Upon learning of Cuba's victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic's semi-final, a sense of inescapable irony passed over me. Guaranteeing itself a spot in the championship game against Japan, Cuba had managed to not only handily defeat its foe on the field but emerge victorious over those hoping to foresee its demise off the field as well.
Prior to the first pitch of the much-anticipated Classic, the Treasury Department refused to allow Cuba to participate because of economic sanctions the United States has implemented against Communist Cuba over the last four decades. The government relented only when the Major League Baseball's commissioner's office and Players' Association reached a deal with Cuba that would send all of its profits from the games to victims of Hurricane Katrina. In securing the deal, the government was assured that not a single dollar received by Cuba from the games would be granted to Fidel Castro's regime.
Ironically, after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in late August, Cuba graciously offered to send more than 1,000 doctors and 36 tons of medical supplies to various Southern communities. Cuban physicians have been internationally recognized as among the most experienced and qualified in emergency relief, chiefly due to the prevalence with which hurricanes hit Cuba.
Largely indicative of its zero-tolerance policy towards its southern neighbor, the Bush administration refused to acknowledge Cuba's selfless and generous act. Its silence spoke volumes, indicating the administration's growing isolationist stance towards the communist country.
Hoping to secure the support of Florida's estimated 833,000 Cuban American residents in 2000, most of whom ardently oppose Mr. Castro, President Bush publicly acknowledged his desire to step up enforcement of the Trading with the Enemy Act. The Act, which makes it illegal for U.S. visitors to spend money when traveling in Cuba, was rarely enforced prior to Mr. Bush's first election victory.
Within Mr. Bush's first year, the Treasury Department issued 766 civil penalties to travelers; in the last year of the Clinton administration, 188 fines were imposed. One individual, Cevin Allen, 56, scattered his missionary parents' ashes at the Cuban church they helped found and was fined $7,500 upon his return to the United States. In another case, a number of medical students, unable to afford the exorbitant costs of U.S. medical schools, were forced to leave Cuba over fears that U.S. authorities would jail them, fine them thousands of dollars or revoke their citizenship for studying medicine on the island.
There is little doubt that Castro's Cuba employs a state apparatus intent on eradicating dissent, property ownership or individualism. There is little doubt that Cuba remains an impoverished, isolated, totalitarian nation 40 years after its revolution demanded equality and justice for all. There is also little doubt that American students and visitors would not be of great help in continuing to plant the seeds of reform and change many Cubans already share.
While President Bush has eased restrictions on humanitarian assistance to Cuba by religious and non-governmental organizations, he must also come to see student travel to Cuba as a similar form of aid. With a foreign policy guided by the implementation of democracy abroad, Mr. Bush should urge American students to study abroad — sharing with their professors and classmates the foundations and precepts our government was built upon. American influence, in a country ripe for reform, would go a long way in fomenting democratic change when Mr. Castro finally perishes.
Josh Moskowitz ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.
