by Jiang Guopeng
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- By engagement and evolvement, not isolation
and sanction, the Barak Obama administration has been trying to "democratize"
Cuba and normalize its relations with the Caribbean country.
Experts suggest that the U.S. administration should adopt "a policy of
critical and constructive engagement, phased-in unilaterally," toward Cuba,
saying the engagement is also needed for keeping U.S. predominance in the
Western Hemisphere.
At the 39th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS)
held in Honduras' San Pedro Sula Wednesday, U.S. delegates did not veto the
revoking of an OAS resolution passed in1962 on expelling Cuba from the bloc.
"We have eliminated one obstacle to Cuba's reintegration to the OAS, and we
have established a compromise with Cuba, a path toward the future based on the
OAS principle, values and practices," said Thomas Shannon, U.S. assistance
secretary of state.
"We will continue to advocate for democratic governance in Cuba and
throughout the Americas," he added.
In 1961, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba and
imposed economic sanctions on it after revolutionary and legendary Fidel Castro
came into power in Cuba.
Analysts said the U.S. policy toward Cuba in the past 48 years, which was
characterized with isolation and sanctions, has weakened Washington's leadership
and predominance in Latin America and has left the super power isolated there.
As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, "We are continuing to
look for more productive ways going forward because President Obama and I and
the administration view the present policy to Cuba as having failed."
Since taking office in January, Obama has reiterated that the United States
seeks "a new beginning" with Cuba and that he believes the administration can
move the U.S.-Cuba relations in "anew direction."
In April, the administration lifted restrictions on Cuban Americans' travel
and remittances to Cuba and allowed U.S. telecommunications companies to operate
in the country, which has been under U.S. embargo for almost half a century.
Moreover, the Obama administration and the Cuban government led by Raul
Castro have agreed to resume negotiations on the legal immigration of Cubans to
the United States and the direct mail services between the two countries.
All these seemed to be signs that the United States and Cuba have embarked
on a new way toward achieving full normalization of their relations, although
the engagement has so far not involved sensitive issues: democracy and human
rights.
Decision-makers in Washington believe that "democracies" do not fight each
other and that a democratized Cuba would be in the U.S. national interest.
Therefore, to normalize relations with Cuba by democratizing the country is
one of the priorities in the Obama administration's foreign policy, according to
U.S. officials.
"The goal of U.S. policy toward Cuba should be to support the emergence of
a Cuban state where the Cuban people determine the political and economic future
of their country through democratic means," said Carlos Pascual, director of
foreign policy of the Brookings Institute, an independent think tank in
Washington.
"A great lesson of democracy is that it cannot be imposed; it must come
from within," Pascual said.
However, there are still realistic questions that might trouble the
administration: Would the unilateral engagement be accepted with reciprocal
moves by Cuba? How to continue the engagement if Cuba refuses the
"democratization" way or if Obama and the Democrats fail to succeed in the 2012
elections?
Though "you could have the resumption of bilateral talks on issues related
to counter-narcotics or immigration, or a period of detente, you are probably
not going to see the full restoration of diplomatic relations" between
Washington and Havana in the near term, said Daniel Erikson, director of
Caribbean programs at the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading think tank on Latin
American affairs in Washington.
