U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative: Latest Articles

Guantanamo: The Bigger Picture

Ron Tang — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:50:00 -0400

The U.S. base at Guantanamo has been called many things. The "gulag of our time" (Amnesty International General Secretary Irene Khan, May 2005). "The key strategic intelligence platform in the war on terror" (Charles Stimson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, January 2007). The "legal equivalent of outer space" (unnamed Administration official). The right place for "the worst of a very bad lot" (Vice President Dick Cheney, January 2002) and for the "most dangerous, best trained, vicious killers on the face of the earth" (former Defense Secretary Donald… more

Castro's Exit is a Giant Opportunity

Ron Tang — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

OK, which candidate is prepared to break U.S.-Cuba relations out of the anachronistic Cold War cocoon and initiate a new course?

Barack Obama has sketched out the initial steps of a changed direction already, and Hillary Clinton in response said she saw no reason to change from the Bush administration's course until a triggering event appeared.

When Fidel Castro hinted in December he would step down, I asked the Clinton campaign whether it would change course, and was told if something significant occurred to justify a rethink, then the Clinton team would do a "full policy review." This is significant.

The end of… more

Historic Opportunity

Ron Tang — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Fidel Castro is stepping down -- but will anything in US policy change?

American foreign policy is full of missed moments -- the most recent and disturbing of which was in April 2003 when Iran made a normalisation offer to the US that included putting on the table recognition of Israel, cutting its support of Hamas and Hezbollah's terrorist activities, and its nuclear programme in exchange for some gestures from the US, the most important of which was ending our regime change ambitions against Iran's incumbent leadership. Had America initiated discussions with Iran when this incredible offer was made, we may… more

It's Time to Trade with Cuba

Articles — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 03:06:00 -0400

Two things should be clear concerning America’s Cuba policy: Everything the United States has tried over the past five decades has failed, and it is high time that Washington does something to help transform the country’s Communist system.

The impending transition of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl gives Washington the chance to adopt a new strategy. But if the United States sticks to the current approach it will help consolidate Communist rule for many years to come.

A changed stance is crucial for many reasons, not least because it offers the chance to cut the link between Cuba’s professional… more