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On political changes in Cuba
Letter to The Economist
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:19:33 -0800
From: davidkaori@earthlink.net
To: letters@economist.com
Subject: Cuba and the embargo
Sir -
In your excellent coverage of political changes in Cuba, you call for the United
States to "lift the embargo against a sad, dysfunctional island".
A legacy of strong feeling about the Castro revolution has certainly
played a role in maintaining the embargo--just as it has in moving people to
disagree with the policy. But the simple fact is that, during the past 50 years,
it has not been possible to have trading partners in Cuba other than companies
and organizations that are wholly owned and regulated by the Castro state. Until
Cuba loosens its official stranglehold on commerce, it will be reasonable for
the U.S. government to keep its place at the table in this matter.
The key question in reassessing the embargo policy is this: Will U.S.
businesses be able to get a fair shake in Cuba? Other nations have not.
Excluding what's owed to the former Soviet Union, Cuba's external debt is easily
north of $40 billion. Before relinquishing power, Fidel Castro tried hard to get
the embargo lifted, with the evident aim of having American banks and taxpayers
finance the next phases of his revolution. Cuba's present rulers are likely to
harbor the same hopes.
So the smart move is for U.S. leaders to proceed with caution in reviewing
the embargo policy. Negotiations with Cuba about reestablishing commerce will
need to be probing and vigorous. And those talks ought to stay on point with
criteria that businesspeople recognize as pertinent and valid. You say quite
rightly that the legacy of political feelings ought not to be a source of
further pain. But neither should we take on the pain of imbalanced economic
relations for the sake of misguided political motives.
David Landau
Editor & Publisher, Pureplay Press
11353 Missouri Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
http://www.pureplaypress.com
(Pureplay Press, an independent editorial house, has published a dozen
books on Cuba.)
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