We hear the argument over and over again, from left, center and sometimes even right. It's made in newspaper editorials, public speeches, college halls and business meetings. And it's dead wrong.
I am referring to the unilateral lifting of the three-decades-long, bipartisan U.S. commercial embargo against the Castro regime in Havana.
The embargo was instituted by President Eisenhower in response to the confiscation by the Cuban government of thousands of American-owned companies. International law gives host countries the right to nationalize foreign property, but only with just, fair and prompt compensation. Not a cent has ever been paid for these nationalizations.
The other reason for the embargo, the one most appropriate today, is our rejection of the Castro dictatorship and its 40 years of human rights violations, its oppression of the Cuban people, its intolerance for different points of view and its continued refusal to allow any freedoms in a tightly controlled society. These features of the Cuban regime have remained rigid even after Pope John Paul II's historic call--issued during his visit to the island last year--for the world to open up to Cuba and Cuba to open up to the world. The world has indeed opened up to Cuba; as opponents of the embargo point out, many countries maintain full diplomatic and commercial relations with Havana. On the other hand, Cuba remains a closed society, with another embargo placed on the liberties of the Cuban people by its rulers.
Time to debunk some myths:
* The embargo hurts only the people of Cuba, not the government. The embargo actually prevents the Cuban government from doing business with Cuba's natural market, the United States. This in turn deprives the Cuban ruling circles of easy access to hard currency, which is used to protect fugitives from U.S. justice and to keep up a very efficient repressive apparatus. The Cuban people are increasingly less dependent on their government for everyday needs. Indeed, Cuba's dollar economy now accounts for more goods and services than the moribund peso economy. Black market transactions are rampant, as is corruption among officials in the privileged tourism industry. Lifting the embargo may well help the Cuban government obtain financing abroad for infrastructure projects, but it would have minimal impact an the lives of ordinary Cubans.
