Finally!!! Fidel Castro steps down so I can finally visit Cuba without fear of incurring the wrath (not to mention the $10,000 fine) of the U.S. government. Right? Uhhh… no.
It would seem like the opportune time to back away from the single most anachronistic bit of U.S. foreign policy. But we won’t do that. Nevermind that as a U.S. citizen I am free to travel to and spend money in countries with far worse human rights and democratic credentials than Cuba. I can buy bootleg Versace in China. I can buy a teenage hooker in Thailand. I can buy an AK-47 on the streets of Mogadishu if I’m stupid enough to make the trip. But I can’t buy a beer in Havana? Where’s the logic? Where’s the good common sense?
Instead of working on ending the U.S. embargo, we’re already pushing for more. Give us free and fair elections we’ll say. Then when Raul Castro wins the next election, we’ll talk about our concerns about reported irregularities. Irregularities? Why does that sound so familiar? Florida in 2000 anyone? What about Ohio in 2004?
We’ll talk about freeing political prisoners. Do I really need to point beyond China and Russia on this point? If so, consider Uzbekistan. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then follow the yellow brick link.
President Bush made his demands for Cuban democracy from the Rwanda stop on his Africa trip. It was 5 years ago during his last trip to Africa that Bush stopped in next-door Uganda and met with President Yoweri Museveni. Museveni has held power there for more than two decades. He has abolished presidential term limits. He has harrassed and jailed democratic opposition. This BBC article from just before Uganda’s 2006 elections is instructive in the politics practiced by Mister Museveni.
President Bush touts himself as a man of consistent principle. But the message sent by our foreign policy going back to Eisenhower is not so much “we support democracy” as it is “if you’re going to be a dictator, make sure you’re our kind of dictator.”
