Is the Cold War Alive and Well in America?

 

There’s a saying, "do as I say, not as I do." After the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, President John F. Kennedy imposed a trade embargo with Cuba. The day before the announcement, so the story goes, JFK told his Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger, to go into town and buy as many Cuban cigars as he could find. Salinger returned to the White House with 1200 cigars!

Since 1961, USA/Cuba relations have, from time to time, been front and centre in the Cold War. For example, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 had the world on the brink of nuclear war. For four days, the launch of missiles were expected. Relations between America and Cuba have never eased, despite the fact that America lawfully occupies Cuban territory at Guantanamo Bay. 

Shortly before Christmas this year, President Obama made the first public moves towards the restoration of normal relations with Cuba. Is this an indication that Fidel Castro is dying? Possibly, but if so, why not wait until he is dead? Is there growing sentiment in the American public that America’s Cuba policy is counter-productive? The evidence shows this argument has strong support. Is there acceptance that, even in the coldest of Cold War American communities, the Cold War is over? Looking at the Republican Party, the answer is “no.”

What happened after Obama’s decision to go public was a demonstration of raw politics, American-style. Mario Rubio, the US senator for Florida, which houses a huge Cuban ex-pat community, denounced Mr Obama as “feckless and naïve” and that the policy shift was “based on illusion and lies that commerce and access to goods would translate to political freedom for the Cuban people.” Let us not forget that Rubio is considering a bid for the presidency in 2016, as is Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, who called for “strengthening the Cuban embargo.”

Other Republican presidential hopefuls, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, have joined in the criticisms. Evidently, they want Cuba kept in a deep freeze. It seems they haven’t looked at the polls over the past year or so which, according to pollsters like the Brookings Institution Latin America Initiative, show public opinion moderating its hard line, even in Florida. Is this is yet another occasion where a Democrat says white, so the Republicans say black?

In 1996, Cubans shot down two civilian planes flown by an anti-Castro group. President Clinton stiffened the embargo. However, a few years later, Michael Moore took several American citizens to Cuba for medical treatment which the patients could not afford in America. Recently, Alan Gross, a US Agency for International Development contractor was released early by the Cubans from a five year prison sentence for espionage.

The point is, there are always two sides to an argument. There are bound to be concerns that an influx of US trade and ideas into Cuba could bring with it problems of crime and drugs and a return to the pre-Castro years in Havana. However, there is no documented evidence that the present Cuban government is corrupt and I suspect that it will strictly monitor the re-opening of relations. Another concern amongst Floridians is that many Cubans will seek entry into the United States. I cannot believe the American administration will ignore or fail to regulate this issue.

What will the Republicans in Congress do? I anticipate the usual knee jerk, following their leadership, to oppose any reforms. In other words, they will want to be seen as Cold Warriors. Why? The Cold War is over, although Mr Putin has shown a desire to re-start it. Maybe they should remember the words of Winston Churchill: “jaw, jaw, jaw is better than war, war, war.”