Gorbachev's Washington Post column on Cuba

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(Excellent column by Mikhail Gorbachev in
today's edition of the Washington Post.
The Miami rightists are freaking out over
this column, and it's no wonder they are.

(Keep in mind the political diseducation on
Cuba which we've experienced in the US
for the past four decades, including by the
majority of those in establishment politics
who favor ending the "embargo". Most of
them frame their arguments in terms of
how changing US policy toward Cuba is
the best way to defeat and overthrow the
Cuban Revolution. Gorbachev doesn't
do that. This column by the last president
of the Soviet Union is one which should
be circulated widely. It can impact people
in the United States in ways that those of
us who support the Cuban Revolution are
not able to do. Gorbachev says:

("What's needed is a first step, and it is up
to the United States to take it. I urge
President Bush to tear down the wall of
the embargo now, in order to lay the
foundation for a new relationship with Cuba.
==================================

washingtonpost.com
The Last Wall
By Mikhail Gorbachev
Saturday, October 4, 2003; Page A19

The changes that have occurred in the world in the past 20
years are truly remarkable. We have left behind the Cold
War and the confrontation between two irreconcilable
ideological systems. The symbol of divided Europe -- the
Berlin Wall, which Ronald Reagan famously urged me to tear
down in 1987 -- has long since been destroyed. But one
relic of the Cold War remains: the wall of the economic
embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba 43 years ago.

The lack of relations between the U.S. and Cuban
governments, enshrined as it is in the U.S. policy of
economic and diplomatic isolation of Cuba, has not allowed
for an understanding that could benefit the citizens of
both nations. The burden of the isolation of Cuba has been
borne by ordinary people on both sides of the Florida
Straits: the divided Cuban family.

That this situation is abnormal and that the embargo is
counterproductive is increasingly recognized throughout the
world and in the United States. The high-profile visit of
Pope John Paul II symbolized the willingness of the world
to open to Cuba and of Cuba to open to the world. Former
President Jimmy Carter's trip to that country was a
courageous and responsible step.

Many other U.S. political leaders have spoken in favor of
normalizing relations. Yet the U.S. government prohibits
average Americans from even traveling to Cuba. While it
calls for human rights in Cuba, the United States prevents
its own citizens from sharing free enterprise, freedom of
movement and free thinking with the Cuban people.

The only way to get out of this time warp is to replace the
current policy with a policy of constructive engagement
similar to the one being pursued toward other so-called
Communist countries.

This view is shared not only by most members of the
international community, it has support among those most
affected by the current policy, namely the Cuban people and
Cuban Americans in the United States. They would also
benefit the most if the United States were to liberalize
its policies, starting with opening the door to travel to
Cuba.

Remember that expanding contacts and exchanges, agreed to
by President Reagan and me at our 1985 summit in Geneva,
did much to increase mutual understanding between our two
countries.

Many Cuban Americans who traditionally backed punitive
measures against Cuba are increasingly calling for dialogue
between the two nations. Polls show that most Cuban
Americans would like to take the first steps to heal the
wounds of the past 43 years. I think the leaders of both
states should recognize that true courage is demonstrated
by a willingness to engage in a difficult and honest
dialogue, to admit mistakes and to seek common ground for
the good of future generations.

An end to the embargo would complete the unfinished
business of the Cold War in the Western Hemisphere.
It is because of the Cold War that a country that saw an
anti-dictatorial revolution, which had nothing to do with
Communist ideology, became involved in the superpower
confrontation. Isolated and belonging ideologically to the
"socialist camp," its choice of the path of socioeconomic
development became all but inevitable. And during the
missile crisis Cuba nearly became the trigger for a nuclear
war.

Yet it would be unfair to reduce Cuba's entire
post-revolutionary history to that. The achievements of the
Cuban people in education, health, science and the arts
have been widely recognized. The Cubans withstood the
consequences of the withdrawal of Soviet economic
subsidies, and the country's economy has recently shown an
8 percent growth in gross domestic product. Cuba has
pursued a responsible foreign policy, as I can confirm
based on my own experience working with Fidel Castro to
defuse regional crises in Central America and Africa.

The time has come to develop a policy responsive to those
realities. Constructive engagement would not just make it
possible to normalize relations between two close
neighbors; it would also improve prospects for positive
evolution in Cuba's domestic situation and create a
different set of conditions for raising human rights
issues.

What's needed is a first step, and it is up to the United
States to take it. I urge President Bush to tear down the
wall of the embargo now, in order to lay the foundation for
a new relationship with Cuba.

The writer is former president of the Soviet Union.

C 2003 The Washington Post Company



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