It’s the perennial chant, “when is U.S. Cuba policy going to
change?” Well it is not going to
change anytime soon unless those who really want to change it actually do what
is required to change it. Similarly you have to ask yourself what is going on and hold those leading the charge
accountable.
Over the last decade we have seen many attempts to change
U.S. Cuba policy beginning with lifting the travel ban. All have failed. Most recently, we have seen the efforts
to remove Cuba from the Terror List, a designation that Cuba does not deserve
and only serves to keep costs higher between the two countries, also fail. Conversely, we have seen the hand of
the pro-embargo hardliners grow bigger and stronger. Legislation to expand Cuba travel is consistently blocked or
thwarted in Congress. Funding for
clandestine “Democracy” programs like the ones that got Alan Gross into a Cuban
prison, still continue to be funded.
The pro-embargo voting bloc raises money and elected six Members of
Congress to be their vanguards on the floors of Congress. Their capacity to even reach into the
White House, the Executive Branch, and establish themselves in gateway
leadership positions in the Congress all speak to a well concerted political effort. Government officials and policy makers
have to tow the hard line through the veiled and actual threats of holding up
Presidential appointments or congressional funding. Intelligence and reason have taken a back slide to raw political power. Meet the
consequences of distorted politics.
The problem lies in the dynamics of the debate. The ongoing U.S. Cuba policy debate
is essentially between two sides – an inside the beltway nonprofit NGO led pro-travel/engagement side versus hardline Cuban American exiles who are engaged politically in textbook fashion.
It is Washington DC versus New Jersey and Florida. One side is hobbled
trying to play a game it can never win.
The other plays politics all by itself and wins all the time. The perpetual stalemate in any
progress to change U.S. Cuba policy is a result of this absurd political
asymmetry. Both sides suffer from
delusion. Changing U.S. Cuba
policy requires a very basic schematic diagram. Through the political action of organizing votes and
raising money can one set in motion what is actually required to change laws. It is not done through petitions,
emails, or telephone calls alone. Those
are only useful only when they are backed up by votes and money. What does votes and money mean? It means you have to organize your
policy position around a demonstrable voting bloc. Politicians need to know who is electing them and why they
are being elected. Money means
everyone who believes in your issue actually puts up some money, even if it is a small donation. Lots of small donations will amount to
big money. Money means commitment
in politics. Where are the
voters who support candidates who will vote to change U.S. Cuba policies? Where are the contributors
to candidates and political action committees who will help finance their
elections? Our political system is
not publicly financed. It is
privately financed and depends on donations from all of us. There are literally tens of thousands
of Americans who support lifting the travel ban, but they do not contribute the
political funds necessary to make it happen. “What is my $25 going to do?”, said one individual to
me. Do the math. If, for example, each one of the more
than thirty thousand who like a pro-Cuba travel Facebook page became
contributors of $25 each and pooled that money, there would be plenty of funds
available to actually support and elect candidates who will vote to end our
stupid policies with Cuba. And if
you say you want to end the travel ban but you are not willing to put up even
$25 to make it happen, then how committed to changing it are you? U.S. Cuba policy change
apparently has many supporters but still lacks commitment.
What is going on is a neutered lobbying campaign that has no
real means to achieve the results they say they stand for. The pro-travel lobby has no head or
arms through its deliberate absence of politics! A successful lobbying campaign requires a political
component to back it up. Have any
doubts? Look at the power of the
National Rifle Association in the recent battle over background checks for
guns. The NRA won simply because
politically they can show they have more votes and more money than gun victims
can. It is going to take
more than just intelligent arguments for background checks to get the law changed. It is going to take votes and
money. Those are the rules
of the game without exception.
There is also a perception problem. The organizations involved portray a strategy
that somehow they are getting results.
They claim and rally that the
next change in Cuba policy is only either; a petition, a think tank sponsored congressional
member/staff trip to Cuba; or advertisement campaign away from changing the
law. How is this possible when
these organizations CANNOT organize votes or raise political money? It is not. So why are they leading the charge to change U.S. Cuba
policy? Why is all the support for
changing U.S. Cuba policy concentrated into organizations who effectively can’t
do the job in the first place?
There is a role for these organizations, but it is certainly not in the
leadership position they currently occupy on these issues. Moderate Cuban Americans and Americans
who support change must organize and take the lead.
The political asymmetry also has a reciprocal consequence
for the pro-embargo side. The lack
of any effective challenge to them has led them to engage in the most extreme
tactics, intolerance, hyperbole, and language.
Most of all, they seem oblivious to themselves. Recently, when they attacked the effort
to delist Cuba from the terror list, one Member of Congress presented the
reasons why Cuba should remain on the list. One only has to apply the same criteria to that region of
South Florida and ask whether Miami qualifies to be on an urban domestic terror
list of sorts? There are still
unsolved bombings of Cuba travel agencies, and alleged and confessed
masterminds of plane bombings and violence who are allowed to walk and live
freely on the streets of Miami.
Oblivious. Similarly, when
the issue of human rights came up during the recent visit of notable Cuban
dissidents, did any of them realize that our country has the highest per capita
prison population rate in the world? The state of Florida is on the top ten
list of states with the highest prison population rates! The city of Miami is one of America’s
poorest cities with one of every five residents living at or below the poverty
level! This attitude of “my hypocrisy is not really evident or relevant” exudes
from this delusional political asymmetry. And if you disagree with them, all of sudden you’re labeled
a communist too.
This leads to interesting political dynamics among
candidates who are pro-travel.
Take the examples of the Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fl) and Rep. Joe Garcia
(D-Fl). Congresswoman Castor did
the most courageous and bold thing a Florida congressman do, take a stand to
lift the Cuban embargo, remove Cuba from the terror list, and end the travel
ban. Rep. Castor reached these conclusions
after a recent trip to Cuba.
However, she traveled through the auspices of an inside the beltway
think tank instead of organizing and going on that trip with her own
constituents, the majority of whom support her position on Cuba. The result – Rep. Castor was severely
criticized by a vocal minority in her district. Supporters literally had to issue a public statement of
support in a local Tampa newspaper.
Contrast this with the financial score that the think tank involved will obtain and rely upon to tell its funders to keep writing a check to it – they take
Members of Congress to Cuba.
That helps change U.S. Cuba policy. True, but only to a extent. Rep. Castor now must marshal political support to
protect her from what is coming next November from the other side. Ms. Castor deserves the measureable
expression of support for her from everyone who is pro U.S. Cuba policy change
by sending a campaign contribution of any legal amount to her campaign. Rep. Garcia (D-Fl) has a
challenge as well. It was reported
that he had signed a letter with other hardliners to support keeping Cuba on
the Terror list. After speaking with him directly, he stated that he had not
signed such letter. While
Rep. Garcia played a significant role supporting family visits, remittances,
and restoring people to people travel to Cuba, he finds himself attacked from
the both the right and the left of this issue for not going far enough for
either side. Rep. Garcia, a
freshman Congressman, is strategically assessing how he is going to win his
re-election next year. He is, as
all politicians do, assessing the votes and money to see where his supporters
stand.
If you want to really change U.S. Cuba policy you need to do
three basic things:
1) Register to vote and meet with the candidates to express
your position.
2) Open your checkbook or credit card and make a donation of
any legal amount to a campaign or a political action committee that supports
your cause.
3) Choose to work only with people and groups who can
demonstrate their commitment to change through results.
Only by electing candidates who support your position, and
defeating those who do not, will the issue be won. It is that simple. It is time to make the status quo accountable. The next time
you are asked to sign a petition, send an email, make a donation regarding U.S.
Cuba policy, you should be asking the solicitor two questions – Is what you are
asking me to do going to help organize us into a demonstrable voting bloc? Is
the money you are asking me to give going to be used to support and educate
candidates who will vote to change our policies when they get elected or
re-elected? Everything else will
not matter without these two missing ingredients required for political success. November 2014 is only eighteen months
away.
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