Cuba Under Seige to Cuba Tours
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — When this post is published, Josefina Vidal and Roberta Jacobson, the two women tasked with re-establishing diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States, will be at a meeting, the starting point of a long road leading to the normalization of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Those who sit at the negotiations table this week continue to regard each other as “enemies.” Now, they are simply agreeing to a ceasefire and set out to continue the war through political channels. Neither is hiding their intentions, mutual distrust or long-term objectives.
“On December 17, Washington laid its new consensus on Cuba on the table. It’s put on silk gloves, but the death sentence on the island is still effective. This forces David to be more astute than ever when dealing with Goliath.”
The remark above was made by my colleague Rosa Miriam Elizalde, editor of Cubadebate, but it could well have been uttered by any Cuban government official. These days, what we hear out in the “hallways” of politics again and again is that the confrontation will now be much more complex than before.
Obama questions not the justness but the efficiency of the embargo, and explains the new strategy saying that “if we engage, we have the opportunity to influence the course of events at a time when there’s going to be some generational change in that country.”
That a world power should try and define the domestic policies of nearby countries is not at all surprising – what’s curious is that it should announce it publicly. What would happen, for instance, if the White House declared it wanted to influence developments in Mexico or Canada?
In US-Cuba relations, this is not something new. For years, different US administrations have openly declared that they finance the activities of the opposition within the island with a yearly budget of US $20 million.
I imagine that Havana is grateful for this openness, as “forewarned is forearmed.” Despite all this, Cuba may well face future challenges for which it won’t be as prepared as it was in the days of direct confrontation.
Every step Washington takes to dismantle the fence around Cuba will make it harder for Cubans to understand why their government ought to keep the fortress locked up. Now, the US is even offering financial assistance for some sectors of the island’s economy.
No few Cubans are asking themselves “why we shouldn’t accept US aid, if we’re no longer enemies,” and dream of having broader Internet access, asking for credit for their businesses or importing building materials.
Refusing such assistance will be very difficult, particularly when Cuba’s telephone company (ETECSA) has made it clear it is incapable of lowering prices or quickly expanding its services. All the while, the government is still at the “assessment stage” with respect to wholesale markets.
In a sense, Washington’s change in policy finds a Havana that has not yet finished its homework (even though Obama hasn’t exactly implemented a 100% efficient strategy, owing to the resistance he is finding in Congress to lift the embargo).
A countdown has started for the Cuban revolution and it survival may depend on how quickly it is able to adapt to the new circumstances. Till now, the US had allowed it to make “slow” progress, but the times are changing.
The “updating” of US strategy may demand greater cleverness from Havana, as Rosa Miriam says, but that alone will not be enough. New social and political consensuses will be needed, and these will be more difficult to secure when the island ceases to be a “besieged fortress.”
The times of blaming the economic embargo for everything that doesn’t work in Cuba are coming to an end and soon, the Cuban government will have to start giving Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, if it wishes to retain any political credibility.
Faced with such a powerful enemy that has such marked intentions of influencing Cubans, they will also need to improve the press, education and culture to avoid copying their neighbor and destroying the identity that the nation has built in the course of its existence.
It will be difficult to reach that goal with patriotic slogans or little Cuban flags. For a citizen to commit to their culture, they must feel actively involved in the creation of the nation that they belong to.
The vertical and centralized chain-of-command that most people acquiesce to during a war will become indefensible when the “enemy” takes down the fence. Then, national cohesion will only be possible through broad social participation, based on respect and diversity.
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(*) Visit the website of Fernando Ravsberg.
Cuban musicians will get the deals their agents get for them. Pit Bull doesn’t do too bad for himself. While I don’t disagree that Hollywood is still a racist place, the recent successes of a gay and Black Cuban actor, Laz Alonzo suggests there is hope that someone other than William Levy will get a shot. As an African-American, I fully share your disdain for the “white savior narrative”. At least initially, it may require that narrative, however, for the Cuban story to get told. Ojala, if in time, Cubans can produce a Cuban ‘Oprah Winfrey’ who can tell the Cuban story without genuflecting to the Hollywood ruling class. But even for African-Americans, the path to Oprah went through Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier. Finally, as the US engages Cuba, it is up to Cuba, not the US as to how much exploitation is permitted. American business is apolitical and amoral. It is what it is and makes no apologies for its methods and outcomes. If Cuba allows ugly billboards to clutter the highways and neon signs to overwhelm the thoroughfares, no one but Cuba is to blame. By the way, everybody drinks the Kool-Aid, even you and don’t kid yourself otherwise. This difference is I like it and you don’t.
Cuban musicians will get 360 deals from US companies and see 10 cents of each album sale. Cuban actors will work in Hollywood and only those with light skin will get lead roles. Cuban directors will work in Hollywood and get their stories told, as long as they don’t disrupt the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy that is the good ol US of A. I’ve long read your comments and sincerely hoped that you are being sarcastic. “The Castros” as you’ve put it may not have developed in all these years a sovereign approach to thriving in these industries, but why not hope for the Cuban people to develop this one day? Why must you buy the white savior narrative that the US would love all of us to believe? I find it troubling that anyone is suggesting the Cuban people accept the US with open arms. US interest threatens Cuban sovereignty. That does not mean Cuba should not engage to a certain degree with the US. However, to insist that a relationship with the US means Cubans joining in the imperialist, elitist rat race of exploitative capitalism shows that you, in fact, have drank the kool-aid.
I like your David -Golith analogy. Joke here is: “when usa sneezes, that Canada catches a cold!” Nice relationship there … noting Canada has learned to live with ‘the elephant in the room.’ So can Cuba!
“Tears were seen in the faces of some”. Are you high? “Russia
should not be so poorly treated in the media”. You mean this sarcastically, right? A lot of things can be said about Cuba, but “blessed” is not one of them. Blessed by which god? I do agree with you on one thing. You have not been fooled for one minute. It sounds like you have been suffering a lot longer than that.
The events leading up to and following this meeting have been and are a
result to a common problem of the old world.The last thing anyone wants is the
wrong deal and to that end the committee has served Cuba well . In the new world ironically Cubans can hold their heads high , chin up and smile . You may not know it, but the advantages of the position you hold is the ability to build the most modern country with the best of both worlds,the old and the new together.So, hold your cards tight to your heart and remember God is with you. This opportunity will take some reflection and after solitary confinement for so long walk away and let your eyes get use to the new reality and get full consultation of course .
As a side note I can say that the Obama administration was very adament about this new reality. Tears were seen in the faces of some . A sense of the magnitude of their blunders towards the people of Cuba has left them soul searching. The only thing in the Obama address to the nation recently that touched a sore spot was the failure of Obama to accureately characterize the Ukranian terrorist overthrow.Imagine if that would have happened in Canada?
Again Cuba is blessed with this knowledge and much more and Russia
should not be so poorly treated in the media , for the mistake of that.
But, I would like to be positive that lessons of the past have been relearned
by some, I know I was not fooled for one minute.
Thank You
Let’s go with Fernando’s metaphor of a fence around Cuba. Who built that fence? Castro did, that’s who. The US embargo prevents no one from doing business with the Castros. It prevents businesses from doing business with the Castros AND the US. Cuba trades with the entire world, even the US. Fernando’s paranoia of US intentions is overblown. US influence will hopefully encourage more and not less freedom. More and not less trade. More and not less opportunities for the average Cuban. US influence does not threaten Cuban culture, it will expand it. Cuban musicians will have worldwide exposure with US record deals. Cuban actors and directors will work in Hollywood and see their work distributed worldwide in a way like never before. WTF is the problem with a free press? Why would Cubans who want progress resist access to credit and banking services? The Castros have got people in Cuba so screwed up that they don’t know a good thing when they have it within reach. I will not be surprised to see the Castros screw this up like they screwed things up under Carter and Clinton.