Cuba-US coming together is a modern miracle
When assessing US President Barack Obama's foreign policy, it is usually his feeble initiatives in West Asia, particularly libya and Syria, that grab all the attention, followed by his somewhat muddled approach to China and in the Indo-Pacific. The nuclear deal with Iran has been a historic breakthrough, but because it remains so controversial, the brickbat has overshadowed bouquets the President has received. Now, as he stands on the last leg of his presidency, the question is: What will be Obama's foreign policy legacyIJ The answer lies in Cuba.
Efforts to restore diplomatic ties between the US and its southern Caribbean neighbour were underway for the past three years, facilitated by Canada and the Vatican (including the personal involvement of the Pope, who is the first latin American leader of the Catholic church). In December 2014, President Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro announced that ties would be normalised, and since then a gamut of measures, including the release of political prisoners from both sides and legalising travel to the other country, has been taken to reverse the five-decade-old standoff. President Obama's three-day tour, which began on Sunday, is arguably the most potent of these measures. The last time a US President stepped on Cuban soil, he came on a battle-ship. It was a three-day journey. The year was 1928.
Almost a century later, this is a different world altogether, and the diplomatic breakthrough will bring in more changes at the bilateral level, even if gradually. In Cuba, President Raul Castro, who came to power in 2008, has been slowly but steadily easing state control. Cuba now has a nascent private sector, even though clamps on media and free speech remain. The Cold War baggage hasn't disappeared either, and sharp differences exist between Washington, DC and Havana. One example of the challenges that lie ahead is that Obama's executive push notwithstanding, bilateral ties will remain stunted as long as the US Congress does not lift the trade embargo.
Currently, the Republican-dominated legislature is in no mood to play ball with the White House, although it will presumably fall in line over the next couple of years — especially as pressure builds from the American corporate sector to normalise trade with Cuba. Also, the Republic argument against the diplomatic initiative — that normalisation of ties with Cuba tantamounts to rewarding the Castro regime — does not have a leg to stand on. Isolating Cuba all these years didn’t rid the nation of the Castro regime; it only made lives miserable for the average Cuban. Bringing Cuba into the international system and giving it a stake in the new world will be a more effective way to nudge the country towards reforms. This is what the Obama Administration has also sought to do with Iran. While the full impact of the Cuba outreach will take time to show, a beginning has at least been made.