By: Staff Writer
July 16 2021
A US based Cuba expert said that the Biden administration should “de-escalate” tensions in Cuba but be mindful of the “political death star” of being soft on Communism and Socialism.
John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc., headquartered in New York, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that: “The Republican Party wants the Biden-Harris Administration (2021- ) to be aggressive knowing that President Biden is disinclined to do so- with the result then a Biden-Harris Administration portrayed as “soft” on Communism and Socialism- a political death star.
“The Democratic Party wants the Biden-Harris Administration to return to the Obama-Biden Administration (2009-2017) policies impacting the Republic of Cuba. President Biden was never going to embrace the quid-absent-quo strategy announced on December 17, 2014 that would soon be surgically undone by the Trump-Pence Administration (2017-2021).”
The president Obama administration promised to restore “full relations” with Cuba, ending the decades old Cold-War policy of isolationism along with the embargo.
“We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests, and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” Mr. Obama said in a nationally televised statement from the White House. The deal, he added, will “begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas” and move beyond a “rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.”
President Biden on the other hand has gone on record saying that his administration will not lift restrictions on remittances to Cuba or in any way give the Cuba government any assistance unless it can be assured that the money will not go into the coffers of corrupt officials or fill the communist government’s coffers in Cuba.
Mr Kavulich also said: “The goal of the Biden-Harris Administration is to de-escalate by not having the narrative be there exists a crisis in the Republic of Cuba- and same goes for the Diaz-Canel Administration. Absent a crisis, the Biden-Harris Administration can delay a response.
He pivoted to Haiti for a second and said that the events in the impoverished country are a crisisfor Haiti alone, “But, are the events in Haiti a crisis for the United States,” he asked and responded “Thus far, no.”
Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated on July 7 in his home, prompting surviving Haitian politicians to ask the US for military assistance in keeping the country stabilised as they try to assess what happened and reform a government before the next presidential elections scheduled for September of this year, which some believe may have to be put off now as a result of Moise’s assassination.
Mr Kavulich said with regard to Cuba’s protests the same as he did with Haiti: “The events in the Republic of Cuba are a crisis for the Republic of Cuba. But, are the events in the Republic of Cuba a crisis for the United States? Thus far, no.
“As head-of-state, President Joe Biden needs to project empathy. The Democratic Party needs to show strength. As head-of-state, President Miguel Diaz-Canel needs to project empathy. The Communist Party needs to show strength
Speaking directly to the thousands of Cubans in the streets all over the island of Cuba, “The demonstrations do create pressure upon the Biden-Harris Administration to complete its Cuba Policy Review and then implement the recommendations of its Cuba Policy Review. Some members of the United States Congress will ask ‘what is being done to support those who protest?’”
Mr Kavulich added: “The government of Cuba may benefit from the demonstrations because it is seeking from the Biden Administration any change to existing policies and regulations- and believes that regardless of the intention of those policies and regulations, the government of Cuba can create value from them rather than endure pressures from them. May seem counterintuitive.
“As for whether the demonstrations serve as a trigger for greater unrest and sustainable unrest and then catalyst for fundamental commercial, economic, and political changes within Cuba. Doubtful.
“This could be the moment for the Biden-Harris Administration to announce the intention to nominate an individual to be United States Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba. The individual would need to be formidable, undeterred from confrontation, probably from the private sector.”