuba has a long history (40+ years) of blatant and extremely cruel human rights violations. Yes, China, North Korea, Burma (and others) could be included in such a description, but we do, as we should, take cases like these one at a time, consider each individually on its own merit, and establish policy accordingly. Moreover, being only 90 miles off our coast, and being the only oppressive dictatorship in the western hemisphere, not to mention the hoards of refugees fleeing to our shores, makes it more of an issue that's more relevant to our interests.

Some might argue (including Amnesty International) that the U.S. led embargo somehow contributes to such a situation, but that's simply irrational thinking. Why would a lifting of the trade embargo compel Castro to stop executing political dissidents? The human rights violations came first, the trade embargo came after.

Why does the United States stand alone in its stand against the dictator in Cuba? Well, what else is new? The rest of the world has proved time and time again that they'd prefer to keep their heads in the sand and do nothing, whether it be in Iraq, Africa or Cuba. The United Nations stands by and condones (condones by its inaction) brutal human rights violations all over the world, including those in Cuba. France, Germany, Canada, and others just have a "la-de-da" attitude about it, and turn a blind eye. While the United States is taking criticism for its imposed sanctions, and while the United States is taking all the refugees fleeing Cuba, and while the United States is taking the initiative to attempt to reverse the trend of human rights violations in Cuba, the people of the world from other nations are taking vacations in Cuba making the dictator Castro even more wealthy. (Where do they think their tourist dollars are really going?)

And do you remember back in April, 2003, that Cuba was re-elected to the United Nations' Human Rights Commission ? What kind of farce is that? What does that tell you about the "rest of the world" and their approval of human rights violations?

However, my personal opinion is this. The 40 year long embargo has not done anything to either remove Castro from power or force him to cease violating people's human and civil rights. But I don't think we should stop trying. I think we need to do a better job of trying to get other nations to at least openly object to the horrible conditions there. Perhaps the United States should let up a little on the strict rules of the embargo, but ONLY IF the rest of the world tightens up on theirs at the same time.

Or does the rest of the world "approve" of Fidel Castro's abuses?

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg visited Cuba and met with Castro in November and dined with the dictator until the early morning hours. Spielberg announced that his dinner with Castro "was the eight most important hours of my life."

Other Hollywood celebrities who have visited Cuba and Castro include Robert Redford, Spike Lee, Sidney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Ed Asner, Shirley MacLaine, Alanis Morissette, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kevin Costner.

Costner visited Cuba in 2001 for the premiere of his film on the Cuban Missile Crisis, Thirteen Days, and attended a private screening with Castro. The film depicts the Kennedy administration behind the scenes during the October 1962 crisis.

Costner was clearly impressed with Castro, stating at a Havana press conference, "It was an experience of a lifetime to sit only a few feet away from him and watch him relive an experience he lived as a very young man."

Movie portrayals have also reflected Hollywood's enthusiasm for Castro's Cuba, even while infuriating cultural critics like David Horowitz, who called the 1990 film Havana, starring Robert Redford and directed by Sydney Pollack, "grotesque," for its pro-Castro sentiment.

Another film currently showing in the U.S. is called Fidel. The 2002 movie is being billed as a biographical documentary of Castro, featuring the Cuban dictator as well as Harry Belafonte and Ted Turner.

The movie presents such a favorable view of Castro that New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott said of the film: "This is an exercise not in biography but in hero worship."

Last week, one of the stars of Fidel, Belafonte, was back in Cuba for a film festival and told reporters that "every day, more and more Americans are opposed to the war machine being driven by George W. Bush," according to a report from Cuba's state-run Radio Havana.

Belafonte accused Bush of using the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to further his desire "to control the world militarily, politically, economically and culturally."

Among their key political causes, Hollywood activists are calling for the U.S. government to end the trade embargo imposed on Cuba in 1961. However, Bush has said he will not lift the embargo until Castro's government honors human rights, releases political prisoners and holds free and fair elections.

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If Hollywood is "friendly" towards Fidel Castro, I have a natural tendency to be skeptical.

However, some have a different opinion:

There are a few celebrities who make no attempt to hide their disdain for Castro. Actor Andy Garcia, a Cuban refugee, recently expressed his frustration over what he sees as the ignorance on the part of many in Hollywood and in America to Castro's Cuba.

"Sometimes, you feel like what's really going down in Cuba is protected in a way by the American media, and it's a shame, because the truth needs to come out. People need to be aware of what's really going on down there," he told Fort Lauderdale's City Link newspaper in October.

Garcia said he was proud of his 2000 HBO movie, "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story." The film profiles a jazz musician who fled Cuba for America.

Garcia was blunt in his assessment of his native country. "For me, there's no substitute for liberty and freedom. People die for that," he said.

Singer Gloria Estefan is another Cuban refugee who feels frustrated that people don't understand the Castro government. Estefan fled the communist nation when she was two years old.

"People don't have a lot of information, and when they ask me about it, I tell them about the drama of exiles, the repression, the firing squads, the horror of communism," she told Exito Online in 1997.

"My whole family paid a heavy price for freedom. My father not only fought in the Bay of Pigs, he volunteered to fight in Vietnam. He fought for these same freedoms," Estefan said.

"How could I forget that Fidel Castro was the person who did me so much harm?" she asked.

The parallel to Vietnam is misleading. The U.S. was an ally - albeit incompetent - of South Vietnam (Annam & Cochin) against an invasion by North Vietnam (Tonkin). Trading with the allegedly united state is as much trading with SVN, the let-down ally, as with NVN. Also, the despots in Hanoi are trying for a liberal economy, which should make their subjects better off, whereas Castro is sticking to a brand of communism which necessitated $1m/day from the not-quite-so-communist USSR to maintain living standards where they had been since Castro's revolution, even after the $1m/day is no longer coming, so he has no intention of making his people better off. By trading with VN, the US will encourage economic liberalism, which, it is hoped, will make democracy more likely. There is no parallel hope for Cuba.

The origin of the ban on trade with Cuba dates back to the 1960's and Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union.

The trade embargo stays in place ONLY because of the large Cuban ex-patriot population in Florida.

Any party or President who approves trade with Cuba is guaranteed that their party will LOOSE the next general election in Florida.

Therefore, both political parties are afraid to even approach the concept of trade with Cuba until a new government is in place there.

Yes, there are other factors that make it easier for our government to continue the embargo. But, lets be honest, if these human rights and other issues were the main reason for the Cuban trade embargo, a lot of other countries that we do trade with should also face embargos.

The sad reality is that, like Iraq, the trade embargo is NOT hurting the government of Cuba. It does hurt the people, and removes a potentially lucrative market for US businesses.

Chas

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The title of this message is also the title of an article that makes for some interesting reading on the subject of reopening trade and/or tourist avenues with and to Cuba.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/16/cuba/

I think trade and tourism with Cuba will happen after one of two things happen, but no sooner. The first thing, hell must freeze over. Or the second thing, Fidel Castro dies and goes to hell (which might make it freeze over).

Think about this: The year is 2003, we're in the western hemisphere, and there's still a tyrant dictator just 90 miles away in an island country from which people are risking life and limb to flee. I will admit one thing, the U.S. / Cuba policy has been a disaster for the last 40+ years. No person, no party, no administration has been able to do anything to improve the situation.

I'll wait for Castro to die before things drastically change.

The rule should be that we don't help ANY dictators. The "Cold war" and "the war on terror" are abstract concepts used to obfuscate a much larger role of the US' hegemony in the world. Some people would call it "opiate for the masses" because it gives the average person someone to hate and gives the "defenders of America" an enemy.

But, to anyone educated in history it is just the same old imperialist song and dance that has been going on since time immortal.