Fidel Castro

Castro Retires: A New America Media Compilation

Patrick Doherty — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

What should the United States do now that Fidel Castro is about to depart from the scene? The New America Foundation's U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative held a major conference call analyzing the significance of the news and was called on by domestic and international media to comment on this historic opportunity.

Here's a selection of our appearances:

Historic Opportunity, by Steven Clemons, The Guardian
Castro's Exit is a Giant Opportunity, by Steven Clemons, The Philadelphia Inquirer
For Cuba Experts, Castro Presents Opportunity for Change, by Mike Nizza, New York Times' 'The Lede'
U.S. Cuba Polcy Could Get New Look, by Richard Wolf, USAToday
Our Failed, Punitive Policy, Anya Landau French, The Washington Post
Fidel Castro's Resignation Gives American Inventors New Hope For Havana, Nightly Business Report
Castro Hints at Younger Face for Cuba, by Carol Williams, L.A. Times
Anti-Embargo Groups Call for Lifting Sanctions, by Pablo Bachelet, Kansas City Star
As Cuba's Power Shifts, So Should U.S. Policy, Editorial, Palm Beach Post
White House Rejects Calls for an End to Embargo, by Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
US Awaits Its Own Transition to Review Cuba Policy, by Jim Lobe, AntiWar.com
The Cuba Embargo Stays: Bush, by Richard Sisk, New York Daily News
A Broker's Role for Canada, by Tim Harper, Toronto Star

From the Havana Note:
The Cuba Embargo Does Not Give US Leverage -- It Harms American Interests, by Steve Clemons
Some Key Statements on US-Cuba Relations and the News from Fidel Castro, by Steve Clemons
Time to Retire America's Failed Cuba Policy, by Sarah Stephens
Fidel Castro's Advice for Politicians, by Gail Reed
Fidel Castro Not Returning to the Presidency, by Steve Clemons

Planning for a Post-Fidel Cuba

Patrick Doherty — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Today, New America's U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative gathered leading Cuba watchers and scholars to discuss the implications of Fidel Castro's announcement that he will not seek nor will he accept the role of Cuban President and Commander-in-Chief. (On Sunday, Feb. 24, the Cuban Council of State is expected to hand power to Fidel's brother, Raul Castro, ending Fidel's 49-year rule with a constitutional succession.)

An MP3 audio recording of this conference call is available here.

Participants in the call, which I moderated, included:

Rep. Jim McGovern
U.S. Congressman (D-Mass.)
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.)
Co-Chair, U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative
Former chief of staff to secretary of state Colin Powell
Julia Sweig
Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Peter Kornbluh
Director, Cuba Documentation Project, National Security Archive
Sarah Stephens
Executive Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas
Jake Colvin
Director, USA*Engage, National Foreign Trade Council

TWN: Transitions in Havana and Transitions in Miami

Patrick Doherty — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Steve Clemons, writing at The Washington Note, has this to say about the linkage between Cuba policy and the politics of South Florida:

THE Cold War continues to rage in one last place in the world -- and that is between the United States and Cuba. It makes no sense for a democratic American government to unconstitutionally inhibit the travel of its own citizens to Cuba -- when it has embraced China and Vietnam and is on the way to normalizing relations with North Korea.

One of the protectors of the status quo and a failed American embargo of Cuba is Lincoln Diaz-Balart, one of two Diaz-Balart brothers currently serving as members of the Florida Congressional delegation.

Lincoln and his brother are nephews by former marriage of Fidel Castro -- and any scant investigation of the battle lines in the US-Cuba standoff will show the situation to be something of a nasty, Kentucky-style family spat.

But things are changing. Some of the elders who served on the board or as senior staff of the hawkish Cuban American National Foundation have defected from the pro-embargo Miami cartel against Cuba. Younger generation Cuban-Americans have also departed from the strident position of some of their elders.

And now there is news that Lincoln Diaz-Balart is underperforming in his fundraising and that the popular former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez is gaining some ground in unseating Lincoln, who has too frequently harmed American national interests by not using his influence and networks to change the course of US-Cuba relations rather than promoting a feud that serves only the interests of a small group.

I'm glad to see Raul Martinez putting pressure on him -- and this blog plans to watch this race closely as it may be the first time in a long time that a popular Democrat with more enlightened views on where to take US-Cuba relations might unseat one of the most recalcitrant embargo promoters in Congress.

-- Steve Clemons