Obama administration engages Cuba in 'democratization' way

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-05 13:32

WASHINGTON -- 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 US administration should adopt "a policy of critical and constructive engagement, phased-in unilaterally," toward Cuba, saying the engagement is also needed for keeping US predominance in the Western Hemisphere.

At the 39th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) held in Honduras' San Pedro Sula Wednesday, US delegates did not veto the revoking of an OAS resolution passed in 1962 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, US 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 US 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 US 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 US-Cuba relations in "a new direction."

In April, the administration lifted restrictions on Cuban Americans' travel and remittances to Cuba and allowed US telecommunications companies to operate in the country, which has been under US 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 US 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 US officials.

"The goal of US 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.