Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Economist

On June 23, the Appropriations Committee of the House received a bill proposing the elimination of the measures adopted by President Obama allowing travels for Cuban Americans and remittances to Cuba. The amendment was presented by Florida Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, and is one of several proposals from Cuban American legislators directed to boycott any steps to connect Cubans in the Island with their compatriots in the US. Should this bill, which is devoid of common and human sense, be approved, it would mean the return to the extreme separation of families and of Cubans in general, and is therefore overwhelmingly rejected by the population in the Island, the majority of the Cuban community abroad, and solid and respectable institutions such as the Catholic Church. 

The only beneficiary from the isolation of the Cuban people is the totalitarian regime, and in particular its most radical sector.  These isolation measures have contributed to the propagation of the totalitarian regime in Cuba, and have been used as excuses to cultivate nationalism, justify repression and to blame the “foreign enemy’ for the disasters actually caused by more than 50 years of totalitarian regime and lack of an efficient government.  Such measures could have been understood, although never justified, some time ago.  Certainly, many Cubans Americans were treated with extreme cruelty; many families suffered the effects of repression and long prison sentences, as well as the loss of life of some family member and the confiscation of property, usually earned after years of hard work and sacrifices, in addition to the forced emigration from the motherland with all the resulting sacrifices required. These issues have caused rancor and resentment which we must overcome with courage and spiritual strength given that hatred and revenge cloud the mind and hamper the reconstruction of our country.

But after so many years of the embargo and isolation policies it is time to react and understand the need for a change in mentality, to find new ways so that our country, the country of all of us, may start a transition process towards freedom and democracy. Especially now, when we have started an accelerated process of consciousness promoting change and rejection for the regime that has conducted our country to disaster.

The petition to tighten isolation measures towards Cuba is justified by claiming it is part of the fight against the totalitarian regime, and that the remittances sent to Cuba are used as support for the regime.  But if it is true that the funds end up in the State coffers, it is at a significant cost to the government, since traditionally great efforts have been made to limit the contact of the population with visitors, without any positive results. Relationships between Cubans in the US and their families in the Island create a flow of information and democratic experiences that represent a significant political factor.   

The funds received through remittances allow families to become more independent from the government, especially these days when such resources contribute to the development of independent work and particularly farm work.  These politicians seem to ignore that Cuba imports almost 80% of its food products, mainly from the US, which has become in the last few years its fifth partners in commercial operations. Therefore, by increasing tourism and visits simultaneously, purchases would also increase in the US benefiting producers from Kansas or chicken farm owners in Kentucky, among others. 

 Unfortunately, these Cuban-American senators and representatives still fail to understand these issues. Maybe the reason is that they receive poor advice, or that they continue trapped in the past refusing to understand that there are currently great possibilities for a change of policy towards  Cuba, which does not mean that it is necessary to abandon the fight for freedom and democracy, but use better methods that offer better results.

If the United States wishes to contribute to the change, it should have a presence to interact with the Cuban people, as the Obama Administration has started to do. It is unfortunate that intelligent and capable people who have reached important positions in the first world, as an example of the enterprising people from this land,  when it comes to the relationships with Cuba have not been able to overcome the past and continue to be held prisoner of old and tired beliefs. This is the time for our compatriots to reflect and as Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger did, they should adopt proactive policies by creating bridges.

Without a doubt, if this was the case, and there are not reasons for it not to, they would go on History as individuals who understood the signs of the times. They are capable of that.