8-3-06, 2:30 pm
The dissolution of the Soviet Union associated with the end of Cold War hostility may explain how a small, South Florida clique gained inordinate power in relation to a vast Federal government bureaucracy. Since then, US relations with Cuba have been captive to increased restrictions and unequal terms. While the rest of the world enjoys travel, trade and cultural ties, U.S. policy remains aloof, disdainful and perplexed. Why can’t neighbors only 90 miles away be friends?
The history of this relationship clearly is exposed by the illegal attempt to interfere with the right to travel and further restrict family remittances to punish innocent people for no reason at all. The need for dialog to improve understanding concerns building bridges to exchange differences and find common solutions to difficult problems like global warming, hurricane disaster prevention, expanded trade opportunity, normalization of relations and eventual recognition of our Cuban neighbor.
Palm trees and tobacco coexist in Cuba but many resources must be imported also. Agricultural diversity, bio-pharmaceutical technology and educational excellence combine to provide opportunity for those inclined to study, work and succeed. The climate can be hot and dry or wet and humid. The greatest source of wealth comes from human capital. Unity, solidarity and determination mold Cuban society. Their independence has been earned; yet, we learn nothing through our mainstream media. Cuba is a country not recognized in public. Is this an accident of history?
In the United States, the rule of law may, on occasion, be subverted by collusion between lawyers, lobbyists, liars and lawmakers. As a result, the lives of people held in the balance are deliberately manipulated through distortion and deceit. Only when the majority demands accounting for such misdeeds will reality take hold and knowledge replace ignorance as a guide for greater cultural awareness. The freedom to travel and to discuss differences is a fundamental democratic right, inalienable and non-negotiable in principle.
The means to reverse this longstanding dispute were addressed during a recent visit (July 12, 2006) coordinated by the Institute of Friendship with the People of Cuba (ICAP). Ricardo Alarcon, President of the Cuban National Assembly of People’s Power, exposed the platitudes of Plan Bush as “a direct threat … that revives the fascism of the 1960’s … in a form of genocide.” Denying the exercise by Constitutional government to practice and apply their own method and style of law, the radical Republican ultra-right seeks “to annex Cuba” through an $80 million financial package subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.
This scheme administered within the State Department by Caleb McCarry, transition team leader, and authorized under Section 203 (b) of the Cuban Democracy and Solidarity Enhancement Act (Helms-Burton) was hatched under the Reagan/Bush I regime. The Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, intimidating many lawmakers to look the other way whenever anti-Cuba legislation is brokered by the Miami/Washington, D.C. connection, has usurped power from Congress. Not your usual pork barrel politics, a closer look unmasks a deep-seated hatred and obsession with Cuba that has caused so much pain and heartache for the Miami mafia.
The State fraud resulting from the above interference and intervention so typical of secret government meddling in the affairs of sovereign, independent countries did not occur overnight. The mechanism to fund these nefarious, undercover operations originated with formation of a quasi-government organization in 1983 called the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also intervenes in foreign policy initiatives on behalf of monopoly corporate interests; for example, the coupe attempt in Venezuela, April 2002.
The complicity of the U.S. government with terrorism emanating from Miami is the result of corruption sustained by every U.S. president since 1959. Allowing government to disperse private funding for the narrow self-interest of a reactionary political enclave destroys credibility in representative democracy to exercise its legitimate role. This bipartisan arrangement was skillfully maneuvered through Congress during the Reagan administration with no discussion from grassroots organizations interested in negotiating with their Cuban counterparts – labor, industry, medical, healthcare or educational profession. The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) prime sponsor of unethical legislation that severely complicated international trade relations: Torricelli (1992) and Helms-Burton (1996) has reaped millions in government contracts. Radio and TV Marti are two examples.
Advocacy of States’ Rights to block the will of Congress leads to anarchy. Plan Bush, a hybrid crossbreed of the above laws, is a subservient gesture to spend political capital robbed from Congress. It is a Report to Congress based on lies, half-truths and disinformation. It is a cynical ploy to payback political debt accumulated by fraud and corruption during Election 2000 in Florida. Authorization for discretionary White House spending to promote misinformation, propaganda and anti-Cuba strategy polarizes public opinion and chills media favorable to Cuba.
The more people discover the Cuban reality, the better chances are Congress will listen to reason. Easing travel restrictions are measures that benefit people from both countries. Supporting socialist Cuba is the right thing to do.
Richard Grassl is a union carpenter
