Related videos:
The terrible nature of the communist regime in Cuba is well known. For decades, the dictatorship has terrorized its own people, murdered opponents, imprisoned both activists and artists, and fostered chaos in the Western Hemisphere by providing support to authoritarian regimes and guerrilla terrorist movements. The key question facing any U.S. administration is how to respond to such a brutal regime.
During his term, President Donald Trump and his administration promoted policies that supported the Cuban people by holding the Castro and Díaz-Canel regime accountable for decades of repression. This policy marked a much-needed shift from the weak approach of the Obama era, which President Joe Biden and many of his closest advisors oversaw, supported, and praised.
Now, President Biden must decide whether to continue with the Trump-era policy and side with the Cuban people or grant the Havana regime international legitimacy at their expense.
The first announcements from Biden's team suggest that he will prioritize the policy of appeasement towards the regime, and we will see signs of this very early in the new administration.
Biden will face intense pressure from regime supporters, who will advocate for using the upcoming Summit of the Americas, at the end of 2021, to signal a restart in relations with Havana by inviting the Cuban regime to the U.S. for this hemispheric event. Under no circumstances should the Castro and Díaz-Canel regime be granted such a significant public relations victory.
And beyond perception, that invitation would not be a minor issue either on the island or in our hemisphere. There is a very practical reality: the reopening of diplomatic channels with the dictatorship will inevitably lead the Biden administration to lift restrictions targeted at individuals known to have committed serious crimes, such as members of the Castro family and their associates.
There will be other decisions along the way, and it seems that Biden and his team will prioritize a naive policy towards an "approach" that rewards the Castro and Díaz-Canel dictatorship for its increasing acts of repression.
Biden's "approach" would mean changing the current economic policy by asking the U.S. Congress to end the embargo and open trade relations with the dictatorship. This would be mediated through the Cuban military's puppet organization, the Business Administration Group S.A. (GAESA), a conglomerate currently on the U.S. State Department's list of restricted entities. This conglomerate controls nearly 60 percent of the economy on the island. GAESA is used to suppress the Cuban people by managing and, therefore, limiting access to trade on the island. It is also an openly corrupt enterprise, led by a Brigadier General of the Cuban Armed Forces and a relative of dictator Raúl Castro. Normalizing relations with Havana would mean injecting more money directly into GAESA's coffers.
For Biden's team, the "approach" will also require continually minimizing the national security threat posed by Havana. The Cuban regime's alliances with key authoritarian leaders around the world and the worst human rights violators—Xi in China, Putin in Russia, the Mullahs in Iran, Kim in North Korea, the Ortegas in Nicaragua, and Maduro in Venezuela—speak for themselves.
These links also represent a direct threat to our national security due to arms agreements and Cuba's geographical proximity to the United States, which is used for intelligence gathering.
The "approach" with Havana would also mean turning a blind eye while Cuba continues to support the illegitimate narco-regime of Maduro in Venezuela, prolonging the suffering of the Venezuelan people and exacerbating the largest humanitarian and migratory crisis in our region, which also means draining the resources of our allies.
The Cuban dictatorship has repeatedly supported and provided refuge to Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) designated by the State Department. This includes the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which last year carried out a suicide bombing against the National Police Academy in Bogotá, Colombia. This blatant support from Havana for terrorist organizations resulted in the Trump administration formally re-designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. A designation that President Biden should not change under any circumstances.
There is no reason to deceive ourselves into believing that the "approach" with Havana will change their ways. Nor is there any reason to think that the regime will suddenly abandon its long history of repression against political opponents and independent journalists, or change its pattern of human trafficking and human rights violations within the island.
We can also anticipate that the Biden administration will attempt to integrate the dictatorship into the Latin American community through efforts such as police cooperation. Let’s consider for a moment how well this has worked out for Caracas: today, Maduro is so isolated from the Venezuelan people that he has had to resort to a Cuban security scheme. Similarly, the new administration might be thinking of creating more opportunities for cooperation on public health issues. However, the so-called medical missions abroad organized by the Cuban regime are recognized as a human trafficking scheme that exploits Cuban medical professionals through forced labor to make room for the regime's propaganda.
By ignoring the regime's history, foreign policy groups advocating for "engagement" are also dangerously out of touch with the real conditions on the ground.
The regime of Castro and Díaz-Canel is involved in a brutal repression against the San Isidro Movement (MSI), a group of artists, academics, and activists participating in peaceful protests against the regime.
And, of course, it is clear that the safety of our diplomats on the island cannot be guaranteed. In violation of international treaty obligations, they were targeted by direct attacks with microwave energy and suffered brain injuries. The denials from Havana defy all credibility.
The change indicated by President Biden to "engage" with Cuba will mean rewarding an authoritarian regime that continues to imprison, punish, censor, and kill dissenters and journalists. Instead, the Biden administration should stop ignoring the voices of those who know the regime firsthand—Cuban-Americans both in our country and abroad—and understand that the Havana regime cannot be rewarded for its atrocities.
President Biden and his team must take a stand. During his confirmation hearing, the nominated Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, suggested that he would frequently consult with the United States Senate on these issues. I sincerely hope he keeps that promise. Because currently, it seems that the Biden administration will end up on the wrong side of history, and the Cuban people will suffer even more as a result of this historical mistake.
Filed under: