{"id":213979,"date":"2020-02-17T14:55:12","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T19:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=213979"},"modified":"2020-02-17T14:55:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T19:55:12","slug":"cuba-u-s-we-have-to-cultivate-that-thought-of-normalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/cuba-u-s-we-have-to-cultivate-that-thought-of-normalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba-U.S.: \u201cWe have to cultivate that thought of normalization\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A brief review of the conflict between Cuba and the United States in the last decade was the main theme of the panel Nuevas miradas a la historia del conflicto entre Cuba y Estados Unidos: \u00bfgeopol\u00edtico, econ\u00f3mico, ideol\u00f3gico, nacional o las cuatro cosas a la vez? (<\/em>New outlook on the history of the conflict between Cuba and the United States: geopolitical, economic, ideological, national or all four things at once?), held at the Casa del Alba as part of the program of activities of the 29th Havana International Book Fair.<\/p>\n

Specialists on the subject, such as Carlos Alzugaray Treto, Milagros Mart\u00ednez, together with historian Ernesto Limia and political scientist and essayist Rafael Hern\u00e1ndez, moderator of the colloquium, discussed the most important moments regarding the change relations underwent as of the presidential term of Barack Obama (2008-2016), a stage in which there was a substantial unprecedented turn in Cuba-U.S. diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez, a Master in Caribbean Studies and a specialist in Cuban studies in the United States, takes as a starting point for these changes the U.S. policy\u2019s failure throughout more than 50 years, and noted the change in Washington’s foreign policy towards Latin America in general.<\/p>\n

Another point would be the role played by various sectors within U.S. society and politics, which demanded a change in the handling of relations with the island\u2019s government. \u201cThe pressure of these sectors, together with the changes taking place in the Cuban emigration settled in the United States\u201d strengthened the turn in this policy during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n

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Colloquium at the Casa del Alba on Cuba-U.S. relations, at the Havana International Book Fair. Photo: Otmaro Rodr\u00edguez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New outlooks in new times<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican policy had a lot of continuity in the aspect of regime change, \u2018by force,\u2019 which advocated sweeping away the Revolution and all that it meant, a method that prevailed especially in Republican administrations. However, this policy was always criticized from different positions of the U.S. power elite,\u201d said Cuban political analyst and diplomat Carlos Alzugaray.<\/p>\n

In the past, several administrations sought a viable alternative for cooperation with Cuba, not only in economic issues, but also in national security issues, aspects which the U.S. governments focused on to see what these agreements had in store for them, without setting aside the main objective: to promote a regime change in Cuba.<\/p>\n

Historian Ernesto Limia recalled a figure about whom \u201cvirtually no one talks about, Ricardo Z\u00fa\u00f1iga, who was here and since 2001 had written a document with other specialists where he explained how to move forward in the policy change.\u201d Z\u00fa\u00f1iga, of Honduran origin, was the White House advisor for Latin American affairs during the Obama era.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a change of approach rather than objective,\u201d said Limia during the debate, who mentioned that the State Department official, Roberta Jacobson, on one occasion said that the U.S. government was \u201clooking for how to work the Cuban middle for it to be responsible for subverting the values \u200b\u200bof socialism in Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to the issue of national security, this has been at the center of the conflict for several years, although it was more important at the end of the Obama administration, who removed Cuba from the bottom of the foreign agenda and gave it greater relevance, commented Rafael Hern\u00e1ndez, moderator of the panel and director of the magazine Temas<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Americans, the cost-benefit analysis is very important, a parameter of thought and action that governs many sectors in the field of relations with Cuba, and I think it could also be applied to the field of security,\u201d Alzugaray emphasized.<\/p>\n

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Colloquium at the Casa del Alba on Cuba-U.S. relations, at the Havana International Book Fair. Photo: Otmaro Rodr\u00edguez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think that normalization cannot be seen as a perfect state which can be reached, if we see it as a process in which cooperation increases and conflicts diminish, Cuba’s objectives are achieved, which is to undermine the most aggressive positions and strengthen those that seek cooperation,\u201d a maxim that was present in administrations preceding Obama’s as in the Clinton era, Alzugaray recalled.<\/p>\n

The normalization process had several conditions, among which the interest of American businessmen to increase contacts with Cuba stands out; the pressure of security agencies to maintain cooperation, especially in the area of \u200b\u200bdrug trafficking, terrorism and human trafficking; and also the need to increase cultural and educational exchange between both countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf today we look at what Obama did, we have to agree that he was on a right path to normalization,\u201d Limia said in the panel, but not before acknowledging that he criticized the subversive part of the plan in the ideological sphere that Obama’s actions had at the time, according to the historian.<\/p>\n

For Cuba, this stage of changes meant having a hopeful economic and social outlook, while at the political-economic level the increase in the will of foreign investment. \u201cOn the political-ideological level, it also showed us how many failures we had, it was a different challenge, a path that we also have to travel and face without fear,\u201d added Limia.<\/p>\n

Entering a different relationship with the United States brought cultural changes to Cuban society that left a mark, beyond the measures approved by the Obama administration, perfectly changeable as the Trump administration has proven, \u201cbut the path to follow was marked, both for those here and for those there,\u201d concluded Limia.<\/p>\n

Tangible deterioration<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIs it possible to measure the deterioration?\u201d was one of the questions raised by Rafael Hern\u00e1ndez towards the end of the colloquium, which is in line with the current situation of diplomatic relations between both nations in recent years.<\/p>\n

Could diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States be broken?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n