USA*Engage Urges Bush
Administration to Engage with Cuba
Washington, D.C. - USA*Engage strongly urges the Bush
Administration to reverse course and lift the forty-year embargo
with Cuba as a means of achieving the President's goal of promoting
democracy in that Caribbean country.
"The embargo has only succeeded in providing Castro with a
blanket excuse for his failed policies," said Don Deline, Chairman
of USA*Engage. "Engagement with the Cuban people on social,
cultural, and economic levels is the most powerful means the United
States has at its disposal for influencing democratic change in
Cuba."
President Bush's speech today, reaffirming his support for the
embargo, demands fundamental changes in Cuba's political and
economic systems as a precondition of easing trade sanctions.
"We understand that Castro has no incentive to make these
changes. We therefore advocate the U.S. taking a first step to bring
about change in Cuba," said Bill Reinsch, President of the National
Foreign Trade Council and Vice-chairman of USA*Engage. "The U.S.
needs to show the rest of the world that it is committed to
promoting democratic values by reaching out to the Cuban people, not
isolating them under a Communist regime. If the U.S. ends the
embargo, we'll have a greater chance of delivering pro-democracy
messages and fueling democratic change from the bottom up."
Last week, USA*Engage endorsed the policy recommendations set
forth by the bipartisan House Cuba Working Group. The Cuba Working
Group policy review recommends ten policy changes, including:
- Repealing the travel ban;
- Private financing of U.S. agricultural and medical exports;
- Repealing Section 211; and,
- Expanding security cooperation
USA*ENGAGE is a coalition of over 670 small
and large businesses, agriculture groups and trade associations
working to seek alternatives to the proliferation of unilateral U.S.
foreign policy sanctions and to promote the benefits of U.S.
engagement abroad. For more information on USA*ENGAGE and the
harmful effects of unilateral trade sanctions, visit the USA*ENGAGE
web site at http://www.usaengage.org/.
### |