SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 5B

LENGTH: 525 words

HEADLINE: Comment: Cuban embargo must end

BYLINE: Jose Menendez and Cynthia Thomas 



BODY:  For more than 40 years, select Cuban-Americans have directed U.S. policy toward Cuba. This policy is largely two-pronged: an ever-broadening trade embargo and U.S. government funding of political dissidents within Cuba. Neither has proven to be successful.   The latest American directive is suggesting the appointment of Otto Reich as the top U.S. State Department Latin American official. Mr. Reich has strong ties to this failed two-prong approach, and is the wrong person for this position.  

Understanding why U.S. policies toward Cuba have failed is easier to when put into historical context.  

Between 1512 and 1902, Cuba was consistently occupied by Spain, England or the United States. Slavery became common practice by conquerors. The conquests often ended with massive Cuban deaths by pure homicide or exposure to diseases.  

In 1901, the U.S. military occupied Cuba. That year U.S. Senator Orville Platt of Conn., attached an amendment to the U.S. Army appropriations bill, giving the United States the right to intervene militarily in Cuba's internal affairs at will.  

Cubans had an undesirable choice: accept the amendment or remain under U.S. military occupation. They accepted the amendment.  

The 1950's Cuban revolution was a reaction to this 450-year domination by other countries. The revolution, however, led Cubans toward economic dependence on the Soviet Union rather than independence.  

The Soviet Union's 1991 collapse created an export loss of $5 billion a year for the Cuban economy. Its gross domestic product in 1993 represented 33 percent of its 1989 level.  

In one of its first steps toward an independent identity, the Cuban National Assembly eliminated all references of Marxism-Leninism from the Cuban Constitution in December 1991.  

In July 1992, Cuba further amended its constitution to guarantee freedom of religion.  

In September 1993, Cuba legalized self-employment for more than 100 trades. As a result, Cubans are exposed daily to entrepreneurship and market economics. In October 1994, private farmers began selling some of their produce in farmers markets for personal profit. About 20 percent of all crops produced are sold in these markets. This exchange has been so economically successful for some private farmers that the Cuban government allows them to own a second home on the beach.  

In September 1995, Cuba allowed foreign companies to run Cuban-based businesses and possess Cuban real estate.  

Whether correct or not, Cubans overwhelmingly believe that the U.S. embargo is responsible for their slow economic recovery after the loss of Soviet subsidies.  

If we truly believe that the market economy works regardless of one's beliefs, then we must move toward ending the failed embargo. Doing so will allow Cuba to discern which of its government policies are working, eliminating the embargo as its scapegoat.  

Texas State Representative Jose Menendez is a first generation Cuban-American. Cynthia Thomas is the president of TriDimension Strategies, LLC, a nonpartisan public policy consulting firm in Dallas, TX.  



LOAD-DATE: April 23, 2001