U.S. policy towards Cuba

After approximately 60 years of hostility, occasional near-war, and economic embargo, U.S. policy towards Cuba is moving toward one of engagement. A number of factors are affecting this change, including the end of the Cold War, the retirement of Fidel Castro, and a realization that the embargo has not been effective in changing Cuban policy, although Cuba has become, for other reasons, less of a purveyor of revolution.

The previous hostility had come from the takeover, during the Eisenhower Administration, from the non-democratic rule of Fulgencio Batista, by the non-democratic, and then Communist, rule of Fidel Castro. Cuban emigres to the U.S., some of whom lost all their possessions, formed a small but powerful lobby, especially in Florida.

When the successor John F. Kennedy administration came into office, even more aggressive, primarily covert, destabilization operations began, under Central Intelligence Agency operational control. These included the emigre Bay of Pigs Invasion and Operation MONGOOSE, a series of assassination attempts against Fidel Castro. Soon, the island became a proxy for U.S.-Soviet confrontation, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, perhaps the closest the world has come to nuclear war.

Obama Administration

In April 2009, President Barack Obama lifted travel restrictions to Cuba for U.S. citizens of Cuban descent, as well was their ability to send money to relatives. Travel restrictions for other American citizens remained in place. Political restrictions were mixed; Rep. Connie Mack (R-Florida) said Raúl Castro's "dictatorship is one of the most brutal in the world. The U.S. economic embargo must remain in place until tyranny gives way to freedom and democracy...[Obama] should not make any unilateral change in America's policy toward Cuba. Instead, Congress should vigorously debate these and other ideas before any substantive policy changes are implemented."

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, born in Cuba, responded "The announcement today is good news for Cuban families separated by the lack of freedom in Cuba," commenting in turn, the Cuban government should focus on improving its relationships with its citizens and the United States. "Lowering remittance charges and allowing travel for Cuban families wishing to see relatives abroad are two steps the Cuban regime could immediately take that would show change in Havana."

Obama responded, in November, to a Cuban opposition blogger, saying the United States expected reciprocal steps from Cuba if relations were to advance.In an interview posted on Yoani Sánchez's blog, he said the U.S. has engaged in areas such as migration and mail service, but that the administration was waiting for reciprocal Cuban actions, especially in freedom of speech. "Achieving a more normal relationship...will require action by the Cuban government," Mr. Obama wrote.

Scientific cooperation

A delegation from the American Association for the Advancement of Science visited Cuba in November 2009, and will invite Cuban scientists to its February 2010 meeting. Peter Agre, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and AAAS President, said "Nothing concrete so far, but much good will...[The Cubans] "are nothing other than warm-hearted about this. They would love to see things move forward...Cuba has been kind of a dead zone (for cooperation) because of the separation, but the opportunity to be here is something I'm looking forward to...It's something we would both benefit from." The most likely starting area for cooperation would be in medicine.

Congress

Calling themselves the "ideological bookends" of Congress, Reps. Bill Delahunt, a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts and Jeff Flake, a conservative Republican from Arizona, co-chair the Congressional Working Group on Cuba, which favors a lessening of tensions.

In March 2009, a Senate was introduced to lift the 47-year-old travel ban to Cuba. "I think that we finally reached a new watermark here on this issue," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, a cosponsor. Another cosponsor, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Commitee, another sponsor of the bill, issued a draft report in February that said it was time to reconsider the economic sanctions.