Side Show in the Western Hemisphere

There’s a lot going on in the world. The détente building in North Korea, Israeli confrontations with Gazan Palestinians, Trump’s mounting global trade war, confusing and contradictory U.S. immigration policies, reinstatement of Trump’s “Muslim ban” by the U.S. Supreme Court, looming Brexit, etc., etc. So it is pretty easy to miss the development of a post-Castro (Fidel and Raul) Cuba, now lumbering under a new harsh Trump rejection of the Obama era opening of travel and trade doors with this tiny island nation.

It is difficult to justify how we have normalized our relations with Viet Nam (with whom we were at war long after the Castro takeover of Cuba) or that we are in talks leaning toward opening a very, very anti-American North Korea… but we still are banning most forms of interparty trade and cooperation between Americans and American businesses, on the one hand, and post-Castro Cuba, on the other, decades after the Soviet support for that small Caribbean nation disappeared.

Meanwhile, just about every other nation on earth that wants to has built nascent businesses in Cuba, establishing economic toeholds there that put Americans at a steep and perhaps insurmountable disadvantage there, maybe forever.  In our own back yard. Europeans are there. Canadians are there. And now, two countries that we should never allow to feed without challenge in our rather personal neighborhood, 90 miles from Miami… China and Russia. Ancient Florida Cuban escapees – the Florida Republican Marco Rubio faction – might be overjoyed, and Trump’s follower-clones rejoice in any of his attacks on anyone to whom he directs his wrath, but the American business community is not happy.

“[The] United States today is largely sitting on the sidelines as the communist-ruled island faces potentially major changes in its economic and political relations with the region… The problem is exacerbated because the recently reopened U.S. Embassy in Havana sits nearly empty. Most U.S. personnel were withdrawn last year after two dozen diplomats and other employees reported unexplained medical problems that left some with hearing loss or mild brain damage.

“As the U.S. chill with Cuba deepens, Trump has praised one of the world’s most notorious despots, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and promised economic opportunity if Kim’s government gives up its nuclear weapons… ‘It is baffling we are going in the opposite direction on Cuba,’ said Carlos Gutierrez, who was secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush and opposes Trump’s reversal on Cuba.

“Trump ‘wants to increase prosperity in North Korea but keeps outrageous sanctions on Cuba,’ said Gutierrez, whose family fled the island after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro. ‘After almost 60 years of animosity, it’s time to rebuild ties.’…

“The changes that Trump announced on June 16, 2017, in the heart of the Cuban exile community in Miami, were minor in scope but had a deep impact… He restricted the ability of Americans to travel to Cuba as tourists. U.S. businesses could still operate there, although the administration later barred any dealings with an estimated 180 firms or entities tied to or controlled by the Cuban military.

“The Cuban army is deeply entwined with the Cuban economy, especially in the tourism industry. Several hotels and a handful of restaurants belong to the military… Trump said the measures would prevent money from going to Cuba’s military or intelligence services and eventually force the government to open up politically and tolerate dissent. He said the goal was to stand up to ‘communist oppression.’

“But because of Trump’s sweeping rhetoric in Miami, many Americans thought it was no longer possible to travel to Cuba… U.S. tourism has fallen precipitously this year, although international cruise ship visits are hitting record highs.

“U.S. exports of chicken and other food and agricultural products from farm states that supported Trump remained strong. Some of that commerce is governed by regulations that predate Obama’s normalization of relations… Exports of U.S. food and agricultural products to Cuba are up 25% thus far this year compared with 2017, according to John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which supports business with the island.

“Trump’s trade restrictions largely hit small Cuban businesses, including hair salons, restaurants, car washes and bed-and-breakfasts, the kind of small-scale capitalism the White House professed to support. Less harmed was the government apparatus…

“China and Russia, which had pulled back from the island that they once sponsored, are moving back in at full speed, financing infrastructure and other projects, raising alarms at U.S. Southern Command military headquarters outside Miami.

“‘The fact that we are giving them [Russia and China] a free hand to extend their presence is not in the U.S. national interest,’ said William LeoGrande, a Cuba expert and author of ‘Back Channel to Cuba,’ which chronicled the 18 months of secret negotiations that led to the Obama opening with Havana… LeoGrande said Trump has essentially ‘outsourced his foreign policy’ to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of an influential but diminishing group of [older] conservative Cuban Americans staunchly opposed to engagement with Cuba.” Los Angeles Times, June 25^th.

In short, Cuba is prospering. U.S. sanctions have not had much of an impact as the rest of the world pretty much ignores American pressures to isolate Cuba. Instead, it is the United States that is increasingly isolated. But Trump’s base stands by their man in just about anything he deems a priority. After Mr. Trump leaves office, Americans will be able to enjoy travel to Cuba once again – even the younger Cuban Americans believe enough is enough – and stay in those lovely hotels… which will be owned by Canadians, Europeans, Russians and Chinese.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I continue to be staggered by the number of self-inflicted political and economic stab wounds into the American heart and soul perpetrated by our leadership in Washington.