China, Cuba and the US Embargo

Slick Willie!

Seems China is seeking closer ties to Cuba these days. This coming from the mouthpiece of the communist government, The People’s Daily. This means one thing, the Cuban communist party isn't going anywhere if the Chinese are allowed to entrench there. A Chinese military relationship with Cuba also means a heavy commercial and infrastructure investment.

This is a symbolic poke in the eye to the US and goes beyond a simple Chinese investment. The Chinese know the significance of Cuba in US politics and our history. They have invested in Central and South America but the potential investment in Cuba is a brazen move indicative of an increasingly confident Chinese government.  Heavy Chinese investment in the development of Cuba will only further entrench the ruling communist party led by the Castros. This is the antithesis of established US policy for over half a century.  

The US should take this as a signal that it’s losing its influence with our southern neighbors through outdated policies and indifference. I am referring to the US embargo on Cuba. While this may not be a traditional breach of the Monroe Doctrine, as China is not seeking to take control of Cuba, knowing China and its tendency to cozy up to and reinforce authoritarian regimes, we should perhaps consider this idea and take appropriate action, that being ending the embargo.

All one must do is look at China’s adventures in Africa and Asia. Their investments typically benefit the ruling elite and reinforce the status quo in order to provide a stable environment for the targeted Chinese investment. This is done by enticing governments with cheap infrastructure projects that are often built with lots of Chinese labor, while native populations get token benefits. As American author Howard French wrote “there was mounting resentment over the way China was seen to be…despoiling the environment, dispossessing powerless landholders or flouting local laws, fuelling corruption, and, most of all, empowering awful governments.”

Over 50 years have passed and the embargo has done nothing to effect positive change in Cuba.

While the US sits back and drives on with its useless embargo of Cuba the Chinese are seeking to open up an underdeveloped market, a market that the US should be focused on developing for our benefit and the benefit of the Cuban people. If the US were to further open up investment and drop the embargo we could do a lot more to help the impoverished Cuban people than China ever could. Freedom would most likely ensue. I am not talking of the neoconservative tendency to overthrow governments but the full opening of economic ties. If the Cubans still want communism let them have it but lets allow US capitalism to have access. Full US engagement with Cuba would, in the long run, increase the Cuban standard of living, human rights and their freedom.

This is not a case where China is going to position nuclear weapons or even conventional weapons on Cuba. China will probably take its usual course when investing in a new nation. Lots of shoddy infrastructure construction with plenty of Chinese workers while reinforcing authoritarian governments and sucking natural resources from the host nation. To offset this the US should consider ending the embargo or at least loosening more trade restrictions. This will allow US companies, while not socially or environmentally the best on earth, to gain a stronger foothold in the Cuban economy and help the Cuban people.  Jobs would be created and revenue generated. On the flip side, one can argue the communist regime will benefit the most. This is why I disagree.

For those arguing the Cuban government has a horrible human rights record and ending the embargo will strengthen the regime, I hear you, but you are half right. When was the last time you used an iphone or almost any other electronic device? Chances are it was fully or partially made in China. China is an authoritarian state that is on par with Cuba,,and worse when you look at China during the early days of the communist party (20 million dead due to the Great Leap Forward). Even today, Chinese citizens just disappear by the thousands every year. In Freedom House’s annual global freedom rankings China ranks 16th worst while Cuba comes in a close 15th place.

Look at past instances where communist nations opened up. In most cases the general population benefited. Look at China, 500 + million lifted out of absolute poverty, Vietnam, a rising Asian economic power will a growing middle class and eastern europe as a whole. Russia, is also doing better under its version of an open market, with regards to food lines and income. Yes the Cuban ruling elite would benefit but for how long? A lot longer if the Chinese have their way. The Cuban people are fans of the United States, not something the US has in abundance right now. The US should take of advantage of this opportunity before it’s too late and the Chinese prolong the authoritarian rule of Cuba.