Don't Encourage Castro

Frank Calzon
USA Today, August 11, 2002

Since 1982, when Washington began identifying states that sponsor terrorism, Cuba has been on the list. Moreover, there is a demonstrable relationship between Fidel Castro's ability to raise money and his support of anti-American terrorism. That's why the U.S. government works to contain Havana by limiting its access to dollars.

Secretary of State Colin Powell recently wrote Congress reaffirming U.S. policy: "Cuba has refused to cooperate with the global coalition's efforts to combat terrorism. Unrestricted tourist travel to Cuba would benefit the government of Cuba more than the Cuban people. (And) the administration is determined to oppose any policy action that would bolster the Cuban dictatorship."

There are other reasons as well: Castro provides a safe haven for more than 70 fugitives from U.S. justice, including several accused of killing U.S. police officers. Cuba's tourist facilities — hotels, beaches, medical clinics — remain off-limits to most Cubans, an internal apartheid that defeats meaningful "people-to-people" contact.

Also, a Johns Hopkins University report says, "Canadian and American tourists have contributed to a sharp increase in child prostitution and exploitation of women in Cuba (due to) a current drop in political restrictions on travel to Cuba and a crackdown on sex tourism in Southeast Asia." Castro allows most foreigners to get away with it.

Foreign investment has plummeted to $38.9 million in 2001 from $488 million in 2000. One-third of the island's sugar mills are closed. The Associated Press reports that "the European Union excluded Cuba from a multibillion-dollar pool of aid because of its poor human-rights record." Exiles' remittances are down. When Russia closed its spy facility near Havana, Castro lost $200 million a year. All of this has weakened him.

Yet, like a bad scene out of a Hollywood movie about the Old West, there are Americans trying to muster a cavalry. In this instance, it's a cavalry of U.S. tourists to rescue the regime, extend the repression and misery it wreaks on the Cuban people and provide the wherewithal for the country to continue its support for anti-American movements and dictators around the world.

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