Bringing real freedom to Cuba requires staying the course

 By Paul M. Weyrich
web posted February 17, 2003

We have a brand new Congress and already there are forces
working to accomplish that which they failed to do in the past
couple of Congresses. There are Members of Congress in both
parties and in both houses of Congress who want to lift the
embargo the United States has imposed on Cuba for over 40
years.

The argument for doing away with the embargo runs something
like this: It hasn't worked. Castro is still in power. If we
overwhelm Cuba with American tourists and businessmen, who
will spend good old American dollars, why perhaps Cuba will
change. Perhaps Cuba will become more like China where the
people-at least in the cities-have a considerable amount of
economic freedom.

In fact, I had just about bought that line. It seemed reasonable to
me. What is wrong with tourists being able to tell the good
people of Cuba all about the exciting things that are going on in
America?

Thanks to a Congressional briefing I had courtesy of the Cuban
American National Foundation, I am back on the reservation
again. I want to continue the embargo.

That's because I learned that ordinary Cubans are not permitted
to associate with tourists in any way. The few who are hired by
the hotels are vetted by the government for their loyalty. I
thought it would be good for them to earn those good old
American dollars. Unfortunately for them, Fidel has thought
things through. If you earn $100, the government takes it from
you and gives you 100 Cuban pesos in return. The artificial
exchange rate is one peso to the dollar, just as the exchange rate
in the Soviet Union was six rubles to the dollar when its economy
was completely controlled. As soon as the controls were lifted
the exchange rate soared to over 100 rubles to the dollar. Well,
anyway, our poor worker ends up with about $4 for his $100
worth of hard work.

Who is able to mingle with tourists? Prostitutes are given free
reign. After all, a few pictures of a Cuban prostitute with a
prominent tourist or businessman and Fidel will be getting lots of
American dollars to bail him out.

While it is true that Castro is still in power, the Cuban American
National Foundation points out how his armed forces have been
drastically reduced. He also does not have much of a budget for
exporting revolution, although he now does have some friends in
high places in this hemisphere.

The foundation believes that the embargo is still working. If, as
many in the Congress want to see happen, it is lifted and
American dollars begin to flow to Cuba, these will be controlled
and of value only to Castro. He watched closely as his former
ally (the Soviet Union) disintegrated because political reforms
there came before economic reforms and he has also knows full
well that the prosperity in the cities continues to cause Chinese
Communists problems. They have to constantly work to prevent
the Internet from being available to the Chinese people. Every
few weeks, however, it crops up in another place and it takes
weeks for sophisticated engineers to shut it down. Fidel doesn't
want the same problems.
 
He is 75 years old now. He can't last forever. Especially at the
rate he gives those three hour speeches. It would be best to
keep sanctions in place. True, it has not caused Cuba to become
a democracy. But it has kept Cuba in check, especially since the
passage of the Helms-Burton Act, which really strengthened the
embargo. The change being peddled by those who claim to be
advocates of the free market sounds great. In reality, it would
have the opposite effect that its sponsors intend.

That, my friends, is how Washington works.

Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress
Foundation (http://www.freecongress.org).

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