Bayh has it right (10/20/03)

Evan Bayh has it right. George Bush has it wrong.

About two weeks ago, the junior senator from Indiana announced a trade deal with Cuba involving $25 million in agricultural products raised by Hoosier farmers.

Sen. Bayh also called for increased trade between the U.S. and Cuba as a way to bring about change in that country.

Roughly two days later, in a blatant effort to win votes from Florida’s Cuban exile community, President Bush said he would tighten the embargo on Cuba and do everything in his power to further isolate the Castro regime.

The question here isn’t whether Castro is a good guy or a bad guy. He’s a dictatorial thug; that’s a given.

The question is, after 40 years of embargoes and isolation, has American policy succeeded in loosening Castro’s grip on Cuba.

The answer is a resounding, “No.”

Meanwhile, during the same period of embargo, the U.S. took on a policy of engagement, cultural exchange, and trade with the Soviet Union. By doing so, it helped set the stage for Soviet collapse.

There are those who will argue that trade with Cuba has moral dimensions which need to be considered, and they have a point. But at the same time, American trade relations with Communist China continue apace, and the Chinese record on human rights is even worse than Castro’s Cuba.

Sen. Bayh’s point — lost on the president as he tries to curry favor with single-issue voters — is that past U.S. policy toward Cuba hasn’t worked. It’s time to try something new.

That something begins with trade. — J.R.

[[In-content Ad]]