With the guard up

(How the Regime of the Castro Brothers has cheated the United States)

By Néstor Carbonell Cortina

In occupying Barack Obama the presidency, it has been planted the necesity of a total revision of the politics of the United States towards Cuba. Diverse proposals and iniciatives of the law have been presented with the idea of coming to an understanding with the regime Castro-communist through a constructive interchange ("constructive engagement"). Before the advancement in this determination, the new administration should review the results other past attempts in approaching and complying; failure attempts which where not the fault of the United States, but because of the treacherous nature of a regime which takes advantage of the weakness or ungenuousness of the enemy so as to attack, humiliate, cheat and obtain concessions without accomplishing any type of reforms or democratic openings.

Lets take a look at the past experience of the different presidencies of the United States:

En 1959, under the administration of President Eisenhower, Fidel Castro ordered the members of his delegation not to accept any financial assistance that Washington had to offer during his travel to the United States in april of that year. But besides this rejection and the implacable anti-american campaign thrown by the regime of Castro, the ambassador of the United States in Cuba, Philip W. Bonsal, tried to come to an accomadation. After a lot of Castro refusals and of the appointment of Che Guevara as President of the National Bank of Cuba in november of 1959 and the landing in Habana in february 1960 of Vice-Premier of the Soviet Union, Anastas Mikoyan, Bonsal wrote in his book: "the government of the United States has seen himself forced to recognize that the quiet diplomacy or normal has not worked by any means in its treatment with the cuban government."

After the confiscation of all the northamerican properties in Cuba, the official Implementation of communism in the post-Bay of Pigs, and the missile crisis, President Kennedy authorized the initiation of secret negotiations with the Castro regime without pre-conditions that it should separate from the Sino-Soviet block. With this end, the ambassador William H. Attwood, second to Adlai Stevenson in the United Nations, reunited in New York september 23, 1963 with Carlos Lechega, Ambassador of Cuba before the O.N.U. in november 14 of the same year, eight days before the assasination of Kennedy, Castro was notified that the President had authorized that Attwood travel to Habana to continue negotiations with him. It was not finalized the "rapproachment" because in that same month of november the venezuelen authorities had found various tons of armaments sent by the Castro regime to the communist guerrillas which operated in Venezuela. By insistance of President Rómulo Betancourt, the O.E.A. condemned the cuban regime in july of 1964 for acts of subversion and aggression, and all the state members, with the execption of Mexico, broke diplomatic relations and comercials with Cuba.

In compliance with the pact of none invasion of Cuba subcribed by Kennedy and Kruschef, and hopeful of improving relations with the Castro regime, President Lyndon Johnson ordered to close during the period of 1964-1965 the bases of infiltration and commando operations for cuban patriots in Centralamerica and the Caribbean. It was of no use this desarming, because in april of 1965 the United States found itself in the obligation of landing marines in the Dominican Republic to avoid that communist agents trained in Cuba would take advantage of the civil war created to take power of Quisqueya.

President Richard Nixon stopped all intentions of trying to defeat or destabilize the Castro regime and agreed to subscribe with Cuba a pact to avoid the kidnapping of planes. In september of 1970, while negotiating such a pact, the United States had to confront a new crisis: the construction in Cienfuegos, in the south of Cuba, of a soviet base for nuclear submarines.

In march of 1975, by a mandate of President Gerald Ford, the Secretary of State Henry Kissinger anounced that the United States was ready to advance in a new direction with the intention to normalize its relations with Cuba and to lift the commercial embargo maintained during 14 years. As a first step, Washington authorized sub-foreign northamerican companies to comercialize with Cuba. After almost one year of secret negotiations between the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, William Rogers, and cuban functionaries, the United States Canceled it when 15,000 special troops of the regime of Castro in a surprise landing in Angola in november of 1975 to support the communist forces of the M.P.L.A..

President Jimmy Carter submitted in march of 1977 an Presidencial Directive which contained this emphatic declaration: "I have concluded that we have to try to normalize our relations with Cuba." In base of this that directive, it was established offices of interest in Habana and Washington. Also, it was achieved that a great number of cuban political prisoners where set free, but maintaining intact the same repressive totalitary system imperativ in the island. When the administration of President Carter believed to be able to complete the normalization of relations with Cuba, two events occured which ruined this illusion. first, the Castro regime raised his troops in Angola and sent military personel to Etiopia. furthermore, from april to october of 1980, he let go a massive exodus of the so called "Marielitos": 125,000 refugees who came to Florida together with more than 2,700 criminal convicts and the mentaly ill.

President Reagan tried also to come to an understanding with the Castro regime. In november 23, 1981, the Secretary of State Alexander Haig meeted in Mexico with cuban Vicepresident Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, and in march of 1982 General Vernon Walter substained a long conversation with fidel Castro in Habana. There was no agreement because the regime did not accept to stop sending arms and military equipments to the guerillas in Centralamerica in exchange for commercial concesions and finance support from the United States. In october 25, 1983, Reagan was forced to sent american troops to Grenada to avoid that the communist, with the support of the Castro regime, would take over the island. Convinced that, the same as in Poland and other countries of the soviet block, it would have to stimulate the civil resistance of its citizens so as to be able to achieve democratic change, Reagan approved the creation in 1985 of Radio Martí - another summit of Jorge Mas Canosa.

In view of the break up of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Iron Curtain, President George H.W. Bush and others in his administration thought that the Castro Regime would iniciate a process of political opening that would facilitate an understanding with the United States. In view that Castro would reject the "glasnost" of Gorbachev, Bush signed in 1992 and act for democracy in Cuba, and he denied economical help to all those countries which offered assistance to the Castro regime. He also restricted travels and shipment of money to the island.

President Bill Clinton gave it a new chance at the political relations of the United States with Cuba. He pleaded for an approach which would facilitate the normalizations of relations, Clinton soften the restrictions of travels to the island in strength and intensified the academic exchange, cultural and commercial with Cuba. Two events took in contrast with this comtemporary intent: a new exodus of 30, ooo ferryman incited by the Castro Regime in 1994, and the shooting down by MIGs of the regime in 1996 of the planes of Brothers to the Rescue who where flying in a humanitarian mission through the international waters. This aggression gave place to Helms-Burton Law, which came to harden and codify the commercial embargo to Cuba.

President George W. Bush did not become illusioned with the regime of Fidel Castro, not even with the ascension of the vicetyrant Raúl Castro. The restriction travels where inforced and the money shipments to Cuba, intensified with the support of opposers and disidents in the island, and elaborated a program of north american assistance for the eventual transfer of Cuba to a democracy. As a result of this policy, the totalitarian "dualgarchy" of the Castro brothers has seen themself pretty much drowning economicaly, and the internal civil resistance is showing a stronger force. Even more so it have achieve in this sense, if the United States would have applied the technology available to avoid the so intense blocking of the transmissions of Radio and TV Martí to the island.

Now with the advent of the new north american administration, the cuban regime, in confabulation with the complicity governments of Latin America and Europe, are orchestrating a fraudulent offensive of peace which Lenin recommended to confuse, disarm, and manipulate the enemy. Lenin introduced a vital injection of oxigen in the West and the tactical temporary turning of the so called New Economic Politics. The Tyrants of Cuba have in there pockets their own controled labor, which can not achieve an effective change of the system.

It is various the objectives which the regimen seeks. Which figures: a) the readmission of Cuba in the O.E.A., without democratic reforms, to fortify the anti-yanqui block and to place Washington at the defensive; b) the dollars of U.S. turist, maintaining the "apartheid" in existance, to alleviate the bankrupt static economy and compensate the posible decrease of Chávez subsidies; c) Lines of guaranteed commercial credits and international funds to achieve cancelations, at least parcial, of the asphyxiating external of Cuba of almost 30,000 million dollars, - the second most highest in the club of Paris.

What can be done to confront this conspiracy? To close lines and support the cuban american congressionals and defenders of our cause so that this great swindle can not be established. In all case, us foreigners should not lose faith, nor lower our guard, neither make the wrong move in our goals: the recovery of Cuba, without the totalitarian weight. How to advance it? encouraging and supporting those in the island who confront the regime and daily have to conquer with dignity their space: The political prisoners who make a stand, the opposers who resist, the ladies who line up, the students who appeal, the priests who denounce, the laborers who protest, the artists who defy. These valiant agents of incomformaty and of change are opening cracks in this closed regime for which some day will be penetrated in its day of outcry which bounced spontaneously in the biennial: Liberty!