NEXT WEEK THERE will be midterm elections in the United States. The interest is not as high, nor is the outcome as consequential as would be the case if it were the year of a presidential race. But it remains significant nonetheless. Control of the Senate by the Republicans may limit what President Obama can do for the remainder of his term.
The one foreign policy issue through which Obama can ensure a legacy would be the lifting of that decades-old embargo against Cuba. What happens with the vote, particularly in Florida where the strongest support remains for the retention of the embargo, will therefore be of interest to us. That ban, first instituted in 1960, has now been denounced by most countries.
Despite this harsh embargo, Cuba has proved itself to be a small nation with a big heart by its actions, which have included cooperating with the said United States in many critical areas. The Cubans have developed an outstanding reputation for the provision of health care and have extended the benefits by helping a range of countries in South America and Africa. Many Barbadians have benefited from the free eye care programme that Cuba offered and from educational opportunities there.
That country has also sent thousands of health workers to aid foreign nations in times of critical need. When the major earthquake struck Haiti four years ago, Cuba sent some 1 500 medical personnel there, and with the latest outbreak of Ebola in parts of West Africa, it has dispatched hundreds of its medical brigade to the frontline of this battle. The Cubans and the Americans work in tandem to patrol the seas between the 90 miles separating their countries and also cooperate on migration issues and in the war on drugs.
We agree that Cuba remains a country where there are too many restrictions on dissent and freedom of assembly. Undoubtedly, there is a clear need for a free news media and a pluralist political system. We welcome the liberalisation that has taken place there in recent years: private ownership is expanding and foreign investment is growing, with the Europeans, Canadians, Chinese and Brazilians all seeking to exploit these opportunities.
In all of this Washington is not moved.
At this time it simply is not politically expedient for President Obama to push for the lifting of the economic embargo, perhaps because of the powerful lobby in the swing state of Florida, where Republican politicians support the anti-Castro sentiment. The hope is that there will be a change of position by the Obama administration after this midterm vote. So, even if Congress does not fully lift the embargo, the expectation is for some expansion of the right to travel to and invest in Cuba.
Thankfully, the Caribbean remains united against this foolish US embargo. It is a policy which is clearly unfair and serves no useful purpose.
