The US doesn't need the world reminding it about the misguided, punitive nature of the Cuban embargo. That sentiment is alive and well (and has been for some time), right here in the States. Whether it's the more moderate stance being taken by conservative elements within Miami's Cuban enclaves, the dogged persistence of some members of the Congressional Black Caucus or the eagerness of the country's Business community to engage with the Cuban market, a chorus of suggestions for change is now flooding the halls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Most agree that the embargo should be lifted, and my sense is that it's a question of when, and not if. But from a purely tactical perspective, I can understand why the President is not yet willing to do so.
President Obama has been very clear in his remarks - both prior to, and during his appearance at the Summit of the Americas, cautioning that US-Cuba relations would not change overnight. Forces of resistance continue to exist on both sides - a situation that will likely get worse before it gets better (at least in this country) in the face of vocal and sustained criticism from Latin America and the Caribbean. There are those who continue to view our leader's grace and humility only through the prism of their outdated sense of entitlement - conditioned as they are to getting their way, and certainly not being told what to do. So they will push back, and seek to frame the normalization process as one of capitulation and a sign of the country's (i.e. Obama's) weakness.
So that is a political reality that will have to be managed - with delicacy and a proper amount of time. But it should not be forgotten that it takes two parties to engage in a negotiation, and the time has come for Cuba to frankly put up, or shut up. Irrespective of what has happened (or not) with previous administrations, our current President has made a good faith effort to initiate respectful channels of communication. The fiery rhetoric of the past (some of which was on display this weekend by some Latin American leaders who just couldn't help themselves) has no place in the current dialogue - any more than the foolish assertion that an American interpretation of democracy and free market capitalism will spring up inside Cuba overnight - if at all, as posited by Robert Pastor, a former advisor who worked in the Carter Administration while making remarks that compared potential relations with Cuba to those we currently enjoy with Vietnam. But some changes will surely have to take place, and the president is justified in expecting a certain degree of reciprocation from the Castro Brothers.
And here, I think, is where the leaders of Caricom and the Union of South American Nations have a decisive role to play. As they continue to aggressively voice their support for a complete lifting of the trade embargo, it would be instructive to see them also applying pressure to Raul Castro, and the Cuban government to at least meet the United States halfway. My Mother always used to tell me, "You won't get something for nothing." Never has this been truer for the Cuban government and its people.
