Cuba Is Changing Its Ways; America Isn't

Jeffrey Goldberg, an Atlantic Monthly correspondent, has a fascinating piece on a recent visit he made to Cuba and his meeting and talks with Fidel Castro, the retired leader of the Cuban Revolution. The erstwhile Cuban leader is seeking to become an elder statesman and is mostly preoccupied with international affairs and the Middle East, in particular; and he seems surprisingly candid in his reflections, which he shares with Goldberg. One such reflection is of particular note: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore". He is trying to leave some room for his brother, Raul, currently leading the country, to loosen the state's grip on the economy, at least partially. The article points out the irony that today foreign corporations can acquire land in Cuba; but not U.S. corporations, not because of any particular barriers set by the Cuban government, but because the ridiculous U.S. trade embargo is still in place.

The trade embargo, which purported to lead to the fall of the Cuban regime through the deprivation of its citizens, is probably one of the most nonsensical policies the U.S. have followed in years; and, just like stimulus spending, its proponents always claim that if we let it last a little more, it will finally bear fruits (the article I am linking to was written in 1994). The embargo has instilled a sense in the people of Cuba that someone else, i.e. America (and capitalist states, in general), are to blame for their financial mess, rather than socialism. They have thus an enemy to rally against and might even condone persecutions of dissidents, who they see as conspiring with the enemy, and the communist regime gains undeserved support. If only it had been the other way around: if the regime were left with no excuse for its failures; if Cubans could see the affluence of the visitors to the island, Americans or their own relatives who live in the States; and compare it with their own penury. Wouldn't that help to bring a 1989 effect to the Carribean?


Update: Castro now claims that, although the above quote was reported correctly, he was referring to the capitalist system, not socialism.