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Ricardo Gonzalez and I attended a Summit on Cuba that was held in Miami
this past Saturday. In the keynote speech Mikhail Gorbachev recycled
Ronald Reagan's message to him regarding "tearing down the wall" (see
the information below).
In anticipation of the Summit, the Miami Cuban radio stations mounted a
very heavy campaign encouraging folks to attend a demonstration against
the event. Since the event was held when folks would not have to miss
work, we expected a violent reaction with large number of people
participating in the demonstration; so did the police who had fenced a
large area where demonstrators would be confined.
We were very surprised to see only a few folks show up, mostly elderly;
the small group numbered from about half dozen during the morning, to a
peak of about thirty in mid afternoon; by early evening all were gone.
This may manifest that even the Miami folks may not oppose a change in
US Cuba policy. Congress seems to be of this opinion but not the
Administration. We will soon know if the President will veto pending
legislation to eliminate travel restrictions to Cuba and significantly
ease the embargo.
>>> "Art Heitzer" <[log in to unmask]> 10/06/03 09:53PM >>>
News issued by: Milwaukee Coalition to Normalize Relations With Cuba
633 W. Wisconsin Ave. Suite 1410, Milwaukee, WI 53203
(414) 273-1040 ext. 12 [log in to unmask]
Check out our website: www.CubaWiFriends.org
______________________________________________________
2 News items of interest (details below):
I."NPR : Pressure Mounts to Ease Cuban Embargo"
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1454931
II. COMMENTARY by MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, "The Last Wall":
"I urge President Bush to tear down the wall of the embargo now,
in order to lay the foundation for a new relationship with Cuba."
1. Pressure Mounts to Ease Cuban Embargo
from Weekend Edition - Saturday, Saturday , October 04, 2003
More and more Cuban-Americans are calling for the end of the U.S.
economic
embargo against Cuba. A Miami Herald poll shows that 60 percent of
Cuban
Americans in Miami still favor the embargo, but that's the lowest level
of
support in memory. NPR's Phillip Davis reports.
To listen, just click on the headline or the audio icon to listen to
the
story: http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1454931. You'll
need an
audio player to hear it, and you can find the right one for your
computer at
<http://www.npr.org/audiohelp/audioplayers.html>. If you have any
problems,
please visit the NPR audio help page
<http://www.npr.org/audiohelp/index.html>.
II.I think this is a very significant statement, which appeared in THE
WASHINGTON POST, http://www.washingtonpost.com, SATURDAY - OCTOBER 4,
2003:
OPINION \ OP-ED, PAGE A19
HEADLINE: COMMENTARY MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
The Last Wall
----------------------------------------
"I urge President Bush to tear down the wall of the embargo now,
in order to lay the foundation for a new relationship with Cuba."
----------------------------------------
The changes that have occurred in the world in the past 20
years are truly remarkable. We have left behind the Cold War and the
confrontation between two irreconcilable ideological systems. The
symbol
of divided Europe -- the Berlin Wall, which Ronald Reagan famously
urged
me to tear down in 1987 -- has long since been destroyed. But one
relic
of the Cold War remains: the wall of the economic embargo imposed by
the
United States on Cuba 43 years ago.
The lack of relations between the U.S. and Cuban governments,
enshrined as it is in the U.S. policy of economic and diplomatic
isolation of Cuba, has not allowed for an understanding that could
benefit the citizens of both nations. The burden of the isolation of
Cuba has been borne by ordinary people on both sides of the Florida
Straits: the divided Cuban family.
That this situation is abnormal and that the embargo is
counterproductive is increasingly recognized throughout the world and
in
the United States. The high-profile visit of Pope John Paul II
symbolized the willingness of the world to open to Cuba and of Cuba to
open to the world. Former President Jimmy Carter's trip to that
country
was a courageous and responsible step.
Many other U.S. political leaders have spoken in favor of
normalizing relations. Yet the U.S. government prohibits average
Americans from even traveling to Cuba. While it calls for human rights
in Cuba, the United States prevents its own citizens from sharing free
enterprise, freedom of movement and free thinking with the Cuban
people.
The only way to get out of this time warp is to replace the
current policy with a policy of constructive engagement similar to the
one being pursued toward other so-called Communist countries.
This view is shared not only by most members of the
international community, it has support among those most affected by
the
current policy, namely the Cuban people and Cuban Americans in the
United States. They would also benefit the most if the United States
were to liberalize its policies, starting with opening the door to
travel to Cuba.
Remember that expanding contacts and exchanges, agreed to by
President Reagan and me at our 1985 summit in Geneva, did much to
increase mutual understanding between our two countries.
Many Cuban Americans who traditionally backed punitive
measures
against Cuba are increasingly calling for dialogue between the two
nations. Polls show that most Cuban Americans would like to take the
first steps to heal the wounds of the past 43 years. I think the
leaders
of both states should recognize that true courage is demonstrated by a
willingness to engage in a difficult and honest dialogue, to admit
mistakes and to seek common ground for the good of future generations.
An end to the embargo would complete the unfinished business
of
the Cold War in the Western Hemisphere. It is because of the Cold War
that a country that saw an anti-dictatorial revolution, which had
nothing to do with Communist ideology, became involved in the
superpower
confrontation. Isolated and belonging ideologically to the "socialist
camp," its choice of the path of socioeconomic development became all
but inevitable. And during the missile crisis Cuba nearly became the
trigger for a nuclear war.
Yet it would be unfair to reduce Cuba's entire
post-revolutionary history to that. The achievements of the Cuban
people
in education, health, science and the arts have been widely
recognized.
The Cubans withstood the consequences of the withdrawal of Soviet
economic subsidies, and the country's economy has recently shown an 8
percent growth in gross domestic product. Cuba has pursued a
responsible
foreign policy, as I can confirm based on my own experience working
with
Fidel Castro to defuse regional crises in Central America and Africa.
The time has come to develop a policy responsive to those
realities. Constructive engagement would not just make it possible to
normalize relations between two close neighbors; it would also improve
prospects for positive evolution in Cuba's domestic situation and
create
a different set of conditions for raising human rights issues.
What's needed is a first step, and it is up to the United
States to take it. I urge President Bush to tear down the wall of the
embargo now, in order to lay the foundation for a new relationship
with
Cuba.
-----------------
The writer is former president of the Soviet Union.
(c) 2003 The Washington Post Company
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