2007.08.31: August 31, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Cuba: Ithica Journal: Chris Dodd way ahead of competition in Cuba stance
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Chris Dodd way ahead of competition in Cuba stance
The Connecticut senator and long-shot contender for the Democratic presidential nomination thinks it's time to end the restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba. After nearly a half century, this Cold War tactic has failed to isolate or topple the government of Fidel Castro. Politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, have clung to this policy largely because of domestic politics. Cuban Americans are a pivotal voting bloc in Florida, which plays a pivotal role in presidential elections. But Dodd, whose campaign could use the boost that a strong showing in Florida's January primary would provide, is unwilling to sacrifice a good foreign policy for political advantage. “It is simply un-American to bar American citizens from traveling to foreign countries,” Dodd said in an e-mail message to me. “In fact, Americans are currently free to travel to both Iran and North Korea, two countries which pose far more serious threats to American national security than the government of Cuba. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Chris Dodd way ahead of competition in Cuba stance
Chris Dodd way ahead of competition in Cuba stance
DeWayne Wickham / Commentary
Chris Dodd has this right.
The Connecticut senator and long-shot contender for the Democratic presidential nomination thinks it's time to end the restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba. After nearly a half century, this Cold War tactic has failed to isolate or topple the government of Fidel Castro.
Politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, have clung to this policy largely because of domestic politics. Cuban Americans are a pivotal voting bloc in Florida, which plays a pivotal role in presidential elections.
But Dodd, whose campaign could use the boost that a strong showing in Florida's January primary would provide, is unwilling to sacrifice a good foreign policy for political advantage.
“It is simply un-American to bar American citizens from traveling to foreign countries,” Dodd said in an e-mail message to me. “In fact, Americans are currently free to travel to both Iran and North Korea, two countries which pose far more serious threats to American national security than the government of Cuba.
“This country's most potent weapon against the Castro government is the influence of ordinary American citizens. They are some of the best ambassadors we have, and the free exchange of ideas and the interaction between Americans and Cubans are important ways to encourage democracy in Cuba.”
Dodd's position on Cuba makes sense. The positions taken by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton don't.
In a Miami Herald op-ed article a few days ago, Obama called for rolling back the Bush administration policy that severely limits the ability of Cuban Americans to send money to and visit family members who remain in Cuba.
If he wins the presidency, the Illinois senator said, he would “grant Cuban Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island.”
Hearing this, Clinton quickly dug in her heels.
“Until it is clear what type of policies might come with a new government (in Cuba), we cannot talk about changes in the U.S. policies toward Cuba,” she said in a statement.
Clinton is the frontrunner for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, and Obama is a leading contender. Their positions on Cuba are, at best, uninformed.
The change in administration policy Obama proposes would make Cuban Americans a special class, allowing them, but not other Americans, the freedom to travel to Cuba.
Meanwhile, Clinton's position would leave in place an inhumane policy that limits Cuban Americans to one visit to Cuba every three years, and then only to see an immediate family member.
Both positions suggest these candidates have little real understanding of Cuba. Here's what they don't seem to know:
Sixty-two percent of Cuba's 11 million people are of African descent, and 37 percent are white, according to the CIA World Factbook. Eighty-six percent of Cubans in this country are white, the Pew Hispanic Center reported in 2006.
The dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista overthrown by Castro (that's right, Cuba has scant history with democratic government) marginalized black Cubans, just as many blacks in South Florida believe the area's white Cuban power structure relegates blacks there to the political and economic fringes.
The embargo — in all of its manifestations — favors whites who fled Cuba and the relatives they left behind over the Afro-Cubans who largely support the Castro government. That government has largely made good on its promise to end the racist practices that relegated them to second-class citizenship.
By embracing some version of the longstanding push to isolate and squeeze the economic life out of Cuba, Obama and Clinton leave themselves open to the charge that they are aiding the efforts of Cuban Americans to punish the island's Afro-Cuban majority for backing Castro.
And that's a racial issue that could undermine the Clinton and Obama campaigns — and give Dodd's presidential hopes a big boost.
Contact Wickham at DeWayneWickham@aol.com.
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Headlines: August, 2007; RPCV Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic); Figures; Peace Corps Dominican Republic; Directory of Dominican Republic RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Dominican Republic RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Connecticut
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Story Source: Ithica Journal
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Dominican Republic; Politics; Congress; Election2008 - Dodd; Cuba
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