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Free
Trade Won't Free Cuba
By Claudia Márquez
Linares. The
New York Times, November 6, 2003.
HAVANA - According to our state television,
the Castro regime was pleased that the United
States Senate passed an amendment easing
restrictions on American citizens traveling
to Cuba. This was no surprise. Just days
before the vote, Fidel Castro met here with
a group of American travel agents. Both
sides are impatient to make business deals
in tourism on our island. But how much this
would really benefit Cubans outside the
top Communist Party leadership remains to
be seen.
Democratic dissidents here are divided
on the travel ban and the American trade
embargo. But there is unanimity that the
Cuban government does not deserve any sort
of reward now, just half a year after it
carried out the worst crackdown on the opposition
in decades - the arrest of 75 dissidents,
who were quickly given prison terms of up
to 28 years.
Of course, American lawmakers have the
right to defend the freedom of movement
for their citizens, and American farmers
understandably want to sell agricultural
products to whomever they wish. But the
assertion by lawmakers that they want to
lift the obstacles to travel and trade for
the good of average Cubans rings false.
"Unilateral sanctions stop not just
the flow of goods, but the flow of ideas,"
said Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming, a
sponsor of the bill. "Ideas of freedom
and democracy are the keys to positive change
in any nation." The problem is that
when it comes to Cuba, the flow of ideas,
not to mention people, is hardly free. Sharing
ideas can land you in jail, and one has
to ask the government for a permit to travel
abroad - and if you are a dissident, the
chances of getting one are almost zero.
My husband, Osvaldo Alfonso Valdes, has
always been denied travel because he has
headed the Democratic Liberal Party of Cuba.
In addition, freedom to trade with the
United States is a privilege reserved for
those who belong to the Communist Party
nomenklatura. Merely selling newspapers
in the streets or refilling cigarette lighters
without a permit can get you arrested and
fined.
My husband's party's platform calls for
freedom of movement and free markets. For
the next 18 years, however, my husband's
movement will be reduced to the two square
yards of his cell in the high-security prison
at Guanajay. He was one of the first of
the 75 dissidents detained in March, just
weeks after he had met with Senator Kent
Conrad of North Dakota and his family in
Havana to talk about the Liberal Party and
about the chances of freedom and democracy
in Cuba. The next day my husband met with
staff aides to six other senators, including
Mr. Enzi. Two other Cubans at these meetings
were also condemned: Oscar Espinosa Chepe,
an economist, to 20 years and Hector Palacios,
founder of the Democratic Solidarity Party,
to 25 years.
Senator Conrad is not the only American
politician to have shown an interest in
Cuba. In April, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa
came to promote agricultural products from
his state. Senator Max Baucus came in September
with farm leaders from Montana; Senator
Evan Bayh came last month to sign food accords
advancing the agricultural interests of
Indiana.
Of course, all these senators voted in
favor of easing the travel restrictions.
Could they not see the irony in that meeting
with Senator Conrad and with the Senate
staffers were central accusations against
many dissidents, because talking to American
officials can be considered an "act
against the security and the territorial
integrity of the state"?
I understand that now the Senate amendment
(and an identical House measure passed long
before) will probably be sent to President
Bush for his signature. Mr. Bush wants the
travel ban to stay, but if he vetoes the
bill he would go against the majority of
his own party. I can only hope that in their
deliberations, Mr. Bush, Congressional lawmakers
and the farmers they represent will consider
the "freedom of movement" I and
the other wives of Cuban political prisoners
will enjoy for years to come: traveling
every three months to spend just two hours
with our husbands.
Claudia Márquez Linares is vice
president of the Manuel Márquez Sterling
Society, a journalists' group. This article
was translated by the Times from Spanish.
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