New America Foundation and Council on Foreign Relations Conference Call - Resignation of Fidel Castro
Statement
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REP. MCGOVERN: Well, thank you for doing this for this call.
Our policy toward Cuba is a relic from the Cold War. It makes no sense, and quite frankly, it's embarrassing. It accomplishes nothing other than preserving the status quo, and U.S. policymakers and U.S. politicians have historically been timid when discussing any changes in U.S. policy, in large part because of their unhealthy and irrational obsession with Fidel Castro. Well, he's now leaving the scene and we should use this as an opportunity or an excuse to review our entire policy. It is time for a grown-up policy.
Today, we are releasing a letter signed by over 100 members of the United States House of Representatives, a bipartisan list of members of Congress. It is a letter to Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice, asking her for a thorough review of our policy. This is an opportunity for us to have a discussion about what a more mature, what a more rational U.S. policy should be all about.
And I hope that all of us, you know, who are in positions of government in the United States will seek this opportunity to have that discussion. I hope the administration will take our advice and begin to think creatively and out of the box about how we can have a more sensible policy. And if not, I hope the members of the United States Congress will take it in their own hands to pursue a more rational, a more mature, and a more sensible policy.
Thank you.
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REP. MCGOVERN: Yeah. Okay. I'm hoping that the new administration, whoever he or she may be, will change our policy, because I think our policy has been such a clear failure. But you know, I'm hoping that we will hopefully -- that Congress will take it upon itself to try to force movement before we get a new president of the United States. I mean, that new president wouldn't take the oath of office until next January. You know, I think that we can just do -- we need to take action sooner.
I think that Colonel Wilkerson is correct that, you know, we should be moving more aggressively on lifting the travel restrictions, which I do believe are unconstitutional -- that we go around telling everybody how important freedom is, and yet we deny our own people the freedom to travel to Cuba. We talk about the importance of family reunification, yet we frustrate efforts by Cuban-Americans to spend any time with their families. It is a stupid policy.
So I'm -- you know, I hope that the new administration will move aggressively to change things, but I'm hoping that, you know, before we get to the new president that Congress will show some spine and some backbone and stand up to this administration and say enough is enough. The Cold War is over. It's time to move forward. It's time to pursue a more grown-up policy toward Cuba.
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REP. MCGOVERN: This is Jim McGovern. If I could, I would just I would just say this. I think both Hillary and Barack have open minds when it comes to a lot of issues dealing with our foreign policy. And I think that both of them would move us away from this era of cowboy diplomacy where, you know, it's all based on rhetoric and saber- rattling and threats and, you know, irrational policies that really cannot be justified.
So look -- and I mean, I think what Sarah and what Julia have said is absolutely correct. I don't think we're going to know for sure until one of them gets elected. But you know, I think, you know, in terms of, you know, looking at the evidence objectively, looking at our policy objectively, you know, I do think that we're more likely to have, you know, some changes that will, I think, be more sensible from a U.S. and from the perspective of the average Cuban people than we have right now. So I'm hopeful that either one of them would be a welcome change to what we have right now.
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REP. MCGOVERN: Can I -- this is Jim McGovern. If I could respond to that by saying, you know, I think we're asking the wrong question. I think the issue -- I think the ball is in the U.S. court right now.
The fact of the matter is that if we want things to change in Cuba, then I think we have to change our policy. Our policy for the last 50 years has ensured the status quo, and in that respect, it has been a miserable failure. And I've joked over the years that I think that the two words in the English language that the Cuban government fears the most are "spring break." I mean, they wouldn't know what to do.
The fact of the matter is that, you know, I think it is up to us to act. If we act in a smart and intelligent and sensible way about tearing down some of these barriers, encouraging more people-to-people exchanges, lifting the travel restrictions, you know, pursuing an easing of the economic restrictions, then I say -- you know, I oppose this embargo, but, you know, trying to work within the -- kind of the realm of reality here, you know, I think things will change.
The more interaction, the more contact from the outside world that has taken place in Cuba, the more things have changed, in most cases for the better.
So you know, I don't think we should be sitting around waiting for Raul Castro to -- you know, to, you know, make some, you know, stunning proclamation that everything is going to change overnight. I think, you know, the onus is on us. I think we need to take some proactive action now, not wait. This is something we should have done a long time ago.
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REP. MCGOVERN: I think the presidential candidates, you know, should be thinking about this, and we're all familiar with the political realities that exist. But nonetheless I think that anybody who's running for president should be thinking about what they're going to do when they take office, and how they're going to deal with this new reality.
I mean, the bottom line is this. We've had a policy in place for 50 years that has been a magnificent failure. And, you know, my hope is that we're going to have a president, whoever he or she may be, who has the maturity to be able to correct our mistake.
And so, you know, I have no doubt that those who support Hillary and those who support Obama will be, you know, trying to weigh in with them. You know, how much is made public, you know, in terms of what their views are, you know, is unclear.
But look, in many respects, you know, and I know that it's a long shot that George Bush will do anything positive. But in many respects, I mean, you know, he is kind of the person who has the least to lose politically. I mean, he could actually make an important gesture, you know, toward changing our policy, toward ending this relic from the Cold War, you know, by looking at the travel restrictions, at a minimum, the travel restrictions for Cuban Americans.
I mean, how do you justify telling the Cuban Americans that they can't go back and they can't, you know, visit their family members, whether they're sick or whether they're in, you know, they just want to kind of, you know, get together again? How do you justify that.
So, you know, I mean, you know, I think we need to keep the pressure on everybody. But, you know, look, we're in the now right now, and we need to keep the pressure on Congress and on Bush.
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REP. MCGOVERN: Well -- this is Jim McGovern. Look, I mean, there is no doubt that the hard-liners in Congress are going to continue to be hard-liners. You know, I don't think that what has happened is going to change their view. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that, you know, that we shouldn't try to change it today.
Look, over the years in Congress we have had debates and votes in which Congress has voted to lift the travel restriction. Congress has voted to ease up some of the economic sanctions. And you know, oftentimes the Bush administration has frustrated those attempts. But you know, we've gone -- you know, we've had actually some positive votes over the years. And so, you know, I think that the case needs to be made that this is an opportunity and that we can't squander this opportunity. And in many respects the ball is in our court; that if in fact we want to see positive changes, you know, the more we engage, the more we're going to see those positive changes.
The question was asked earlier about, you know, releasing dissidents and arrested journalists. Look, I think all of us, especially those of us who want a change in our policy, believe that all these political prisoners should be released. But as Sarah Stephens pointed out, we don't have any leverage. We give speeches and rattle the sabers and threaten, you know, and issue threatening statements, but the bottom line is, there's no negotiation going on. We have no leverage to try to encourage the release of any political prisoners or any journalists. The fact of the matter is -- and this is kind of an ironic -- (inaudible) -- I remind my -- some of the biggest defenders of the current policy in Congress said this all the time -- that many of the dissidents who have spent time in Cuban jails believe, as we do, that the policy should change; that our policy right now is counterproductive.
So you know, I think this is an opportunity first to make a renewed effort to try to change the direction of our policies.
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REP. MCGOVERN: This is Jim McGovern. I'd also just say that, you know, friends can sometimes be -- (off mike). And to the extent that some of our friends and some of our allies, you know, who see pretty clearly that our policy has been a failure, can take this opportunity to kind of renew their view that U.S policy should change. That would be very welcome.
So if the Canadian government wants to communicate to the U.S. government that -- you know, to take advantage of this opportunity, you know, begin to review your entire policy, I think that would be very welcomed by a lot of people not only in Congress, but I think there are some people even in the Bush administration who don't say this publicly but quietly believe our policy is a miserable failure.
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