Arkady
President
Here are a few things to think about, when it comes to the sanctions Trump is rumored to be preparing to impose on Cuba.
First, such sanctions amount to restriction of American liberties. We Americans are going to be deprived of our right to travel to and trade with Cuba. That's a loss of freedom that other advanced nations are not imposing on their people. A Canadian, for example, will still be free to take a holiday in Havana, but you won't.
Second, such sanctions are almost certainly counter-productive if the purpose is urging Cuba towards reform. One reason Cuba has changed so little over the last several decades is that we've deprived them of much of a glimpse of our "city on a hill." Every time a smiling, wealthy American strolls down a Cuban beach or strolls into a Cuban store, is a time that the Cuban communist rhetoric about the US rings a little more hollow. The more we interact with them, the more they'll want what we have.
Third, such sanctions can't be justified for Cuba and not elsewhere on human rights grounds. Sure, Cuba is a country where people are made poor and miserable by an oppressive regime. But there are over 100 countries where people are poorer and more miserable, on average, and a great many of them have regimes so oppressive that the people would find the Castro regime to be a wonderful relief. Yet almost no other nations have the restrictions we put on Cuba.
Fourth, if we're going to try to justify sanctions against Cuba not by the way the Cuban government treats its people, but by the way it interacts with the rest of the world, there's even less justification there. Cuba isn't a state sponsor of terrorism -- neither in the official designation, nor in the de facto way that some "friendly" nations like Saudi Arabia are. We'd do better to put sanctions on Saudi Arabia, if we're going to try to make sanctions work, until Saudi Arabia stops promulgating hateful forms of Islamic education. Or how about travel restrictions for people coming to and from Russia? Russia is arguably the most destructive nation in the world today -- systematically subverting democracies abroad, propping up brutal dictatorships, and engaging in military expansionism. It just doesn't make sense to be friendly with nations like that even as we crack down on Cuba.
First, such sanctions amount to restriction of American liberties. We Americans are going to be deprived of our right to travel to and trade with Cuba. That's a loss of freedom that other advanced nations are not imposing on their people. A Canadian, for example, will still be free to take a holiday in Havana, but you won't.
Second, such sanctions are almost certainly counter-productive if the purpose is urging Cuba towards reform. One reason Cuba has changed so little over the last several decades is that we've deprived them of much of a glimpse of our "city on a hill." Every time a smiling, wealthy American strolls down a Cuban beach or strolls into a Cuban store, is a time that the Cuban communist rhetoric about the US rings a little more hollow. The more we interact with them, the more they'll want what we have.
Third, such sanctions can't be justified for Cuba and not elsewhere on human rights grounds. Sure, Cuba is a country where people are made poor and miserable by an oppressive regime. But there are over 100 countries where people are poorer and more miserable, on average, and a great many of them have regimes so oppressive that the people would find the Castro regime to be a wonderful relief. Yet almost no other nations have the restrictions we put on Cuba.
Fourth, if we're going to try to justify sanctions against Cuba not by the way the Cuban government treats its people, but by the way it interacts with the rest of the world, there's even less justification there. Cuba isn't a state sponsor of terrorism -- neither in the official designation, nor in the de facto way that some "friendly" nations like Saudi Arabia are. We'd do better to put sanctions on Saudi Arabia, if we're going to try to make sanctions work, until Saudi Arabia stops promulgating hateful forms of Islamic education. Or how about travel restrictions for people coming to and from Russia? Russia is arguably the most destructive nation in the world today -- systematically subverting democracies abroad, propping up brutal dictatorships, and engaging in military expansionism. It just doesn't make sense to be friendly with nations like that even as we crack down on Cuba.