U.S.
companies are more eager than ever to set up shop.
First, some background.
The embargo, put in place in the early 1960s to punish the
revolutionary government, has held back the Cuban economy and poisoned
U.S.-Cuban relations for decades.
When Washington spurned Cuba, the Soviet Union became the
island’s top trading partner, taking some of the sting off the embargo. But
after the USSR collapsed in 1991, Cuba plunged into a deep economic crisis.
Venezuela mostly replaced Russia as a reliable supplier of
cheap oil years ago. Now Cubans fear that turmoil in the South American nation
will knock out this lifeline too.
Its heavily subsidized food rations no longer meet basic
needs. And the high prices unregulated markets charge are beyond the reach of
the many Cubans who earn about $30 a month working for state-run enterprises
and agencies.
A recent survey showed that nearly 80 percent of
Cubans were dissatisfied with the country’s economic system, and 70 percent
were eager to start their own businesses. This was especially true among
young people, who are highly educated and fed-up with the state-run economy.
Since his older brother Fidel handed him the reins in 2008,
President Raúl Castro has tried to transform the island’s lumbering, top-down
system.
He’s pushed through Cuba’s biggest economic reforms in half a
century. State companies have shed jobs, and national labor laws now
accommodate more private enterprise. Today some 500,000 Cubans —
almost one in ten workers — are officially self-employed.
Cuba’s government wants to open up the economy while preserving
social gains and guarding against growing inequalities. It’s concerned about an
increasingly two-tier economy where people with access to tourist dollars or
remittances from relatives abroad live in luxury, compared to those struggling
on government salaries.
Racial inequalities are growing as well, partly because of the
Cuban government’s tolerance of paladares — privately operated
bistros. As these restaurants are located in people’s own homes, the
arrangement favors the wealthier white Cubans who are more likely to have
larger homes and relatives abroad who can provide start-up cash.
So Cuba sees a big need to expand its economy through foreign
trade. And U.S. companies are raring to do business there, with American
officials flocking to the island to plead their case.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo traveled to Havana recently with the heads
of MasterCard, JetBlue, Pfizer, and Chobani. U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donahue took a delegation that included the CFO of
Cargill and the chairman of Amway.
Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, traveled to Cuba this
year to tout her state’s agricultural and lumber products. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed trekked there to push Coca-Cola and Delta
airlines.
And the list goes on, even though U.S. businesses can’t offer
Cuba credit or do business with government entities on this island nation just 90 miles away
from Key West. They’re mostly relegated to the sidelines, watching rivals from Spain to Russia to Mexico swoop
in.
Ending the embargo would be a win-win for Cubans and Americans.
It would allow all of us to travel freely to the island, and it would let
U.S. companies trade freely with one of our closest neighbors, creating more
jobs in both nations.
Now that the Cuban flag waves at the re-opened Cuban embassy in
Washington, Congress should lift the antiquated legislation that stands in the
way of true normalized relations.
Medea Benjamin is
cofounder of CodePink and GlobalExchange. Her latest book is Drone
Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. Distributed by OtherWords.org.
