The Obama administration announced more steps Tuesday toward normalizing relations with Cuba, just days before President Obama travels there Sunday as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Havana in almost 90 years. The Cuban people deserve the opportunities afforded by full engagement with the U.S.
Of course with that, Cuba needs other reforms as well, including the reconstruction and even creation of a whole series of government institutions.
It seems odd to suggest that a country that has been run by a communist dictatorship for more than half a century needs more government. But for Cuba to move forward, that is exactly what is required.
Cuba certainly does not need more of the kind of government reflected in secret police, kangaroo courts, repression of speech or Marxist economics. Fifty-seven years of the Castros has left the island with plenty of experience along those lines.
What it needs is the kind of government infrastructure Americans take for granted, so much so that we often do not even think of it as government. That should start with a move toward establishing the rule of law – not laws that reflect the whims of a strongman or cabal, but stable, predictable rules enforced by fair courts. A realistically valued and internationally traded currency is needed as well.
Tuesday’s announcement took a step toward that by ending a ban on Cuban access to international banking. That could lead to Americans being able to do business in Cuba and even use U.S. credit cards on the island. The development of real tourism and commerce depend on such access.
Also ended was the official ban on U.S. tourism. All that is needed now is an assertion that such travel is for educational purposes. Of course, Americans have been traveling to Cuba for years. The trip simply involved either association with an authorized group or passage through another country with no restrictions on travel to Cuba. Cuban artists, athletes and performers can also come to the United States without emigrating.
Real transformation, however, will only come when Cuba develops institutions that guarantee property rights – both real and intellectual – allow for secure financial transactions, internally and internationally, and provide legal protection for tourists and visitors alike. All those are government functions.
After decades of the Castros, following decades of corrupt or incompetent rule, Cuba does not have such institutions in place. Creating the need and demand for them underlies Obama’s liberalization of U.S. policy toward Cuba.
