Dear friends and colleagues,

Warm greetings for the New Year.

We are approaching the first anniversary of the Biden-Harris Administration. Given my liberal politics, on the whole I support what they have done and tried to do.

However, on Cuba they been a disgrace.

Instead of correcting the transgressions of Donald Trump, they made them worse. Prolonging Trump’s assault on engagement contributed unconscionably to the hardship of Cubans who depended on remittances from family members in the US, especially in the time of Covid. They also subverted hope in the private sector by saying nothing about restoration of general licenses for travel and exchanges.

Gratuitously they diminished US international prestige by echoing Trump's vote against the UN embargo resolution, despite claiming they put diplomacy first and give respect to the opinion of allies. Their only reliable supporter of our unilateral embargo is Israel that allows its own people to vacation and invest substantially in Cuba.

Samantha Power, as ambassador to the UN, praised Cuba’s medical programs, receiving rare applause when she announced the Obama Administration’s abstention on the embargo vote. Now the State Department is pure Trump in its condemnation of medical teams sent to help countries overcome Covid and uses that to justify Cuba’s indefensible inclusion in the annual report on human trafficking.

And Ms. Power presides over $20 million annually in allocation of phony democracy funding intended for regime change. She should listen to the perspective on Cuba of Ireland, her country of birth, that instinctually understands an historically oppressive powerful neighbor.

In the scheme of things, the latest insults are petty but symbolic. Trump allowed for sales of electric scooters to Cuban nationals and electric vehicle chargers to embassies.  Biden-Harris blocked a Maryland-Based Company from exporting scooters and chargers to Self-Employed And Micro, Small & Medium-Size Enterprises (MSMEs) In Cuba, as reported by John Kavulich.

The Administration began the new year with a fine of Airbnb by OFAC. The amount was a wrist slap but the justification was chillingly retrograde, “This action highlights the risks associated with entering new commercial markets, particularly one that has elevated sanctions risks such as Cuba, without fully anticipating the complexities of legally operating in a U.S.-sanctioned jurisdiction and fully implementing appropriate sanctions compliance controls”.

I understand but do not justify the overreaction by the Cuban government to largely spontaneous and predominantly peaceful protests of July 11, albeit with less violence than faced by demonstrators in Colombia or in some US cities in the summer of 2020. Nor do I agree with denial of permits for a legal demonstration on November 15 and absence of timely publication of arrests and disposition of cases. But as an American I feel greater responsibility for the role of the US government in creating the conditions of shortages and frustration that provoked protests and its self-righteous and inconsistent intervention in another country's internal politics.

1) More than 5,000 of us signed the engagement restoration petition during the past year, organized by zip codes from all over the country viewable here.

2) The eloquent words of President Pro-tem Patrick Leahy on the floor of the Senate. He has provided moral leadership and practical solutions for US relations not only with Cuba but also with Vietnam, addressing the scourge of Agent Orange and other half a century old war legacies.

3) The letter to the President from 114 members of the House, more than half of the Democratic caucus. Shamefully it included no agricultural state Republicans that profit from trade with Cuba. Representatives McGovern (head of the House Rules Committee), Lee, Rush and Meeks (head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee) made it happen.

We should do everything we can to thank the Representatives who signed the letter and pressure those who did not, as well as to convince our Senators that they should publicly endorse or replicate Leahy’s speech. 

1) Everyone reading this newsletter who can travel should use the Support for the Cuban People General License to visit Cuba with family and friends in the next three months. Voting with our feet sends a message to the White House, Congress and our own communities. It provides desperately needed hard currency income to Cuba, and substantially helps old and new friends. Going also offers an opportunity to see first hand what has changed and what hasn’t as a result of the July 11 protests and new government policies favoring private and coop micro, small and medium enterprises (oddly so far not including architects and travel agents).

Some specialized tour operators are already organizing trips (When they send me information, I will post it here). Alternatively you can create an itinerary on your own or with the help of an independent local guide (see their links here).  However, if you are inclined to follow rules, no matter how dumb they are, don’t plan on staying in a hotel. Trump forbad that and Biden hasn’t relented. The hotels don't care where you are from, but you can't use a US credit card unless done on-line with a foreign travel agency or management company.

2) We need to challenge stupidity at high levels. President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan and their spokespersons have voiced opinions that are Bush and Trump recycled and threaten US national interests. The head of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the National Security Council, Juan Gonzalez, is as negative as his predecessors Dan Restrepo in the first Obama Administration and Mauricio Claver-Carone during Trump. Although never voiced publicly, the State Department contains more realistic perspectives but policy direction comes from the White House.

A common defense of the Biden Administration is that they are afraid of Senator Bob Menendez in the face of a 50-50 Senate and his power as head of the Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez was born in the US and has never set foot in Cuba. He could have replicated Senator John McCain’s counter-intuitive role in normalization with Vietnam, but instead he models himself on Senator Marco Rubio, whose Florida donor base he shares. Reportedly Menendez plans to run his son for his former seat in the House. He fulminates against the Castro family as behind the scenes dynastic rulers of Cuba, but voters in New Jersey might dispute his own dynastic tendencies.

3) We must link humanitarian concern for harsh sentences of hundreds of July 11 protestors and for abandonment of Obama’s engagement policy. With no illusion of success, I appealed to Presidents Biden and Diaz-Canel to do so in the spirit of Christmas and the New Year (text here).

Cuba’s government believes the protestors were as much instruments of US aggression as the combatants who invaded Playa Giron (the Bay of Pigs) in 1961.  Even if the US disputes causation, it should take advantage of that view point and historical precedents to negotiate release, just as Spain and the Catholic Church did in 2011 for the 75 victims of the Black Spring.

4) US leaders should be pressed to come to terms with the embarrassing failure of nationwide protests on November 15 as I reported here. That failure obligates a new more realistic policy. Whether because of effective repression and social countermeasures by the government or political misjudgment by the organizers, serious US leaders have to conclude that Cuba is not a failed state on the verge of collapse. Instead they will recognize that going for broke has deprived us of any way to compete effectively with Russian and Chinese ambitions.  

Deep running aspirations for change in Cuba's population coexist with strong nationalism. A more sophisticated less interventionist strategy will be most productive for long term US interests. Democracy funds for example would be far better spent on transparent mutually managed mutually beneficial educational, cultural, professional and business exchanges.

Currents of democracy

La Joven Cuba is an online collaboration that offers a socialist critique of the government and of the Communist Party. They were very critical of the government's reaction to July 11 and sympathetic to the Archipielago protest call.  They usually focus attention on their own country but have published a strongly critical editorial on “Biden’s Broken Promises”.

Rafael Hernandez, the editor of the social science journal Temas, is one of Cuba’s most internationally respected intellectuals. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Columbia Universities and lectured in China and Japan. In a three part series for On Cuba published in Miami, he wrote

Can the new opposition put aside exile dreams of counter-revolution and adopt a voice that positively impacts US policy? Would its public support for restoring Obama's opening and ending the embargo generate enough domestic credibility to influence internal reform?

This is not a new problem. It didn't begin in 1959 with the Cuban revolution, or in1898 with the Cuban-Spanish-American War. As University of North Carolina scholar Louis Perez wrote in "Cuba as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder", the problem goes back to the earliest stage of US history and is deeply engrained in the two countries identities and culture.

My fundamental questions for 2022 are whether the Biden White House has the vision and bandwidth to meet the challenge and whether Cuban leaders of all political dispensations have the self-confidence to take advantage of opportunities.

-- John McAuliff jmcauliff@ffrd.org

Their original high energy mix of Cuban popular and classical culture can be seen by clicking here

Their Havana premier in 2017 of the opera Hatuey based on a Yiddish epic poem is now on youtube.

Interviews with Ulises Aquino and friends of the company celebrating its 15th anniversary are here

Flights: Not quite back to normal but moving in that direction. Prices are also coming down by American, Delta, Jet Blue, Southwest and United. Check alternatives via Canada, Mexico, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Panama. Icelandic has just applied for authorization of new discount charter flights from Florida to Havana.

Covid: Based on its own vaccines, Cuba has the second highest vaccination rate worldwide (uniquely from age 2). Current requirements for entry are proof of vaccination and a PCR test. To reenter the US a quick test is necessary, available in Havana and at the airport. Tests can be brought to groups in hotels. (Health protocols are constantly changing so check for the latest updates.)

Licenses: For most Americans without family in Cuba, the only legal route is Support for the Cuban People (instructions here). Use of private housing is preferred. In any case, all hotels are now off-limits by Trump/Biden policy. Cruises are returning if they don't depart from the US.

Money: All normal payments are in Cuban pesos (CUP). Currently US dollars cannot be exchanged or used legally. Euros are required for purchases of rum and cigars and other goods in hard currency stores, often with long lines. The unofficial CUP/dollar exchange is three times the 24:1 legal rate.

WARNING: No one can legally carry out of Cuba more than 2,000 CUP. Aduanas (customs) will seize excess, guarantee to return if claimed within thirty days, but not deliver as promised.

Group trips: Specialized tour operators are organizing and travel advisors are assisting Support for the Cuban People itineraries. We invite them to be listed here so you can find their services.

Independent travel: With a guide book like Christopher Baker's (now published by National Geographic), visitors can create their own itinerary. Deepen and facilitate the experience with a personal local guide, some of whom are listed here. (Guides are also available to collaborate with travel advisors.)

Trump/Biden Restrictions on travel are here

 https://www.camafs.org/

"With the withdrawal of half of the US diplomats back home from Cuba, Cuban American families had seen the implementation of barriers to avoid legal immigration to the USA, creating a backlog of more than 100,000 visas ... it is an embarrassment that this administration is still using the same excuses that the previous administration used to stop the legal immigration of Cubans."

For posts about July 11, November 15 and thereafter and other useful background, scan our blog here

"Perspectives from Cuba of November 15 Protests and Consequences" webinar video with Ed Agustin, Rafael Hernandez, William LeoGrande, Rita McNiff and John McAuliff

"The War on Cuba - Season Two" with Liz Oliva Fernández, Belly of the Beast well produced short videos; #5 and #6 address July 11, including interviews with Robert Muse and Fulton Armstrong

"Airbnb, a flagship of US engagement with Cuba, fined for ‘apparent’ embargo violations" by Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald

"The Only Tourist in Havana, December 2021" by Karen Dubinsky, a Canadian perspective

"Cuba soars to near top of COVID vaccination charts on decades-old bet" Reuters

"As Cuba Reopens To The World, Many Of Its Own Look To Leave" CNN/CBS Miami

"Tourist guides, updating a claim" for legal status as self-employed by Arturo Mesa, La Joven Cuba

"Over 100 Democrats urge Biden to engage with Cuba, lift restrictions" by Carmen Sesin, NBC

"After historic protests, Biden 'hit the pause button' on Cuba policy, senior official says" by Carmen Sesin, NBC An example of the negative role of the NSC's Juan Gonzalez. He doesn't give his excuse for inaction pre July 11.

"A resolution on solidarity with Cuban protesters divides Democrats" by Carmen Sesin, NBC

"Ramped Up US Sanctions Sending Cuba Closer to Russia & China, Moscow’s Trade Rep Says" Sputnik International

"China to expand cooperation with Cuba further" MINREX statement

"Can Latin America and the Caribbean Trust China as a Business Partner?" by Leland Lazarus & Evan Ellis in The Diplomat

"Does the Cuban Military Really Control Sixty Percent of the Economy?" Anatomy of a Fake Fact by William LeoGrande written in 2017 for The Huffington Post but still salient

"Thieves are Driving Us Crazy!" by Osmel Ramirez Alvarez Havana Times The political overlay of this article is debatable, but the problem of petty theft between Cubans is not.

"Cuba’s most beautiful national parks" by Diana Rita Cabrera - Lonely Planet

by Delvis Toledo De la Cruz 5 de Septiembre Digital Diary A Cienfuegos historical project

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of Mexico

“I think that Cuba should not be isolated, politically speaking. You cannot suffocate the Cubans who have decided to stay in Cuba. I am against the blockade, I think it is inhumane, no one has the right to have a people lead a people to rebel against their government through these practices.”

National Palace, Mexico City, Mexico 15 November 2021

"I told him that the topic of our conversation had been the embargo, because all of us who attended the meeting are against it and we explained to Mr. Timothy Zúñiga-Brown [head of the US Embassy] what we believe about the sanctions, which affect the Cuban family, the entrepreneurs and the people in general....The conversation revolved around the problems caused by the embargo. When they asked me if I had any particular request, I said that it would be interesting to be able to go to the United States Congress to talk about those sanctions that directly affect the Cuban family.

---From an interview of Yunior Garcia of Archipíelago by La Joven Cuba

"[Yunior] García Aguilera has also rejected the US embargo, which he believes acts as an ally of the regime by providing it excuses, and has vindicated the use of dialogue with all political forces if the time comes." 14ymedio

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The lawyer Fernando Almeyda resigned this Friday as one the coordinators of the Archipiélago group. “Assuming this role implies a responsibility, which in the face of the latest events and decisions of the group I cannot assume,” he explained in a post published on his Facebook profile, in which he also claimed: “The political nuance of the platform and its coordinators, although I am sure that they benefit the Cuban cause, it is moving away from my ideas, my way of thinking and my political position.” ...

Asked by 14ymedio what he meant by “the political nuance of the platform,” Almeyda gave as an example “all the interviews that Yunior [García Aguilera] has given, whom I admire and respect, but whose dialectic as a leader I disagree with,” as well as that “on behalf of the Archipíelago, positions, ideas and alliances have been proposed that have not been brought to consensus” and that “many of the things that have been decided by the majority are not followed, due to minority dissent, or it doesn’t represent the consensus by the veto of one or two people “. ...

professor Leonardo Fernández Otaño, also a moderator of the platform , had publicly announced his departure from Archipielago , and confessed, like Almeyda, to not sharing “a group of political actions carried out by Yunior García Aguilera since his departure from Cuba.” 14ymedio

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"The art historian Carolina Barrero, a member of the group 27N – as is Yunior García Aguilera ­ was forceful on her social networks. 'What has happened is one of the most irresponsible acts in the history of rebellion in Cuba before and after ’59,' she wrote, without mentioning the name of the playwright at any time.

'It has been said that it is human to be weak, that it is human to break, and yes, one also has the right to be a coward. But if you are, you do not put the trust and responsibility on yourself to sustain the desire for freedom of a whole country, if you cannot hold your pulse, if you abandon yourself at the precise moment you have to be,' Barrero said, and added: 'It was not difficult to wait fifteen days to leave or do it fifteen days before. Because from the human point of view I also say that the image in which a visa is collected on the same day and in the same place where it is called to march is incomprehensible.'" 14ymedio

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"the current model has no future. Even if they manage to prolong its life artificially, it is doomed....Will this be the first day of the last year of Castroism? Many wonder in the streets and houses of this Island. It is possible, but right now we cannot know." 14ymedio unsigned editorial

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Provide the opposition military training and weapons. The end of the Cuban regime will most likely come as a result of a violent opposition emboldened by military aid from the Unites States and other allies. Peaceful protests only will work temporarily. Cuba is not India, and the Cuban regime is not Britain. Cubans are not a Hindu population willing to sacrifice for long years to achieve an uncertain result.

--Jaime Suchliki, Cuban Studies Institute