Apparently Mr Obama is the choice if we are to believe Mr Jorge Mas Santo, president of the Cuban American National Foundation, but …
A recent piece in the Washignton Post (included below) by Jorge Mas Santo, president of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), alludes to the possibility that candidate Obama is the choice of the dissidents in the island. This insinuation is obvious in the last sentence consisting of a somewhat rhetorical question, which reads:"If dissidents in Cuba had a vote in our election, for whom would they vote?”
By itself the question seems perfectly innocuous but, given that this question follows a series of pronouncements attacking the Bush administration on policy positions towards Cuba, the answer Mr Mas Santo intends is obvious: the choice would be Obama.
Among the policy issues that Mr Mas Santo brandishes to support his view are the remittances and travel limitations imposed by the Bush administration that CANF would like to see lifted. I basically support the policies that Mr Mas Santos presents, and so have written on this blog (see "Cuba thwarts humanitarian efforts" - 09/28/08), but I can’t quite reach the conclusion that the democratic opposition in the island would support Mr. Obama. (In fairness, I must stress that Mr Mas Santos did not say that they supported the Democratic candidate but he certainly implied it.)
Although it is true that no one knows the answer to the query presented in the Washington Post article, it is telling what the Republican party under President Bush has done to bolster the opposition in Cuba. Intending to raise the status of the dissidents in the islands, the president has held videoconference with democratic activists in Cuba. In this blog we have exhorted Mr. Obama to hold similar conferences but the advice has fallen on deaf ears. To be fair, the exhortation was addressed to both candidates and neither has effectuated such action. This inaction by both candidates could be viewed as an equivalent lack of concern toward the democratic forces in Cuba. But there are some very telling differences. Mr. Obama says he would meet with the Castro regime unconditionally without mention of the despicable human rights record in the island, while Mr. McCain always cites the miserable human rights record as an obstacle.
This apathetic view or ignorance of Mr. Obama towards the human rights violations in the island is telling and probably would have an effect on which candidate the dissidents would support. In my opinion, to allude, as does Mr Mas Santos, that the dissidents would support Obama, taken in consideration this apathy, is inappropriate and misleading.
Jose A Hernandez, MD
President, CubaResponde
Additional comment: It has been brought to my attention that neither candidate should have been involved in foreign policy issues, a field that only the President should manage. This means that my original advice to contact the dissidents, aimed to both Obama and McCain, was inappropriate, in addition it was insignificant since neither responded; but the distinction between the two candidates presented, as it relates to their concerns about Cuba, remains valid.
To read the complet article by Jorge Mas Santo titled "How to Win the Cuban American Vote", please press "Continue leyendo" below.
How to Win the Cuban American Vote
By Jorge Mas Santos
Saturday, October 25, 2008; A15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/24/AR2008102402716_pf.html
U.S. policy toward Cuba is at best static and at worst counterproductive, a source of increasing frustration to many Cuban Americans. This sad status quo contributes to the challenge that Cuban Americans will face on Election Day as, once again, particularly in Florida, our vote will probably help determine the next occupant of the White House.
The overwhelming majority of Cuban Americans expect the next president to abandon today's failed "wait and hope" policy and adopt a policy of support and engagement directed toward opening new avenues of freedom for the Cuban people as well as enhancing stability in the United States.
The Cuban American National Foundation, the nation's largest Cuban exile organization, has a predominantly Republican membership. Yet our fundamental interest is not partisan politics but helping to restore freedom to our brothers and sisters on the island.
We entered the new millennium expecting U.S. policy toward Cuba to follow the effective model of the West's support for Poland's Solidarity movement and civil society across Eastern Europe. It was our hope that by seeking to empower Cuba's independent civil society through unlimited support for the brave men and women on the island opposing the Castro regime, the energy and resources of the Cuban American community would be unleashed. To this end, we have been sorely disappointed.
As a direct result of President Bush's strategic blunder in 2004 restricting contact with the island, Cuban dissidents have experienced a significant reduction in material and humanitarian assistance. They are also subject to a ban on receiving cash remittances that help them and their families survive. The isolation of these and other Cubans has increased while Fidel Castro's departure from office caught the Bush administration off guard. Together, these developments have helped Raúl Castro consolidate control over the Cuban people.
These failures in U.S. policy undermine important American interests. Just as a democratic Israel is a key U.S. friend in a critical region, a democratic Cuba would be a crucial ally in furthering democracy in Latin America. Cuba is important, also, because the dissatisfaction of its people under the Castro regime is bound to have a significant effect on Floridians and Cuban Americans nationwide. It has in the past.
The next president must put a stop to America's spectator approach. To this end, we have presented the campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama with simple recommendations based on two basic premises: (a) the status quo is unacceptable; and (b) change needs to come from within Cuba. Our specific recommendations are:
· Change the rules that make it impossible to send cash aid and allow direct, substantial and unfettered aid to Cuba's dissidents.
· Lift the 2004 restrictions on travel and remittances by Cuban Americans. Removing the handcuffs that have prevented us from becoming active participants in the development of Cuban civil society will make us agents of change.
· Maintain sanctions that diminish the Castro regime's access to hard currency, which it uses to help fund its apparatus of repression.
· Engage democratic and reformist forces in Cuba, including those in the military and in the civilian government. They need to know that they can count on the friendship and support of the United States.
· Rebuild our intelligence capabilities in Cuba; they have been dismantled over the past decade, creating a vulnerability in this nation's security.
Both presidential candidates have made clear that they want to help the Cuban people achieve freedom. But Barack Obama's forward-looking and proactive approach toward empowering the Cuban people is more in line with these proposals than John McCain's vow to continue the Bush administration's policy.
More of the same will not bring about freedom in Cuba, and more must be done to directly assist Cuba's opposition movement. Cuban Americans are wary of empty promises. But on Nov. 4, before casting ballots, we will ask ourselves two important questions: Who will adopt a proactive policy toward Cuba, and if dissidents in Cuba had a vote in our election, for whom would they vote?
The writer is chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation.
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