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 Editorials | Opinions | June 2008 
The U.S. Embargo Against Cuba
 Dr. Leatendore Percentie - Freeport News
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The economic embargo by the United States against Cuba has been in place now for almost 50 years. Under President John F. Kennedy, the embargo was imposed to punish Cuba for confiscating private property without compensation that "inter alia" belonged to American citizens.
Successive American presidents since then continued the embargo but later presidents attached the lack of due process and observance of basic human rights to justify the American position. After nine different American presidents, both Democrats and Republican, there has been no major change in this policy towards Cuba.
The main beneficiary of the embargo against Cuba has been The Bahamas. Thanks to the business savvy of Sir Stafford Sands, The Bahamas was able to capture some of the major businesses that had to leave Cuba after the revolution. Such businesses included Rum distilleries such as Bacardi and Casinos that President Fidel Castro had closed down in Cuba. This began the large scale development of tourism for The Bahamas. For some time now, the million dollar question has been what will happen to The Bahamas when the embargo is lifted?
For the most part, the embargo against Cuba was mostly ineffective as Cuba was heavily subsidised by the Soviet Union. On one occasion, The Bahamas' former Prime Minister indicated that Cuba was being supported by the Soviet Union to the tune of $13 million per day. Furthermore, the United States eventually became the only country observing the embargo. Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, etc., all ignored the call by the United States and implemented full diplomatic and trade agreements with Cuba.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, President Fidel Castro was still able to lead Cuba through a very desperate era with some very austere measures. The Cubans had to live in a society where they were denied some of the very basic items that countries such as The Bahamas and the United States may consider the basic necessity of life. Things such as household appliances, air conditioning, a car, etc., were strongly regulated by the Cuban government. Under a Socialist Cuba, everyone was expected to sacrifice on behalf of the state! Despite the hardship, the spirit of a defiant Cuba was not broken by the American embargo.
One of the certainties of life is that to everything there is a season and that change has gotta come. After almost 50 years as the president of Cuba, last year Fidel Castro was forced to step down due to failing health. The presidency was handed down to his younger brother Raoul Castro, who was also head of the Cuban Army. The immediate speculation was whether President Raoul would maintain the policies practiced by President Fidel? To the surprise of the world, in recent months there has been some loosening up of the iron grip that defined the Cuban way of governing. The laws that restricted access by Cubans to ordinary household appliances and convenciences such as air conditioning have been relaxed. Cellphones can now be owned by Cubans. Cubans can now even stay in Cuban hotels and visit beaches that were previously only available to foreign tourists.
With this new spirit of "glasnost" or the expanding of civil liberties for the Cuban people, the new Government of Cuba must be both congratulated and encouraged. Unfortunately, there are those with the mindset who believe that there should be no compromise with the Cuban government until the conditions of the embargo are satisfied. This is the attitude of President George Bush, the current president of the United States, and that of John McCain, the Republican Party nominee in the next presidential elections this November.
On the other hand, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful, has the position that should he be elected president of the United States, he will entertain discussions with the Cubans on ending the embargo.
Ironically, President Bush's Administration has claimed that the opening we are now seeing in Cuba is due to the success of the embargo. In a story featured in the Nassau Guardian on May 24, 2008, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez also made such a claim.
The other million dollar question is this: What is going to happen to The Bahamas when relations between the United States and Cuba are normalised? Will it be an economic disaster as has been speculated or will the Bahamas have the vision to take advantage of new opportunities?
That is why there is some hesitation for some Bahamians to support Barack Obama for president. This may not be in the best interest of The Bahamas should Senator Obama be elected. There are those who also see it is irrelevant who is the President of the United States. One just has to look at the state of the economy in most parts of The Bahamas, and especially on Grand Bahama, to see that without a President Obama, there are some serious difficulties with the Bahamian economy at this time. The Bahamas will have to work with whatever policy emerges. The Bahamas will have to re-define and adapt to the new U.S-Cuba relationship. A good example as to what can happen can be seen on Harbour Island, where the two top resorts — reportedly both The Pink Sands and The Coral Sands Hotel — have recently been sold to a Cuban group! |
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