DOCSLIB.ORG

Júlio De Mesquita Filho” Universidade Estadual De Campinas Pontifícia Universidade Católica De São Paulo

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Júlio De Mesquita Filho” Universidade Estadual De Campinas Pontifícia Universidade Católica De São Paulo 0 UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA “JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO” UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE CAMPINAS PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DE SÃO PAULO PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM RELAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS SAN TIAGO DANTAS – UNESP, UNICAMP E PUC-SP ALFREDO JUAN GUEVARA MARTINEZ The Dynamic of The United States Decision-Making Process of Foreign Policy to Cuba: An Analysis of the Normalization of 2014 São Paulo 2019 1 ALFREDO JUAN GUEVARA MARTINEZ The Dynamic of The United States Decision-Making Process of Foreign Policy to Cuba: An Analysis of the Normalization of 2014 Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós- graduação em Relações Internacionais San Tiago Dantas da Universidade Esta- dual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (Unesp), da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) e da Pontifícia Uni- versidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC- SP), como exigência para obtenção do tí- tulo de Doutor em Relações Internacio- nais, na área de concentração “Institui- ções, Processos E Atores”, na linha de pesquisa “Relações Exteriores dos Esta- dos Unidos”. Orientador: Luis Fernando Ayerbe. Co-orientador: Harry Edwin Vanden São Paulo 2019 1 2 ALFREDO JUAN GUEVARA MARTINEZ The Dynamic of The United States Decision-Making Process of Foreign Policy to Cuba: An Analysis of the Normalization of 2014 Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós- graduação em Relações Internacionais San Tiago Dantas da Universidade Esta- dual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (Unesp), da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) e da Pontifícia Uni- versidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC- SP), como exigência para obtenção do tí- tulo de Doutor em Relações Internacio- nais, na área de concentração “Institui- ções, Processos E Atores”, na linha de pesquisa “Relações Exteriores dos Esta- dos Unidos”. Orientador: Luis Fernando Ayerbe. Co-orientador: Harry Edwin Vanden BANCA EXAMINADORA ______________________________________________ Profª. Dra. Cristina Soreanu Pecequilo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo) ______________________________________________ Prof.Dr. Samuel Alves Soares (Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho") ______________________________________________ Profª. Drª. Luiza Rodrigues Mateo (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo) ______________________________________________ Prof. Dr. Roberto Moll (Universidade Federal Fluminense) São Paulo, 23 de agosto de 2019. 3 AGRADECIMENTOS O presente trabalho foi realizado com apoio da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Código de Financiamento 001 e Programa de Doutorado Sanduíche no Exterior (PDSE) nº 88881.133175/2016-01. Agradeço imensamente: Aos meus orientadores, o Prof. Dr. Luis Fernando Ayerbe pela orientação, pelas portas abertas e pela confiança. Seu direcionamento foi fundamental para o desenvolvimento deste estudo; e o Prof. Dr. Harry E. Vanden pela orientação, paciência, acolhimento e ajuda durante essa jornada tanto no âmbito profissional como no âmbito pessoal. À Profª Dra. Cristina Soreanu Pecequilo, o Prof.Dr. Samuel Alves Soares, o Prof. Dr. Roberto Moll e a Profª. Dra. Luiza Rodrigues Mateo por terem prontamente aceitado participar da banca de defesa deste trabalho e pela dedicação para a avaliação do fruto de mais de quatro anos de trabalho e pesquisa. A todos meus colegas de Doutorado, pelo companheirismo, ajuda e compreensão. Em especial Tamires, Elze, Karina, Laís, Matheus, Arthur, Fabrício e Rodrigo, conhecer vocês foi tão marcante quanto o próprio doutorado. Ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Relações Internacionais San Tiago Dantas, a todo seu corpo docente, em especial à Profª Dra. Suzeley pelo apoio e incentivo incondicional e ao Prof. Dr. Hector por ter me inspirado e alimentado minha paixão pela ciência e filosofia desde a primeira aula. À Isabela, à Giovana e à Graziela por todo o apoio e atenção prestados durante todo o doutorado. A todos os colegas presentes no período de confecção desta pesquisa no exterior, especialmente Shárun e Ana Lucía, pelo companheirismo diário e por terem aberto minha mente para novos horizontes À minha família que é a origem e razão deste trabalho e que graças ao doutorado triplicou de tamanho através da minha esposa, a Carolina, presente desde o primeiro dia desta jornada e em todas as que estão por vir. 4 RESUMO O anúncio da normalização de relações com Cuba feito pelo Presidente Obama quebrou o caráter de austeridade que a política externa dos Estados Unidos tinha desde a Revolução cubana de 1959. Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar as dinâmicas que influenciam o processo decisório da política externa dos Estados Unidos observando o fenômeno da normalização de relações diplomáticas com Cuba iniciado pelo presidente Barack Obama em 17 de dezembro de 2014. Por mais de cinquenta anos Cuba e Estados Unidos se mantiveram sem relações diplomáticas oficiais devido ao antagonismo dos Estados Unidos frente o caráter do regime de governo da Revolução cubana. Ao longo das décadas a tradição de políticas austeras para a Ilha foi construída, abrangendo diversos setores e instituições do governo dos Estados Unidos e se enraizando em interesses políticos. Mesmo com o fim da Guerra Fria as práticas de antagonismo com Cuba foram mantidas e o embargo econômico à Ilha, iniciado durante o conflito bipolar, foi intensificado e transformado em Lei. A manutenção de práticas de enfretamento originadas de um contexto já ultrapassado leva ao questionamento acerca de quais são os elementos que justificam a continuidade de uma política externa para Cuba que pode ser considerada anacrônica. Assim, este estudo se propõe a compreender a complexidade do processo decisório que levou à quebra dessa tradição e a iniciativa de normalizar as relações entre Estados Unidos e Cuba. Utilizando o caso da normalização, apresentamos uma discussão conceitual acerca do mapeamento de processos decisórios e a aplicação da mesma na análise das decisões que levaram ao anúncio de Obama em dezembro de 2014. Palavras-chave: Cuba. Estados Unidos. Normalização. Processo Decisório. 5 ABSTRACT The announcement of normalization of relations with Cuba made by President Obama broke with the austerity aspect that the United States Cuban Foreign Policy had since the Cuba Revolution of 1959. This study aims to analyze the dynamics that influence the United States foreign policy decision making process, observing the normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba initiated by Barack Obama on December 17 of 2014. For more than fifty years Cuba and the United States remained without official diplomatic relations due the United States antagonism to the government regime originated from the Cuban Revolution. Through the decades a tradition of austere policies to the Island was built, including several sectors and institutions of the United States government rooting political interests in it. Even with the end of the Cold Wars, the antagonist practices to Cuba were kept and the economic embargo to the Island that was initiated during the bipolar conflict was intensified and turned into law. The maintenance of those practices originated from an outdated context leads to questioning which are the elements that justify the continuity of a foreign policy to Cuba that can be considered anachronical. Thus, this study seeks to understand the complexity of the decision-making process that led to the break in such tradition and to the initiative of normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba. Using the normalization case, we present a conceptual discussion about mapping decision-making processes and the application of that discussion in the analyzes of the decisions that lead to Obama’s announcement at December of 2014. Keywords: Cuba. United States. Normalization. Decision-Making Process. 6 CHART LIST Chart 1- Actors, Capacities Constraints, Games and Influence................................. 43 Chart 2 - 2008 Poll .................................................................................................... 81 Chart 3 - Obama Campaign Promises Status ......................................................... 122 7 FIGURE LIST Figure 1 - Two-Level Nested Games Preliminary Schematics for the U.S.–Cuba normalization context ................................................................................................ 45 Figure 2 - Cuba Relations Game ............................................................................ 127 8 GRAPH LIST Graph 1 – Overview of Poll Results by Year of Immigration ...................................... 82 Graph 2 - Shifting Attitudes on the U.S. Embargo on Cuba, 1997-2008 ................... 83 9 LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ALBA Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra America CANF Cuban American National Foundation CARICOM Caribbean Community CELAC Comunidad de Estados Latino-Americanos y Caribeños CIA Central Intelligence Agency D17 December 17 of 2014 (The normalization announcement) FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation NSC National Security Council. OAS Organization of American States OFAC Office Of Foreign Assets Control U.N. United Nations U.S. United States of America UNASUR Union de Naciones Sudamericanas USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 10 SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 12 2 THEORETICAL APPROACH AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REVISION ............. 17 2.1 Focus on Decision......................................................................................... 19 1.1.1 What influences decisions ..............................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • U.S. Senators Meet with Alan Gross
    U.S. Senators Meet with Alan Gross Havana, November 13 (RHC) –- Two U.S. Senators met on Tuesday morning with Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor held in Cuba for five years on charges of subversive actions against the government in Havana. According to CBS News, Senator Jeff Flake and Tom Udall met with Gross for two hours. They said the meeting was just one reason for their visit and they declined to mention what they had talked about. The senators said they have no information on Gross’ possible release. He has been held in a Cuban prison for five years already and still has ten years remaining on his sentence. In 2009, Gross went to Cuba posing as a tourist. But that was a front for fulfilling a $600,000 contract to smuggle communications equipment into the island. The plan was to set up Internet hot spots as part of a U.S. government-funded program. Cuba has offered to exchange him for the three members of the Cuban Five that remain imprisoned in the U.S., but so far, Washington has shown no interest in the deal. The possibility of a swap deal was also mentioned by a recent editorial in The New York Times, while other individuals have stressed the positiveness of such a move. Among them is Judy Gross, wife of Alan Gross, who said she is heartened by the U.S. government’s exchange of Taliban prisoners for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl not so long ago. She said: “My thought is if they can do that, if they can follow through with something that complicated, surely they can figure out something they can do to get Alan home.” https://www.radiohc.cu/index.php/en/noticias/nacionales/39138-us-senators-meet-with-alan-gross Radio Habana Cuba.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuba Releases Pro-Life Activist, but Sentences U.S. Contractor to Prison
    Cuba releases pro-life activist, but sentences U.S. contractor to prison WASHINGTON – Cuba released a renowned pro-life activist and political dissident, but sent mixed signals the next day when courts sentenced an American contractor to 15 years in prison for taking telecommunications equipment into the country. Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, 49, an activist first jailed in 1999 for denouncing Fidel Castro’s abortion policies, was released from prison March 11, as announced by the Archdiocese of Havana, which has negotiated the release of 52 political prisoners since last summer. He was also among a group of 75 activists jailed in anti- government protests in 2003. Upon his release, he told EFE, the Spanish news agency, that he intends to stay in Cuba. “I’ve always lived in Cuba and I am of Cuba,” he said. “I haven’t ever harmed anybody, just given love, much love, and because of that I was harmed by the government.” In a teleconference from Havana March 14, Biscet signaled his intention to remain critical of the government, calling the Castro regime a “total dictatorship” that fears informed citizens. He called on fellow Cubans to “act moderately, impartially, and with firmness in the defense of our principles without falling into sectarian extremism, but always intransigent in regards to liberty, justice, and democracy for Cuba.” Political analyst and blogger Alberto de la Cruz told Catholic News Service, “Oscar Biscet is Cuba’s Nelson Mandela. He has the charisma to lead a democracy movement.” De la Cruz, who helped organize the teleconference, described Biscet as “exhausted but in good spirits.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuba: US Policy and Issues for the 113Th Congress
    Cuba: U.S. Policy and Issues for the 113th Congress -name redacted- Specialist in Latin American Affairs December 29, 2014 Congressional Research Service 7-.... www.crs.gov R43024 Cuba: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress Summary Cuba remains a one-party communist state with a poor record on human rights. The country’s political succession in 2006 from the long-ruling Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl was characterized by a remarkable degree of stability. In February 2013, Castro was reappointed to a second five-year term as President (until 2018, when he would be 86 years old), and selected 52- year old former Education Minister Miguel Díaz-Canel as his First Vice President, making him the official successor in the event that Castro cannot serve out his term. Raúl Castro has implemented a number of gradual economic policy changes over the past several years, including an expansion of self-employment. A party congress held in April 2011 laid out numerous economic goals that, if implemented, could significantly alter Cuba’s state-dominated economic model. Few observers, however, expect the government to ease its tight control over the political system. While the government reduced the number of political prisoners in 2010-2011, the number increased in 2012; moreover, short-term detentions and harassment have increased significantly over the past several years. U.S. Policy Congress has played an active role in shaping policy toward Cuba, including the enactment of legislation strengthening and at times easing various U.S. economic sanctions. While U.S. policy has consisted largely of isolating Cuba through economic sanctions, a second policy component has consisted of support measures for the Cuban people, including U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Case 1:12-Cv-01860-JEB Document 10-16 Filed 01/15/13 Page 1 of 42
    Case 1:12-cv-01860-JEB Document 10-16 Filed 01/15/13 Page 1 of 42 POPULAR PROVINCIAL COURT HAVANA • HEARING ROOM ON CRIMES AGAINST THE SECURITY OF THE STATE JUDGMENT NUMBER TWO OF TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN (2-2011) PRESIDING: In Havana, on March eleven, two ARMANDO TORRES AGUIRRE thousand eleven.-------------------------------------- JUDGES: Hearing on oral and public proceedings ELIZABETH RUIZ PEREZ before the Court on Crimes Against the Security ANGEL GARCIA LEYVA GIL AMADO PAYNE HERNANDEZ of the State of the Popular Provincial Court of PELAGIO CORTINA LESCALLES Havana, Case Number ONE OF TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN, filed on for a crime of ACTS AGAINST THE INDEPENDENCE OR TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF THE STATE, against defendant ALAN PHILLIP • GROSS, a citizen of the United States, native of New York, United States of America, passport number two, zero, eight, zero, two, one, two, four, nine, son of Fred and Evelyn, sixty-one years of age, married, college educated, graduate of a bachelor's degree in Sociological and Health Sciences, Executive Director and Principal Partner of "Joint Business Development Center, Limited Liability," known by its English acronym as JBDC, LLC, with legal domicile at fifty- five hundred thirty, Wisconsin A venue, Suite eleven hundred fifteen, Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States of America, and legal residence at United States of America, held under the -cautionary measure of PROVISIONAL IMPRISONMENT for this Case and defended by appointed counselor Master of Science Armanda Nuris Pifiero Sierra. --------------------------------- Acting as Prosecutor is Specialist Humberto Gonzalez Figueroa.------------------------------ CERTIFIED to be a true and correct translation from its original, to the best of my knowledge and ability.¥ MARY JO SMITH-PARES, ~ CERTIFIED INTERPRETER, • ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES COURTS.
    [Show full text]
  • 18680 Hon. Henry C. ''Hank'' Johnson, Jr. Hon. Theodore
    18680 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 157, Pt. 13 December 1, 2011 The Cuban government must act now and pendence’’ of Cuba. Mr. Gross, a non-Spanish The theme for World AIDS Day 2011 is release Alan Gross immediately and uncondi- speaking man in his 60’s who has worked on ‘‘Getting to Zero.’’ After 30 years of the global tionally—for the sake of the relationship be- development projects in over 50 countries, fight against HIV/AIDS, this year the focus is tween the United States and Cuban people certainly was not trained or equipped to en- on achieving 3 targets: Zero new HIV infec- and for the sake of the health of Alan Gross gage in subterfuge. tions. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related and his family. Alan Gross has been sentenced to 15 years deaths. f in jail. This preposterous sentence has caused The goal of ‘‘Zero AIDS Related Deaths’’ tremendous emotional pain and financial hard- signifies an increased access to available HONORING SUPERIOR CHEVROLET ship for his family, and devastated the Jewish treatments for all those infected. Currently, community. Alan’s daughter is currently under- only one third of the 15 million people living HON. HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR. going treatment for cancer, and his 89-year- with HIV worldwide who are in need of lifelong OF GEORGIA old mother is in poor health and fears she will treatment are receiving it. Universal access to IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES never see her son again. Alan’s wife, Judy, antiretroviral treatments for those living with has been caring for her ill daughter and moth- HIV will not only decrease the number of AIDS Thursday, December 1, 2011 er-in-law while working full time to support her related deaths, but will increase the quality of Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Extensions of Remarks E2155 HON. JOHN W. OLVER
    December 1, 2011 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E2155 Thanks to The Dwelling Place, Ms. McQuain I commend the Care Center on these efforts day to honor and recognize Mr. Royal for an was able to provide her son with a happy and and am confident that this national recognition exemplary life which is an inspiration to all, stable life. Although their lives were brutally can be a catalyst that allows it to help hun- Now therefore, I, HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHN- cut short, their resilience and ability to over- dreds more in years to come. SON, Jr. do hereby proclaim November 20, come hardship will never be forgotten, and f 2011 as Mr. Tony Royal Day in the 4th Con- they will continue to inspire the many families gressional District of Georgia. that face similar challenges. ALAN GROSS Proclaimed, this 20th day of November, My congressional district is fortunate to 2011. have The Dwelling Place providing support to HON. JAMES A. HIMES f our community, so that families in crisis can OF CONNECTICUT HONORING JOHNNY CHANDLER establish new lives without fear and with the IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES potential and support for a bright future. Thursday, December 1, 2011 I ask my colleagues to join me in remem- HON. JEFF DENHAM bering Jane and William McQuain and in sa- Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, for the last two OF CALIFORNIA luting the mission of The Dwelling Place and years, Alan Gross, a 62-year old international IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES development specialist and social worker, has its dedication to assisting the homeless.
    [Show full text]
  • Cubanews.Com
    Vol. 18, No. 3 March 2010 www.cubanews.com In the News One year later, Obama’s Cuba initiatives Facebook for everyone yield mixed results; nothing new likely Obama loosens regs on instant messag- BY ANA RADELAT But Havana has had a real problem with ing, Web technology to Cuba .......Page 4 t’s been nearly a year since President Obama Obama’s effort to bring Cuba’s citizens into the turned his attention toward Cuba with a ser- information age. And the president’s much- ies of modest initiatives, but they have failed hyped effort to ease restrictions on U.S. tele- Going backwards? I communications firms hoping to do business in to thaw relations with Havana. And new policy Analyst argues U.S. policy is taking steps Cuba has also failed to interest that industry. changes from the Obama administration aren’t in the wrong direction ..................Page 6 In September, the White House issued a new expected anytime soon. general license that allowed representatives of State Department spokeswoman Gini Staab U.S. telecom companies to visit Cuba to negoti- Sweet dreams told CubaNews in late February “there are no ate deals. But Obama’s initiative largely restricts 2010 sugar harvest unlikely to reach re- other initiatives in the works that I know of.” those entities to making deals with non-Cuban One year ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clin- gime’s goal of 1.4 million tons .....Page 7 companies. It also leaves in place a regulation ton promised a review of Cuba. But that propos- that bans U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Obama Administration and the Next Congress
    Latin America Policy in the Next Two Years: The Obama Administration and the Next Congress March 7, 2011 William M. LeoGrande President Barack Obama came to office with a real opportunity to repair Washington’s tattered relationship with Latin America. He began with the advantage of not being George W. Bush, who was the least popular U.S. president in decades among Latin Americans. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, President Bush largely ignored Latin America, except for a handful of issues, including the war on drugs, a shouting match with Hugo Chávez, and renewed efforts to subvert Fidel Castro’s government in Cuba. None of these issues were priorities for Latin American leaders. Moreover, the unilateralism of Bush’s foreign policy reminded Latin America of the bad old days of Washington’s intervention in the Hemisphere. The invasion of Iraq was especially unpopular. President Obama, in contrast, promised a new partnership with Latin America based on equality and multilateralism. He declared that fifty years of U.S. policy toward Cuba had failed, and that it was time to try a policy of engagement rather than hostility and isolation. He acknowledged that the United States shared responsibility for narcotics trafficking because demand from U.S. consumers was driving supply production in Latin America. Of special concern to Mexico and Central America, he promised immigration reform, providing a path to citizenship for tens of thousands of undocumented Latino immigrants. President Obama’s first encounter with Latin America came early, at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in April 2009. He repeated the themes from his campaign, which were well- received, but he added little in terms of policy details.
    [Show full text]
  • Issues for the 114Th Congress
    Cuba: Issues for the 114th Congress Mark P. Sullivan Specialist in Latin American Affairs April 17, 2015 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R43926 Cuba: Issues for the 114th Congress Summary Cuba remains a one-party communist state with a poor record on human rights. The country’s political succession in 2006 from the long-ruling Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl was characterized by a remarkable degree of stability. In 2013, Raúl began his second and final five- year term, which is scheduled to end in February 2018, when he would be 86 years old. Castro has implemented a number of market-oriented economic policy changes over the past several years. A 2011 party congress laid out numerous economic goals that, if implemented, could significantly alter Cuba’s state-dominated economic model. Few observers, however, expect the government to ease its tight control over the political system. While the government has released most long-term political prisoners, short-term detentions and harassment have increased significantly over the past several years, reflecting a change of tactics in repressing dissent. U.S. Policy Congress has played an active role in shaping policy toward Cuba, including the enactment of legislation strengthening and at times easing various U.S. economic sanctions. U.S. policy over the years has consisted largely of isolating Cuba through economic sanctions, while a second policy component has consisted of support measures for the Cuban people, including U.S. government-sponsored broadcasting and support for human rights and democracy projects. For most of the Obama Administration’s first six years, it continued this similar dual-track approach of isolating Cuba but reaching out the Cuban people.
    [Show full text]
  • Statement by the President on Cuba Policy Changes, December 17, 2014
    Statement by the President on Cuba Policy Changes, December 17, 2014 PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon. Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba. In the most significant changes in our policy in more than fifty years, we will end an outdated approach that, for decades, has failed to advance our interests, and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries. Through these changes, we intend to create more opportunities for the American and Cuban people, and begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas. There’s a complicated history between the United States and Cuba. I was born in 1961 –- just over two years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, and just a few months after the Bay of Pigs invasion, which tried to overthrow his regime. Over the next several decades, the relationship between our countries played out against the backdrop of the Cold War, and America’s steadfast opposition to communism. We are separated by just over 90 miles. But year after year, an ideological and economic barrier hardened between our two countries. Meanwhile, the Cuban exile community in the United States made enormous contributions to our country –- in politics and business, culture and sports. Like immigrants before, Cubans helped remake America, even as they felt a painful yearning for the land and families they left behind. All of this bound America and Cuba in a unique relationship, at once family and foe. Proudly, the United States has supported democracy and human rights in Cuba through these five decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuba: U.S. Policy and Issues for the 113Th Congress
    Cuba: U.S. Policy and Issues for the 113th Congress Mark P. Sullivan Specialist in Latin American Affairs July 31, 2014 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R43024 Cuba: U.S. Policy and Issues for the 113th Congress Summary Cuba remains a one-party communist state with a poor record on human rights. The country’s political succession in 2006 from the long-ruling Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl was characterized by a remarkable degree of stability. In February 2013, Castro was reappointed to a second five-year term as President (until 2018, when he would be 86 years old), and selected 52- year old former Education Minister Miguel Díaz-Canel as his First Vice President, making him the official successor in the event that Castro cannot serve out his term. Raúl Castro has implemented a number of gradual economic policy changes over the past several years, including an expansion of self-employment. A party congress held in April 2011 laid out numerous economic goals that, if implemented, could significantly alter Cuba’s state-dominated economic model. Few observers, however, expect the government to ease its tight control over the political system. While the government reduced the number of political prisoners in 2010-2011, the number increased in 2012; moreover, short-term detentions and harassment have increased significantly over the past several years. U.S. Policy Congress has played an active role in shaping policy toward Cuba, including the enactment of legislation strengthening and at times easing various U.S. economic sanctions. While U.S. policy has consisted largely of isolating Cuba through economic sanctions, a second policy component has consisted of support measures for the Cuban people, including U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • LAA130627:Latin America Advisor.Qxd
    www.thedialogue.org Thursday, June 27, 2013 FEATURED Q&A BOARD OF ADVISORS Are Chances Improving for Better Business Ties With Cuba? Diego Arria James R. Jones Director, Co-chair, U.S. and Cuban diplomats plan to all, and both parties appear to have con- Columbus Group Manatt Jones resume bilateral talks on migra- cluded that three more years of non-dia- Global Strategies LLC tion issues during a meeting in logue is unacceptable, notwithstanding Mr. Genaro Arriagada Washington on July 17. News of Gross. This is welcome news. But real Nonresident Senior Craig A. Kelly Q the migration talks came after the two progress will require political will at the Fellow, Director, Americas Inter-American International Gov't countries held a round of discussions on White House, of which there is little evi- Dialogue Relations resuming direct mail service. How much dence. Since 2009, Cuba has released polit- Joyce Chang Exxon Mobil progress are the old Cold War foes making ical prisoners; granted its citizens greater on rapprochement? Can any significant freedom of movement; liberalized rules on Global Head of John Maisto Emerging Markets Director, thaw happen while Alan Gross and four car and home sales; allowed greater private Research, JPMorgan U.S. Education Finance members of the "Cuban Five" remain in economic activity; and announced term Chase & Co. Group prison? What is at stake for businesses in limits on political offices, including the W. Bowman Cutter Nicolás Mariscal the United States and elsewhere? presidency—all steps consistent with U.S. Former Partner, Chairman, E.M. Warburg Continued on page 3 Grupo Marhnos Matthew Aho, consultant with Pincus Akerman Senterfitt LLP in New Thomas F.
    [Show full text]