Posted on Friday, 04.10,2009U.S.-CUBA RELATIONSDebate over U.S.-Cuba policy is at fever pitchPresident Barack Obama's interest in looking anew at U.S.-Cuba policy has sparked a flurry of activity on both sides of the debate.
Raul Castro, right, meets with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in Havana. JUVBALAN N
BY LESLEY CLARK AND FRANCES ROBLESlclark@MiamiHerald.comWASHINGTON -- The debate from Washington to Miami and Havana over President Barack Obama's next steps toward Cuba heated up Thursday, as the momentum to improve relations with the communist country reached levels not seen in nearly three decades.
Activists and members of Congress held a news conference on Capitol Hill blasting other U.S. lawmakers and the Cuban government -- just hours after the release of a new report by a longtime exile group calling for increased relations.
The rhetoric on both sides of the controversial topic has been revved up in preparation for a highly anticipated announcement from Obama that he will lift the remaining restrictions on Cuban family travel and remittances to the island. The president also has authority to allow more American academic and cultural groups to visit Cuba.
As Obama delays his announcement to coincide with next week's fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad, activists for and against increased travel and trade to Cuba have been busy issuing reports, holding dueling news conferences, sending letters to the president, tapping dissidents on the island and leaking news stories to the national press.
CAMPAIGN PROMISEThe actions illustrate the considerable political jockeying for a say in Cuba policy that has taken place since Obama took office, tilting the status quo in Cuban exile affairs with his campaign promise to revamp Washington's approach.
''What's at work here is that a lot of people are posturing for position on dealing with Cuba,'' said Andy Gomez, a senior fellow at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Affairs. ``For the past 50 years, the Cuban-American community has played a significant role in formulating Cuba policy. For the first time, this will not stop in Miami, but U.S. foreign policy could go directly to Havana.''
Experts say the last time momentum was this strong to improve relations with Cuba was when Jimmy Carter was in the White House.
''People are trying to figure out what's going on in Cuba -- they know that Fidel is no longer running it, they understand that Raúl is, and he's consolidating his power,'' a senior State Department official told The Miami Herald Thursday.
''But the big question is: Is this the beginning of a larger set of changes that will lead to some kind of political opening that would allow us to engage in a new and meaningful way? And that is what explains the interest in the Congress, and that explains the interest in the region,'' said the official, who could not be named because of State Department rules.
He said the administration would like to ''transform'' the relationship with Cuba -- but slowly.
''It's going to move in a way that will elicit responses from Cubans themselves,'' he said.
Among those offering counsel to the administration: the Cuban American National Foundation, which, after decades of being at the forefront of conservative Cuban activism, has vastly changed its outlook. On Thursday, the foundation called on Obama to push for change on the island from within by engaging in ''targeted'' diplomatic efforts with the regime, increasing support for Cuba's fledgling civil society and boosting ''people-to-people'' exchanges.
''This is a time of opportunity,'' said foundation President Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernández. ``We're not talking about sitting down for negotiations, but reducing a tone of confrontation and making this about the Cuban people.''
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