Not too lengthy ago, ricardo herrero was 1 of miami’s cubanamerican hardliners, an ardent supporter in the u.s. trade embargo against cuba also because the ban on u.s. travel to ugg amelie suede the communist island. but a halfdozen trips to cuba throughout this decade have changed his thoughts concerning the latter. “there are no much better ambassadors of american culture and american democracy than americans themselves,” says herrero, 31. numerous fellow cuban americans who’ve traveled there, he adds, have come towards the exact same conclusion: they “always come back saying it was a totally eyeopening experience” and have “changed their views simply because they witnessed firsthand the ineffectiveness of our present policy.”
for the very first time, you will find difficult numbers to show that herrero is far from alone. last year, a majority of miami cuban americans stated they favored dumping tight regulations on cubanamerican travel to cuba some thing candidate barack obama pledged to complete after which did this year as president. along with a recent poll discovered that a exceptional 59% of all cuban americans believe the 46yearold ban on all u.s. travel to cuba ought to be removed. the survey by miamibased bendixen & associates, the largest hispanic polling firm, also discovered that 48% of older and more conservative cuban exiles known as historicos support lifting the prohibition, up from 32% in 2002. “i believe that all exchange is good,” says 1, 68yearold miamian lala suarez, who before coming towards the u.s ugg nightfall . was imprisoned in cuba by fidel castro’s government after the failed 1961 bay of pigs invasion by militant exiles.
(see pictures of fidel castro’s years in power.)
the importance of this attitude shift can’t be underestimated. whenever congress has tried in the past to strike down the cuba travel ban even when a majority of americans stated they wanted to get rid of it the biggest obstacle has always been the staunch resistance of politically potent cubanamerican voters. but the newest bill, the freedom to travel to cuba act, introduced this year in both the house and senate, suddenly has cubanamerican backing and as a result a decidedly much better chance of passing. in a recent statement, indiana senator richard lugar, a republican and cosponsor, called this “a very good time for public diplomacy with cuba.”
1 big reason is that while cubanamerican voters may still favor the trade embargo though recent polls indicate support for that is fading fast, too, especially as more young cuban americans and recently arrived cuban immigrants register to vote they no longer see the travel ban as an inseparable component. in fact, they see lifting the ban as a way to throw a bigger ball into havana’s court, 1 that might oblige ugg classic short present cuban president raul castro, ugg ultra short fidel’s younger brother, to release more jailed dissidents or make other reform gestures.
(watch a video concerning the politics of young cuban americans.)
another is the questionable legality of letting only 1 group of americans travel to cuba. says tomas bilbao, executive director in the cuba study group, a miamibased organization of business and community leaders, “after the loosening of restrictions for cuban americans by the obama administration, it will be increasingly difficult for the government to respect the liberties of 1 narrow group while restricting them for a broader group.” democratic u.s. representative william delahunt of massachusetts, who introduced the new traveltocuba bill in the house, where it now has 180 cosponsors, agrees: “anyone can go to vietnam, iran or north korea,” he says. “travel is in and of itself an american right; it is not about cubau.s. policy.”
not every cuban american agrees, of course. jose azel ugg boots, 61, left cuba at age 13 as part of operation pedro pan, an effort by the roman catholic church that brought 14,000 unaccompanied minors towards the u.s. from cuba in the early 1960s. he has never gone back. “i am a political exile by definition, which means i left simply because i discovered the political conditions to be deplorable,” says azel, who today is a senior research associate at the university of miami’s institute for cuban and cubanamerican studies. “until those conditions change, i will not return.” ugg rainier but while he supports the travel ban, azel recognizes the views in the old guard are changing. “exiles themselves have changed,” he says. “they have moved from a bellicose military approach and understand that now they must come at it from political processes.”
like azel uggs, the cubanamerican delegation in congress remains unmoved. for them, the travel ban, like the embargo, remains a valid foreign policy tool that denies resources towards the castros. “if we want to give the regime a lot of money to relieve the pressure, then we could have all the travelers in the world sitting in hotels smoking cigars or drinking cuba libres,” says democratic new jersey senator robert menendez, who calls that rumandcoke drink “an oxymoron.” he insists that lifting the travel ban will do nothing to “create democracy or respect for human rights.”
by contrast, the bill’s proponents believe it could help thaw u.s.cuba relations and in turn improve conditions for an eventual democratic transition in cuba. the measure is supported not only by the travel ugg amelie suede industry but by the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, humanrights groups like human rights watch and policy believe tanks like freedom house, the d.c.based cuba study group and the brookings institute. the white house, careful not to alienate boots footwear menendez when it needs every democratic vote on issues like health care reform, has yet to throw its support behind the bill. but despite obama’s backing in the trade embargo, numerous observers believe it will be difficult for him not to sign a lifting in the travel ban given his own stated policy preference for engaging cuba.
in the meantime, more cuban americans are pouring into cuba after obama’s relaxation in the travel and remittance rules for those with family on the island. the number of those travelers is expected to hit 200,000 this year, says armando garcia, president of mar azul charters in miami. that would be double the annual flow since 2004, when then president george w. bush put the restrictions in place. if the travel ban were lifted altogether, recent studies suggest some 3 million americans would visit cuba each year. it’s uncertain whether they would be effective ambassadors. but after almost a halfcentury of failed policy, most cuban americans have decided that letting americans travel to cuba would be more effective than keeping them away.