Republican candidates have it backwards on the Cuba embargo.
The Briefing
Factsheets
With Cuba, A Choice Between Forward And Backward
In
Miami, Hillary Clinton will lay out her forward-looking strategy of
engagement with Cuba, drawing a sharp comparison with Republican
candidates' efforts to continue failed Cold War policies.
Simply put, Republicans refuse to learn the lessons of the past or pay attention to what's worked and what hasn't.
Why would we continue policies that have accomplished absolutely
nothing? Fifty-four years of isolationism has strengthened the Castro
regime's grip on power, not crippled it. It's time to start empowering
the Cuban people, not the Castros.
In 2009, the US began relaxing some policies toward Cuba, and we're already witnessing the benefits.
Since then, we’ve seen a boom in Cuban entrepreneurship that validates
the power of engagement and direct exposure to American free-market
capitalism.
As President, Hillary Clinton will continue to use engagement and American leadership to build on this progress.
She will take advantage of our enhanced presence to advance our values
and interests, engage with those who support change in Cuba, address
human rights abuses, and restore our influence in the region.
So the choice is clear.
We can chart a different path forward in Cuba, betting on American
influence to lift up the Cuban people with free-market principles and
access. Or we can turn back the progress we've made in favor of failed
isolationism, and leave both our foreign policy and the Cuban people
imprisoned by the past.
Across the spectrum, people are ready for a new chapter in the relationship between the United States and Cuba:
According to Pew, 72% of Americans – and 59% of Republicans – support ending the trade embargo with Cuba.
According to Univision,
among Cuban-Americans, 40% are more likely to vote for a candidate who
supports normalization, compared to only 26% who are against it, and an overwhelming majority of Cubans in Cuba support normalization
HEADLINE: GOP House member files bill to end U.S. embargo on Cuba [USA Today, 7/28/15]
But
Republican presidential candidates continue to support the failed
policies of yesterday. Check out how their backwards rhetoric squares
with reality:
GOP Rhetoric
Reality
Marco Rubio:
“Mr. Obama’s new Cuba policy is a victory for oppressive governments
the world over and will have real, negative consequences for the
American people.”
Moving past the inflammatory rhetoric, Marco
Rubio has simply got this dead wrong. Normalizing relations with Cuba
isn’t a victory for Castro – it’s a threat. The victory for the Castro
regime has been five decades of isolationism and embargo that have
strengthened their grip of power while giving them a scapegoat for all
the island’s woes. Growing and modernizing the Cuban economy will
empower its people. And engagement with Cuba benefits Americans as well,
through increased trade and opportunities to visit family.
Jeb Bush: “We’re not a step closer to freedom in Cuba because of the actions the president’s taking.”
Starting
in 2009, the United States set out to make it easier for Cuban
Americans to visit Cuba, support private businesses, and send money to
family members. Since then, the number of annual visits by Cuban
Americans has doubled and the number of Cubans employed by small
businesses has surpassed 400,000, demonstrating the benefits and power
of engagement. And lifting the embargo fully and ensuring access to 21st
century technology would further empower the Cuban people to assert
their independence from the Castro regime.
Scott Walker:
“There’s a reason why we had the policy in the first place. I haven’t
seen solid enough evidence to make me believe there’s been a noticeable
change to change the policy this country’s had through administrations
in both parties.”
Believe it or not, Scott Walker’s assessment
of the situation is dead-on – there hasn’t been a noticeable change in
Cuba’s policy. That’s exactly the point. There was in fact “a reason we
had the policy in the first place” and the reason was because we hoped
it would cripple the Castro regime. It has not. It defies logic to
continue a policy that’s hurt the Cuban people and been at best, futile,
and at worst, counterproductive in respect to its intended goals.
Rick Perry:
“‘This is a regime that has been incredibly onerous to the people of
Cuba […] I’m not sure you’re ever going to change the culture of Cuba
until Castro is dead and gone.”
Like Walker (and the majority of
the GOP field), Perry wants to continue a policy that he admits has
failed – and in his case, he seems to concede that there is no hope for
success in the future. The isolation of Cuba has long placed burden on
the Cuban people, without anything to show for it. It’s time to lift the
embargo, take away the Castro’s excuse for its failures, and engage the
people of Cuba with American leadership.
Jeb Bush: “Obama’s rush to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba is wrong.”
Rush?
We’ve been pursuing the same failed strategy of isolationism toward
Cuba for fifty-four years. It’s high time to acknowledge that it hasn’t
worked, and move forwar
