Posts in Engagement
No Man is an Island (Fidel Castro turned 85)
Five years after Fidel Castro’s separation from power, it is essential to examine the role that the former revolutionary leader has played in the current Cuban political system from his convalescence and retirement, and the consequences of this evolution.
The fundamental role of Fidel Castro in the Cuban political system today is two-fold: 1) In terms of government, Fidel Castro is the great counselor, to be consulted on strategic decisions or with respect to the appointment or removal of central leaders, as was the case in the termination of the political careers of his former associates Felipe Perez and Carlos Lage and in the constitution of the new Central Committee at the Sixth Congress, 2) In terms of ideology and international projection, particularly in Latin America, he is a Patriarch of the radical left, advising the new leaders, especially Hugo Chavez, and reflecting on some of the past mistakes made by this political sector (in his Reflections and interviews he has criticized discrimination against homosexuals, hostility toward the market, and Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitism that has been repeated in many of the anti-Israeli condemnations by the radical Latin American left).
Debate in the Washington Post: What Constitutes "Engagement"?
Photo Credit: AP
Cardinal Jaime Ortega has been busy in both Havana and Washington as of late, negotiating the promised release of 52 political prisoners with Raul Castro and meeting with key U.S. policy makers, including President Obama’s National Security Advisor, James Jones. While we do not yet know the details of the Cardinal’s conversations with General Jones and several other U.S. officials, we did get some insight into the Cardinal’s general outlook on U.S.-Cuban relations from a surprising source, Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post. Diehl writes:
“Ortega has nevertheless come away convinced that "this is something new," as he put it to me in an interview. Castro's prisoner releases, he contends, "open possibilities." …
He suggests that a big part of Raúl Castro's agenda is improving relations with the United States so that Cuba's economy can be revived by U.S. trade and investment. "He has a desire for an opening with the U.S. government," Ortega said. "He repeated to me on several occasions that he is ready to talk to the United States government directly, about every issue." …
"Everything should be step by step," Ortega said. "It's not realistic to begin at the end. This is a process. The most important thing is to take steps in the process."”
These are some truly remarkable statements coming from the Cardinal that embody the shift in Cuba’s leadership as of late. It is certainly hard to imagine Fidel Castro expressing his desire for U.S. investment in Cuba, as Fidel’s political power was strengthened by his unwavering opposition to and confrontation with the “empire”. Raul appears to be operating with a different calculus in mind. His end goal is the revitalization of the Cuban economy, and he is willing to engage with the United States as the means to this end. The fact that the Cuban Cardinal could travel between Havana and Washington, speaking with Gen. Jones privately and Diehl openly on the subject - sharing the thoughts of the current Cuban President with the American President's chief advisor on national security - is further proof that the times are changing.
New America Event: U.S. and Cuba Must Share Stewardship in the Gulf
From Deepwater Horizon Response photostream
The blame for the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is now flowing almost as freely as the oil, and even after a month, the full extent of the Deepwater Horizon disaster won't be known for some time. The explosion and the futility of efforts to stanch the flow have sounded a nightmarish alarm for the United States, Mexico and Cuba.
These three countries not only share the coastline of the Gulf, we share (to decidedly different degrees) the pain of recession. Only days before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, the Obama Administration moved to open new areas of the East Coast to oil drilling, in part in response to the siren song of jobs and profits for American companies. The American Petroleum Institute claimed that "exploring for and developing our nation's offshore resources could help generate more than a trillion dollars in revenue and create thousands of jobs to add to the already 9.2 million jobs supported by today's oil and natural gas industry."
What a difference a few weeks makes. While the debate about drilling will continue in the United States, Cuba is in a different position, and their economy in a different place: not facing mere recession, but a free fall. Cash-starved Cuba's drilling in its Economic Exclusive Zone is not a question of if, but when. And with U.S. law prohibiting any meaningful cooperation not only on exploration and extraction but also on disaster preparedness and mitigation, the future may hold more Deepwater Horizon disasters, and even less capacity to handle them.
The Spanish oil company Repsol has contracted with an Italian company to bring a deepwater drill rig into Cuban waters. If that's not ominous enough, the rig is being assembled in China, a country that does not enjoy a reputation for quality control. That may be unfair, but it is fair to say that many people who might not have been that concerned about such an operation before the Deepwater Horizon incident are paying close attention now.
Today's New America event U.S. -- Cuba Engagement in the Gulf: Lessons from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill asked the questions: Are we prepared? What's at stake? And, where should the Obama Administration go from here? The answers: no, a lot, and forward with alacrity.