Politics Aside: The Great Cuba Debate
This is a guest contribution from Heather Takacs who writes for TheNewYorkCityTraveler.com, a wonderful site to check out if you’re planning a trip to New York City. Heather provides great insight into current New York attractions and news. With Fidel Castro’s recent resignation, Heather wanted to share her personal perspective with Sirened.
It was nearly 2am in New York when I sent a text message to my friend, Orlando. “Breaking news, Castro resigns.” I quickly typed wondering what kind of reaction my Cuban-born friend would have. I waited only a few seconds before his response came, “Wow. Only 50 years too late.” he quipped. I could sense lack of enthusiasm in his text message.
Orlando’s response was mirrored by the millions of Cuban-Americans and Cubans who woke the next morning to see the front page news of Castro’s resignation. There was little excitement and little hope that anything would come of this change in presidential power. It was, to them, just another chapter in the decades-old saga between the United States and Cuba.
But after fifty years, things are bound to change. Right?
Certainly the anger and hatred that was once so prevalent with Cuban expatriates has quelled, giving way to hope that perhaps one day soon their family that has been separated by 90 miles of sea can once again be reunited.
And in Cuba, the revolutionaries that fought so gallantly are now in their seventies and, like Fidel, slowly dying off. The current generation is very much like my Cuban friend, Alexey, who is more of an American patriot than most Americans. He always wears a t-shirt emblazoned with an American flag; that is his way to rebel against the establishment.
But just that has changed— the characters involved— not the story itself. But in last week’s Texas Democratic debate something different happened. Obama was was met with harsh criticism by Clinton, McCain, and the conservative media at the mere suggestion of a change to the status quo. Obama said he believed that U.S. policy towards Cuba was a failure and that he would be open to dialogue with “enemy” nations, including Cuba.
The current policy is a failure. Cuba’s government has successfully found new trading partners, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union left the island in economic ruin. Now, billboards of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are slowly replacing statues of revolutionary leader Che Guevara. And the 1950s Cadillac and Buick cars that once graced the streets of Havana are now being replaced with the latest Chinese transportation technology. As I see it, McCain and Clinton need to stop pandering to the votes of South Florida and realize that attempting diplomacy is not the same as naïveté. The current policy is not hitting the intended target and is instead hurting the average Cuban.
In the end nobody is right. Not the United States for continuing this antiquated policy towards Cuba. Not Castro (at this point, take your pick of either Fidel or Raul) for continuing this long-running social experiment and standing behind flawed ideals. Politics aside, we have forgotten that this macro-policy has far-reaching micro-ramifications.
That night as I went to sleep I thought of my friends and family on the island nation. Words that Alexey once said to me echoed in my ear, “This is not my generation’s revolution.”
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Odds and Ends (Including My Guest Post at Sirened!)
Feb 27, 2008 at 11:42 pm
[...] the mean time, I had the opportunity to guest post at political and news b5media blog, Sirened. Stop by and check it out. I can promise that [...]
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