Cuba At A Crossroads

The aim of this book is break the stalemate in Cuba policy in 2009. This will mean abandonment of the embargo and normalization of relations without precondi¬tions the Cubans are unlikely to accept. Detractors will no doubt dismiss it as naïve coddling of Castro, but this book is not an apology for the Castro dictatorship and the end of the embargo does not imply a retreat of American power or a passive foreign policy, as embargo sponsors would have us believe.

This book will not argue against the embargo on humanitarian grounds just as it rejects arguments for the embargo because of human rights violations in Cuba.

There were times when the embargo made sense and was plausible as a strategy to protect American interests. In 1960, world trade was heavily skewed towards Amer¬ican firms and Cuba, a banana republic, was wholly dependent on the United States. It was unlikely Castro could survive without American cooperation. But barter agree¬ments with the Soviets foiled the embargo. When the Soviets expired, Congress passed amendments called Mack, Toricelli and Helms-Burton to ensure Castro's demise; but by then his power, as queen-bee of the Cuban Revolution, was institutionalized. If the embargo were going to oust Castro and company after the Soviet collapse, it would have done so by 1994. After 1994, Cuba's economy turned a corner and never looked back. The embargo will never work. Actually, it does work, but not the way we have been misled to believe. The embargo is a business. It is used as a taxpayer sponsored, affirmative-action welfare program by savvy exiles. Here's how it works: An anti-Castro non-profit entity is set up with a lofty name. A bill is introduced and passed in Congress to fund the entity and appropriations are made for it. A revenue stream is generated and employment created. Government programs such as the ineffectual Radio Marti also fit this description.

But sometimes an "honest" living fighting Castro is not good enough. Felipe Sixto worked for the Center for a Free Cuba, which describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan institution dedicated to promoting human rights and a transition to democ-racy and the rule of law in Cuba. It is a government funded non-profit. In July 2007 Sixto joined the Bush White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and was as¬signed to deal with state legislators, Native American groups and Hispanic officials on issues such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, health, labor, transportation, the environment and energy. In March 2009 Sixto was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison for the theft of $579,247 from the Center for a Free Cuba. He admitted his guilt.

Daniel Bruno Sanz writes about financial and political affairs. His areas of expertise include currencies, stock markets, Latin America, Japan and Russia.
His 2007 book and other writings are available at DanielBrunoSanz.com. He is a native of New York City.
In early 2007, he predicted that Obama would win the Democratic primary when polls showed him 20 points behind Senator Clinton.