• State Department cultivates
its policy of irrelevancy
• U.S. Cuba policy: old
wine in an old bottle
• Where did Albright get
the one billion dollar figure?
If the statement made the other
day by White House press spokesman Mike McCurry is any barometer, the
Clinton Administration, to the embarrassment of this nation's reputation
abroad, has decided to continue its long-standing practice of sitting
on its hands regarding Cuban policy. As the Pope prepares to visit Cuba
-- a momentous event for both the Vatican and the Castro regime -- after
a year of significantinstances of political and economic transformation
on the island, President Clinton continues to be blind on the subject.
But the same is not true of others. An extraordinary new coalition formed
by Cuban-Americans, former hardline Washington Castro bashers, and a
number of Hill conservative and moderate Republicans, have joined the
leaders of some of America's largest corporations, and religious and
civic groups in calling for an end to blocking humanitarian aid to the
island and the rapid lifting of the almost 40 year-old embargo against
Cuba. In response to this initiative, it would be fair to say that the
White House (which hasn't had a single new idea on Cuba or any display
of energy or creativity on the question), has been mute.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State
Albright, responding to questions about U.S. policy, has insisted that
the U.S., in fact, has authorized $ 1 billion in private humanitarian
aid since 1992. But Havana maintains that during this period only $
13 million in aid has been received from U.S. private sources, part
of a worldwide figure of only $ 200 million. More disturbing is the
administration's apparent refusal to provide any evidence of how it
came up with the $ 1 billion figure, perhaps assuming that the American
public will not be overly demanding for an explanation of this discrepancy.
As hordes of visiting U.S. and
other foreign reporters broadcast and file stories from the island,
often making positive references to what they see, and with U.S. polls
beginning to indicate a shift in U.S. public opinion on the issue of
U.S.-Cuban relations, the White House has to do better than repeat its
tired verbiage, reflecting a moribund policy. If not, Washington cannot
avoid a further loss of domestic and international credibility. In order
to be relevant to the rapidly evolving situation in Cuba--particularly
now that worldwide attention is being directed at it--the White House
must make heavier demands on itself and come forth with a higher quality
product than McCurry's parboiled and gobbledygook rhetoric about promoting
"a peaceful democratic transition in Cuba consistent with his [Clinton]
policy towards Cuba since the first days of the administration and consistent
with the Helms-Burton Act itself."
While Washington is rich in human
rights rhetoric, its actions in this area, as with China, almost always
have deferred to trade considerations, or lack of them. While President
Clinton frequently tells the nation that he is seeking America's best
minds in order to find solutions to ongoing social or economic problems,
on the Cuban question he largely has consulted only the aging leadership
of old Batista hands who today comprise a fraction of Miami's Cuban
American community. Rather than seeking a constructive relationship
with Havana which might tangibly contribute to the democratization of
the island, as well as allow for the participation of the U.S. as a
factor in any future political transition on the island, the President,
in marked contrast to the Pope, is persisting in offering the American
people old wine in an old bottle.
Clinton should for once demonstrate
a capacity for political courage and break away from the narrow partisan
self-interest which first glued him to the deep pockets of Miami-exile
campaign donors when he was in hot pursuit of Florida's vote in the
1992 primary and general elections, and continued once again in the
1996 reelection campaign.
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