Cuba

What’s the issue? Trump is expected to announce renewed restrictions on travel to and trade with Cuba this Friday, rolling back Obama’s loosening of those restrictions in 2014. While no specifics have been confirmed by the administration, it is expected that the new rules would restrict Americans’ ability to travel to Cuba as well as ban US contracts with Cuban businesses affiliated with the military government.

Why do I care? The embargo with Cuba was initially put in place in 1960 as a way to contain Cuba’s communism and coax it to democracy and freedom. However, 50 years later Cuba is still not free, and still ruled by the Castro clan. Additionally, according to the 2017 Freedom House rankings, 18 countries and 6 territories have lower freedom scores than Cuba, most of which are not subject to embargoes or trade restrictions by the United States. In fact, Cuba’s score is equal to China’s, whose trade with the US topped $578 billion last year. Trump claims that he wants to reinstate these restrictions because of Cuba’s human-rights record, which is a particularly hollow claim coming from the man who has turned a blind eye to human-rights abuses elsewhere in the world. In fact, restricting trade over human rights is directly contrary to his approach in other parts of the world. According to the New York Times, “Trump and his team [have] made clear they [are] willing to publicly overlook repression in places like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations… — as long as they are allies in areas the president considers more important, namely security and economics.” So what’s the difference in Cuba? Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida have been lobbying hard for Trump to tighten restrictions to Cuba, Diaz-Balart going as far as to request assurances that the Cuba policy would change before voting for the repeal of the ACA. This would also fulfill a campaign promise Trump made in September in Miami and reward Cuban-American voters who voted for him.

More importantly, however, the Cuba embargo is not working, and is in fact harming the Cuban people (especially among the most vulnerable populations) as well as US economic interests, without bringing down the Cuban government. The United Nations has voted more than 17 times for the United States to end its Cuba embargo, citing the harm it brings to the most vulnerable in Cuban society. In 2016 the resolution passed with 191 votes in favor and only the US and Israel abstaining. In one of the most comprehensive studies of the embargo, the American Association for World Health found that “the embargo contributed particularly to malnutrition affecting especially women and children, poor water quality, lack of access to medicines and medical supplies, and limited the exchange of medical and scientific information due to travel restrictions and currency regulations.”

In addition to harming Cuba, the Cuba embargo costs the US economy between $1.2 and $3.6 billion annually, according to the US chamber of commerce,. It also consumes a disproportionate amount of US resources to enforce, including tens of thousands of man hours dedicated to enforcing the embargo each year. Since larger companies can skirt the embargo through creative financial and transportation infrastructure, this loss most affects American small businesses.  In addition to harming US economic interests, re-tightening Cuba restrictions will allow other countries, such as China and Russia, to invest in Cuba where they see the US as lacking. Just recently, Russia announced a $2 billion infrastructure project to help repair Cuba’s railroad system.

Meanwhile, since Obama’s relaxation of some restrictions, the US and Cuba have been able to better collaborate to stop human and drug trafficking. There have also been many examples of sports and cultural sharing and exchange, as well as scientific research cooperation including advances in cancer treatment research.

Given the ineffectiveness of the embargo and the harm that it is causing, it seems clear that the path forward should involve easing restrictions, such as Obama did in 2014, and not strengthening them, and Trump is expected to do. While only Congress can actually repeal the Cuban embargo, Trump’s restrictions towards Cuba would effectively kill any momentum in Congress to end the embargo.

What you can do if you care too:

1. Call your Congresspeople and tell them you support an increased relationship with Cuba. Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart have been the most vocal in supporting Trump’s restrictions, so bonus points if you live in one of their districts.
2. Stand up for human rights in Cuba and around the world. Amnesty International does excellent work in this area and has suggested actions that take only 5 minutes as ones with more of a commitment.
3. Donate to non-profits that directly benefit Cubans, including Roots of Hope (empowering Cuban youth), CARE Cuba (child poverty, microfinance, and clean water), and First-Hand Aid (feeding seniors, medical supplies, and more).
4. Travel to Cuba and share your experience with others. This New York Times guide gives you all the information you need as of now, keeping the potential new restrictions in mind.

 

Cover photo by y.becart on Flickr.