12 May 2003
"How to Hurt Castro," by Congressman Jeff Flake
(Op-ed column in May 12 New York Times) (500)
(This column by Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, a
member of the House International Relations Committee, was first
published May 12 in the New York Times. The column is in the public
domain. No republication restrictions.)
(begin byliner)
How to Hurt Castro
By Jeff Flake
Washington -- The long prison terms handed to nearly 80 Cuban
dissidents and the summary execution of three hijackers of a Cuban
ferry have led to calls for a new get-tough policy with the Castro
regime. Which raises the question: short of calling in the Marines,
what would constitute a get-tough policy with Cuba?
We've not had normal diplomatic relations for decades. We've had an
economic embargo against the island for more than 40 years. It is
illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba without express permission
from Washington.
Where do we go from here? The options the Bush administration is
considering -- ending all flights to Cuba and cutting off family
remittances -- would respond to Fidel Castro's latest outrages by
penalizing American citizens and Cuban families whose livelihood
depends on help from relatives abroad.
The implicit assumption of United States policy on travel to Cuba is
that Americans are not intelligent enough to know what constitutes a
"good" visit to Cuba as opposed to a "bad" one. License applications
to travel to Cuba must be approved by both the Treasury Department and
the State Department. And though the administration says it encourages
humanitarian aid, Americans who want to make donations to churches in
Cuba are required to get two separate federal licenses, one from
Treasury and one from Commerce.
To be sure, lifting the ban is not without its risks. Some American
travelers will go to Cuba and buy the Cuban government canard about
the three "successes" of the Cuban revolution -- education, health
care and science. But far more Americans will notice the Cuban
revolution's three most obvious failures -- breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
A genuine get-tough policy with Cuba would export something Americans
know a little about: freedom. Let's get rid of travel license
applications altogether. Recently, Oswaldo Paya, Cuba's leading
democracy activist, repeated his opposition to the United States
embargo and issued an invitation. "We appeal to all foreigners who
come to our country as tourists to show solidarity, to take part in
demonstrations," he said. "To support the opening up of Cuba."
We should heed this advice and end the American policy of Soviet-style
travel controls. All Americans should be free to go to Cuba without
government interference. Cuban officials would then have to determine
which are the "good" visits and which are the "bad" ones, which
Americans are sunbathers and which are pro-democracy demonstrators.
Cuba would be flooded with American visitors -- and American ideas.
For Fidel Castro, that would be the toughest policy of all.
(Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, is a member of the House
International Relations Committee.)
(end byliner)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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