Cuba. A word that, for most Americans, has been oft-heard, yet remains decidedly indefinable. We know its leader, of course, eat sandwiches and drink libres named for the Caribbean Communist country, but having been mostly banned from travelling to its sultry beaches and deco-colored streets for over fifty years few of us know what Cuba really is. But alas, American explorers will soon be able to take the tiny ninety-mile trek to Castro's country and see this almost mythical land, thanks to President Obama's normalizing of diplomatic relations and subsequent easing of travel restrictions with the Republic of Cuba. This week, the President became the first sitting US head of state to make that trip himself since Calvin Coolidge in 1928, taking in an international baseball game, engaging in political discussion with Cuban leaders, and announcing that he is there to "bury the last remnants of the Cold War in the Americas." And honestly, it's about freakin time, considering that the Cold War (according to most) has been over for 25 years, and especially considering the close proximity of the two nations could allow for significant strategic cooperation, if the cards are played correctly. And yet, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has publicly declared that he thinks "not much" of this historic trip to Cuba, claiming that Obama's visit there "legitimizes a tyrannical dictatorship," stoking his own and many others' already existent anti-Obama flames. But does his claim hold up? Does the President's visit and attempt to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba lend credibility to a dictatorial regime? Or perhaps more importantly, is such a plan of action inconsistent with US relations with other states? It's difficult to accurately gauge potential international political nuances (though it's certainly entertaining, for a nerd like myself, to speculate), so for the sake of accuracy, let's look at some useful statistics.
Cuba is less than 100 miles from the United States, though for most who have exited the former for the latter, it was not an easy journey. Due to the fact that travel between the two countries is prohibited that short distance must be undergone in secret, in dangerous conditions, under which many do not survive. In the last fiscal year for which the record is updated, the US received 4,063 Cuban refugees, roughly 6% of the 69,986 total number of refugees. For broader perspective, the US took in 19,651 Iraqi refugees (the highest number by far), while taking in just 4 from Haiti. Most of us are aware of US-Iraqi relations as of at least the last decade and a half: we helped to overthrow someone we saw as a despotic ruler and normalized diplomatic relations following Saddam Hussein's ouster. Yet people are obviously still fleeing the area in droves, so perhaps it doesn't always help to insist upon the overthrow of a bad government before attempting to re-establish aid for and cooperation with a country. Haiti, too, is close to the United States, much closer than Iraq, and Haiti too has a storied history with the United States, going back generations. But what many in Haiti remember most vividly of the US is the fact that we supported Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, and remained a close ally of his, despite his long rap sheet of human rights violations. For anyone unfamiliar with Baby Doc Duvalier's reputation, his "rule was marked by systematic human rights violations. Hundreds of political prisoners, held in a network of jails, died from their extraordinarily cruel treatment. Duvalier’s government repeatedly closed independent newspapers and radio stations. Journalists were beaten; in some cases, tortured, jailed and forced to leave the country." At the time of his death just two years ago, he was set to be tried internationally for human rights violations. Yet, as noted earlier, the US considered him a close ally. Again, for those unfamiliar with Haitian politics, Baby Doc Duvalier's rule was vehemently criticized by plenty of Haitians, most notably Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who would become Haiti's first democratically-elected President. Aristide was eventually removed by a coup d'etat in 2004, believing personally (and with the support of many Haitians and international observers) that "the U.S. kidnapped him and overthrew his government." Perhaps we should inquire of Speaker Ryan why remaining allies with dictator Duvalier and in all likelihood helping to overthrow fairly-elected Aristide was possible, yet diplomatic relations with Cuba should not be.
This might be a good time to remind ourselves that this is not the first time a US President has made a historic trip to a high-profile Communist country in an attempt to smooth over relations with that country. I'm referring of course to Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, the first US President to make such a trip since it was established as the People's Republic in 1949. 1972, the height of the Cold War, and the sitting head of the United States took a trip to the other side of the world, to a country well known not just for violating its own citizens' human rights, but for a tendency to invade surrounding countries and installing tyrannical rule. Today, the United States has an open trade policy with China, and although that country is still shrouded in a veil of secrecy, its abuses are much more openly known on the international stage. We can't thank President Nixon for much, but opening our dialogue with China has turned out to be pretty smart.
Now that we have gotten statistics and facts out of the way, perhaps it is time for speculation and hypothesizing, with a little help from Noam Chomsky. In a piece he wrote following the events of 2004 in Haiti, Mr. Chomsky rightly pointed out that "democracy means more than flipping a lever every few years. Functioning democracy has preconditions. One is that the population should have some way to learn what is happening in the world." Well, luckily enough, during this week's visit to Cuba, President Obama announced that Google would be one of the first US companies to expand to Cuba, offering an alternative to the state-run ISP. Surely, there will be some restrictions on its usage, but I'm fairly confident that the people of Cuba will find their way around them enough that their flow of free information will increase. And that's not everything, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. We have learned time and again that democracy can not be forced onto a country; its people must want it, and a less hostile relationship with America will lead to increased tourism, American products, and probably a desire for change. Perhaps and hopefully, once Americans get a taste of what travel writer Pico Iyer calls "that mix of elegy and carnival ... that sense of sunlit sadness" which "makes [Cuba], in the end, the most emotionally involving -- and unsettling-- place" the flame of admiration and love felt for that beautiful country by great American artists like Hemingway will rekindle, and stay aflame.
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