[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 15993]]

                   FLEXIBLE TRADE POLICY TOWARD CUBA

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise to discuss American relations with 
Cuba. Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Havana with Senators 
Baucus and Roberts. We spent ten hours with Fidel Castro, in what has 
been characterized by the press as a marathon meeting. But more 
importantly, we had meetings with dissidents and Catholic Church 
representatives.
  It was my first time in Cuba, and I went there with no pre-conceived 
notions although I did have the opportunity to be thoroughly briefed 
prior to our departure.
  I returned from Cuba convinced that lifting the trade embargo and 
restrictions on travel, especially for educational exchanges, are 
extremely important steps in an effort to foster economic and political 
liberalization in Cuba. They are important steps but not for the 
reasons which are generally assumed.
  As one Cuban told us, ending the American economic embargo on Cuba 
will not produce economic change. The Castro government has no interest 
in economic reform--even along the lines of that now seen in China or 
Vietnam. As the Minister of Economics and Planning explained, there is 
no program for privatization in the economy, insisting that capitalism 
does not work but ``pure socialism'' does. The government allows some 
private investments, mainly in farming, but the intent of the State is 
still to control the economy. Indeed, President Castro told us that he 
believed Cuba could not survive if it was a member of the International 
Monetary Fund and called the IMF the ``world's most subversive 
organization.''
  While this was denied by the Foreign Minister, I came away convinced 
that the government does not want the American embargo on Cuba lifted 
because the lack of economic ties allows the government to blame the 
United States for its own economic failures. If the embargo was lifted, 
Cuba's leaders might find another excuse for their failed policies but 
it might make it harder for them to find widely acceptable excuses.
  The Cuban people have voted already for change. Many have fled to the 
United States. One Cuban told us that social and economic differences 
are increasing. The population has declined over the last decade in 
part because people sadly see no future for their children. The average 
Cuban salary is said to be $11 per month. The Castro regime was 
described to us by those we spoke to in Havana as a dying dictatorship: 
aging, inefficient and corrupt.
  In this environment we should not exaggerate America's influence. 
Castro will do everything to limit it. But we can start to build a 
basis for a future relationship with the Cuban people after Castro. The 
Congress can demonstrate our good will by a partial lifting of the 
trade embargo. We can demonstrate our good faith by allowing freer 
movement of Americans to Cuba and to do what we can to encourage 
Cubans, especially school children, to visit the United States on 
exchanges. The Congress should promote cultural ties and try to direct 
assistance to the Cuban people.
  None of this will be easy. Nothing Castro said indicated to me that 
he was willing to permit, for example, Cuban school children to attend 
American elementary and secondary schools or colleges in significant 
numbers. Nothing Castro said indicated to me that he was willing to 
allow American aid, including medical supplies, to be given directly to 
the Cuban people.
  But even if the hand of friendship is rejected, I believe we should 
still offer it. The future of Cuba is not Castro. President Castro said 
one clear truth: Cuba still suffers from an inherited history of four 
centuries of colonialism. Unfortunately, he does not understand that 
his form of paternal dictatorship perpetuates the same horrors he 
claims to abhor.

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