President Barack Obama’s sudden and surprising announcement to upend the United States’ long-standing foreign policy toward Cuba was as imprudent as it was imbalanced.
That the White House failed to consult members of Congress who represent large Cuban-American constituencies underscores the fact the president knew there would be strong and vocal opposition to his radical policy shift. Yet, as is the case with his approach to the Iran nuclear negotiations, he has once again chosen unilateral executive action rather than a deliberative process, giving further credence to the sentiment that this is indeed an imperial presidency.
The Castro brothers are using the Iran playbook. They are using the president’s naivete to force concessions from the United States in exchange for cosmetic and easily reversible changes that, at best, won’t bring real reforms to Cuba. What the Obama administration should have pushed for is real and tangible democratic reforms, the release of all political prisoners, and free, fair and transparent elections.
Instead, Obama capitulated to the Castros’ demands, released three convicted Cuban spies – one of whom was also convicted of attempted murder and directly linked to the cold-blooded murder of three American citizens and one U.S. resident. The status quo on the island remains.
The president traded convicted spies and terrorists for a man who was wrongfully imprisoned by the Castro regime, thus implying some kind of moral equivalence between him and the spies. Just like with the Taliban 5 swap, the president is establishing a dangerous precedent that the United States does in fact negotiate with terrorists, putting a target on every American’s back and jeopardizing our national security.
In addition, the administration touted the Castro regime’s promise to release 53 political prisoners as a major coup for diplomacy, but never bothered to read the fine print. The list included individuals who had been released as far back as a year ago, people whose time in jail was already set to expire, and others who were merely put out on parole.
But the most audacious part is several of these political prisoners have already been rearrested, while hundreds more have been arrested or detained in the intervening weeks. This has implications around the world, especially as we strive to make respect for human rights universal. Now, when Obama lectures about human rights, his words fall flat and only erode America’s credibility, and that is seen not only by our allies, but our enemies who would seek to exploit our vulnerabilities. So instead of being credible, trusted or feared, the world sees America as feeble and unwilling to support its allies.
Congress and the American public must stand opposed to this shift in policy toward Cuba, and on the side of the 11 million Cubans languishing under the Castro regime. And we must remain vigilant as the president uses his normalization efforts with Cuba as a test case for establishing diplomatic relations with another U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. The administration hasn’t met an evil dictator it doesn’t want to appease, and the president consistently undercuts our position as the world’s sole superpower.
There are very real and very dangerous threats to our national security, perhaps more so now than ever. We cannot afford to have an executive who projects the idea that the U.S no longer possesses the courage to defend our ideals and principles, or that we will stand up for human rights only when it is politically expedient or convenient. That is not what America stands for; but by going down this road with the Castro regime, that is where we are headed.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairs the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and is a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
