Chepe: Allow travel to Cuba

The calls to restrict travel to Cuba never seem to come from Cuba. They don’t come from Europe, not from the governments of the former communist countries or from the organizations in those countries that work independently or with U.S. support to press human rights issues. All European countries allow open travel to Cuba and there is no debate in Europe about restricting travel.

In Cuba itself, you would be hard pressed to find people who believe that the solution to their country’s problems lies in barriers to contact with the outside world.

Writing in Madrid’s El Pais (Spanish here, translation here), dissident Oscar Espinosa Chepe discusses the economics of Cuba’s tourism industry, then calls for an opening in U.S policy in the interest of promoting a “democratic, reconciled Cuba:”

“In these circumstances, the mechanisms established by the U.S. authorities, aimed at isolating Cuban society from contact with its citizens, and even with Cuban-Americans, are counterproductive and incomprehensible. In fact, it is aligned with the policy always promoted by the Cuban Government, of keeping the people on the Island isolated from any outside contact. The only sensible thing that could help the Cuban people is what was done in Eastern Europe and later in China and Viet Nam, where the ties between the peoples were fostered and continue to be fostered, with unquestionable success.

“One would hope that, with the new balance of power in the U.S. Congress and Senate [sic], there will be more understanding of this matter, and that there will be a radical change in the policy toward Cuba, especially because Cuba-U.S. relations are vital for the democratic transition in Cuba. A climate of tension and suspicion in the Straits of Florida has always been very helpful to the interests of the most change-resistant sector of the Cuban Government.

“So, the proposals made recently by Representatives Jeff Flake, Bill Delahunt, Mrs. Emerson, and Charles Rangel, among other important U.S. legislators, all made with great common sense and which, if approved, would doubtless significantly benefit efforts on behalf of a democratic, reconciled Cuba, where human rights are respected, are essential to Cubans.”