Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,
    Reading Aaron Schumacher's op-ed from March 24, "Obama and Latin America, part two," a person with no knowledge of the history of United States-Cuba relations might get the impression that Cuba is a benign and peaceful state and has just gotten a bad rap from the "Cuba lobby." This, however, could not be further from the truth. Cuba is a rogue state, one which has never stopped trying to undermine the interests of the United States and its allies. The fact that other states have reconciled with Cuba's communist regime is irrelevant. We should not base our national security policy on what other countries happen to think is in their interest.
    Continuing, Mr. Schumacher claims that were the Obama administration to repeal the embargo, "Cubans would get a taste of the kind of open society that we live in." How? Even with the embargo lifted, the Cuban people would still be subjugated by a cruel communist tyranny. They would still not enjoy the basic freedoms that we take for granted in this country. Similarly, given the regime's use of means of coercion, how would lifting the embargo help the Cuban people regain their freedom? Magic, perhaps?
    While Mr. Schumacher's claims are at best ambiguous, there is one thing we can be certain of: Eliminating the U.S. embargo would grant the Cuban regime access to the U.S. Export-Import Bank. This would allow a state that defaulted on most of its debt in 1986 to get loans from American taxpayers. Given the regime's poor financial record, granting it access to the Export-Import Bank would amount to a virtual subsidy. Not only is there no reason to allow this, but it would be morally reprehensible to compel a single U.S. citizen to provide financial support for the Cuban regime. Why should former political prisoners that escaped from Cuba and are now residing in the United States be forced to subsidize a communist regime that violated their rights?
    Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the embargo has not been a failure. It has succeeded in limiting the degree to which the Castro brothers can undermine U.S. national interests. Therefore, until the Cuban regime is once again a responsible member of the international community, we should not eliminate the embargo.

Sincerely,
Michael Fernandez
Student, Fletcher School