Travel to Cuba low now – travel restrictions and economies prevent
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- Incremental change in policy increases trade, US national security and environmental protections
- Ext. Plan Lifting Embargo
- The Cuban Embargo and Travel Barrier are counterproductive, and hurting squo US/Cuba relations
- Incremental Key – Peaceful Transition
- Incremental Key – Internal Progress
- Incremental Key – Bargaining Chip
- Incremental Key – Laundry List
***Gradualism Adv.***1ACGradual change away from the status quo is key – lifting the travel ban paves the way for the lifting of the embargo. Lifting the embargo now bad.McNea 4/29 – (Megan McNea, “US Cuba Embargo,” 4/29/13, http://prezi.com/svleohtxhrkz/us-cuba-embargo/, accessed 6/29/13, IS) Background Information Main Players Reasons to keep the embargo Reasons to get rid of the embargo My opinion is that we should slowly lift the embargo. How we should start is we should send only food aid to help the citizens of Cuba then we should let two way travel between US and Cuba. Then we should open up trade to benefit both countries. Cuba and the US only started to be at odds Jan. 1, 1959, when revolutionary Fidel Castro had overthrown the US-backed President Batista and established Cuba as the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere.From 1959 to 1960, Castro seized $1.8 billion of US assets in Cuba, making it the largest uncompensated taking of American property by a foreign government in US history.¶ On Oct. 19, 1960, President Eisenhower signed a partial embargo on exports to Cuba, the first step towards the US policy that exists today. One reason for Eisenhower signing for the partial embargo was that he felt that there was a threat being posed by having a Soviet ally so close to America’s shores.¶ Later when Kennedy was President He approved a 1961 plan to train and arm Cuban exiles trying to overthrow Castro's communist regime, but the Apr. 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion failed when the Cuban military defeated the outnumbered US-backed forces. Then the situation got worse when a spy plane came back with evidence of there being nuclear missiles in Cuba. On February 3, 1962, President Kennedy signed Proclamation 3447 (effective date February 7, 1962) to declare "an embargo upon all trade between the United States and Cuba." One year later, on February 8, 1963, the United States prohibited travel to Cuba [37] and in July of that year the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) [36] were issued as a comprehensive economic sanction outlawing financial transactions with Cuba. President Eisenhower: Approved the beginning of the embargo, President Kennedy: Started the ban on travel and trade with Cuba, Fidel Castro: The power hungry dictator that was the leader of Cuba when the embargo started. The embargo may finally be working, Castro remains defiant. He refuses to allow true free-market reforms and rejects democratic political reforms. Instead, he is conducting an aggressive international campaign to get the embargo lifted without making any economic or political concessions in return. The policy has been useless as a tool for cudgeling Castro, and it is hindering opportunities for American industries from travel to banking to agriculture, which is why there's no shortage of U.S. business groups lobbying to ease it. Far from hurting the deplorable Communist regime, the embargo has only given Castro an excuse to rail against Uncle Sam, both to his own people and to the world. Every year, Cuba asks the United Nations for a vote lifting the embargo. What happens? We usually end up with a couple of superpowers like Palau and the Marshall Islands standing with us. Last year, the vote was 183 to 4. The embargo makes us look like an arrogant bully. My Opinion US Cuba Embargo Castro is trying to force the United States to lift the embargo in order to resuscitate his dying communist regime with billions of dollars in trade, investment, and international aid. ,//;. Citations 1."Economic Embargo Timeline." Economic Embargo against Cuba. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. 2."Keep The Embargo On Cuba -- Heritage." Keep The Embargo On Cuba -- Heritage. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. 3."Letters to the Editor." The Miami Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. Incremental change in policy increases trade, US national security and environmental protectionsBoston Globe 2/09 (Boston Globe Editorial, “Cuba’s reforms pave way for new US policy, too” 2/09/13, http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/02/09/cuba-reform-create-opportunity-drag-policy-into-century/xER2NTTXGsxdLej0miHwFM/story.html, 7/1/13,) ¶ RELATIONS BETWEEN the United States and Cuba have been stuck since the United States imposed a full economic embargo in 1962, and during the election season neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney signaled much desire to change the status quo. Yet while Americans have been looking elsewhere, significant change has come to Cuba. The communist government of the ruling Castro brothers, Fidel and Raul, is in the midst of a slow experiment to promote economic entrepreneurship. Late last year, Cuba instituted reforms to its immigration policies that allow Cubans to travel abroad freely and allow those who have emigrated or fled to return home.¶ These changes, and the beginning of Obama’s second term, create an unusual opportunity to acknowledge Cuba’s gestures and respond in a substantive way. Rather than simply extend policies that, in five decades, have failed to dislodge the Castros, the Obama administration has a chance to drag US policy into the 21st century.¶ The Cuban-American population, which has historically opposed any loosening of US policy, is no longer monolithic. Supporting greater contact with friends, family, and the Cuban economy now animates a younger generation of Florida voters. Because of this trend, Obama — who performed nearly as well with Cuban-American voters as Romney — has more maneuvering room politically.¶ The first step would be to end the silly claim, reinstated by the Obama administration last summer, that Cuba remains a “state sponsor of terrorism.” The administration argued that Cuba harbored members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. It has, but the FARC and Colombia are now in negotiations; those peace talks are supported by the Obama White House in order to end a bloody civil war.¶ By depoliticizing the Cuba portfolio, the United States could then begin to lessen trade restrictions, starting with promoting cultural exchanges; ending the travel ban; and eventually allowing for trade in oil, gas, and other commodities. Over time, billions of dollars in new trade between the two nations will benefit both. This would include boosts to US farm companies while helping Cubans.¶ Direct relations would also further US national security and environmental interests; as Cuba opens up, other countries will sweep in to seek influence, as China has already done. Especially as Cuba increasingly promotes offshore drilling and other maritime exploration, the United States must improve communication with Havana. Currently, even though the United States and Cuba are separated by a narrow channel, the two countries have no bilateral communications to ensure safety standards for their mutual protection from oil spills.¶ Secretary of State John Kerry should make Cuba a focus of his first months in office. Unfortunately, his successor as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a son of Cuban immigrants who has opposed the administration’s efforts to ease relations. Menendez will need to be convinced that he can help Cubans more by resetting American policy.¶ Absent military intervention, there are very few opportunities for a president to dramatically alter relations with a historic foe; Obama has taken such advantage of a disorientingly rapid liberalization by Burma’s military rulers. Raul Castro’s recent decision to lift travel restrictions on Cuban citizens is similarly momentous — and signals that the timing is ripe for a new diplomatic agenda with Cuba. Ext. Plan Lifting EmbargoEasing restrictions leads to the end of the embargoSchlesinger 9 [ROBERT SCHLESINGER, Obama's Revamp of Cuba Travel Policy Is Overdue, But the Embargo Should Come Next, US News and World, 4/14/09, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2009/04/14/obamas-revamp-of-cuba-travel-policy-is-overdue-but-the-embargo-should-come-next] As an American, I enjoy the right to travel virtually anywhere without interference from my government. It's one of the things that set us apart from the authoritarian regimes to which we hold ourselves up as a beacon and an example. But there's one exception, one country over which the U.S. government abrogates its citizens' freedom of travel. Is it North Korea, the outlaw, nuclear-saber-rattling regime that starves its citizens? No, any of us can legally head west for a demilitarized zone vacation. Perhaps it's Iran, America's biggest Middle Eastern adversary and another possible nuclear threat? Nope.¶ The only country to which Americans are barred from traveling is neither a rival nor a threat. It is Cuba, the last bastion of domestic Cold War politics.¶ That may soon change. In anticipation of this week's summit with Latin American and Caribbean leaders, President Obama rolled back restrictions on Cuban-Americans traveling to the island or sending money to their families there. Last week, members of a congressional delegation had constructive meetings with former Cuban President Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl, the current president. And a bipartisan group of members of Congress, backed by a formidable coalition of U.S. business interests, is pushing legislation that would lift the travel ban for all U.S. citizens. They are optimistic of passing it this year.¶ Easing travel restrictions would be a good first step, but only as prologue to the main event: lifting the U.S. embargo against Cuba. There are several good reasons, substantive and political, to modernize our Cuba policy (and not simply my own desire to enjoy a Cuba libre and a Cohiba cigar while strolling the beaches of Varadero). The Cuban Embargo and Travel Barrier are counterproductive, and hurting squo US/Cuba relationsRep. Lee 10 [Rep. Barbara Lee, California’s 9th District, Huffington Post, 8/19/10, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-barbara-lee/mr-president-lift-the-tra_b_687580.html] It is far past time that we end the counterproductive and unnecessary travel ban.¶ If one examines the history of American foreign affairs, it is hard to find a policy that has lasted for as long, yet so obviously failed, as our trade embargo of Cuba. If someone had told President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960 that the Cuban embargo would last 50 years, would Eisenhower have considered a different approach?¶ We'll never know, but what we do know is that a half-century of the embargo hasn't brought down Castro's government. And it certainly hasn't helped Americans in any way. At long last, the time has come for the embargo to end.¶ The old cliché says that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result." Yet whenever the question of the embargo is raised, its defenders say we need to keep it in place so we can keep pressure to promote democratic reforms, including greater freedom of speech, religion, and association. This is the same argument that has been made for 50 years. The embargo didn't bring about democratic reform in 1960, or 1970, or 1980, and it won't do so in 2010. We need to try a new approach.¶ That approach is engagement - individual, cultural, and economic. It won't be only Cubans who will reap the benefits. The House Agriculture Committee recently passed the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, of which I am proud to be a co-sponsor. It lifts all restrictions on travel to Cuba, and allows American farmers to sell their crops to this waiting market just a few miles off our shores. It will be an important first step, but we need to go even farther, to eliminate the trade embargo that has failed for so long.¶ The result will be hundreds of millions of dollars coming into the American economy, and the creation of thousands of American jobs. And when Cubans start buying our goods and forming relationships with Americans, the path to their future - a democratic and prosperous one - will become clearer than ever.¶ If we can allow travel and trade with nations such as China and Vietnam, then surely we can move forward with lifting the travel ban and ending the embargo with Cuba. Incremental Key – Peaceful TransitionLifting the travel ban key to successful transition – only slow transition leads to peaceArzeno 03 – Master of Business Administration, University of Miami (Mario A., “The U.S. Embargo on Cuba: A Time for Change?” Master of Military Art and Science Strategy, page 49, 2003, http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=727317, Accessed 30 June 2013 The U.S. strategic goal for Cuba should be a peaceful transition to a post embargo environment by gradually lifting the embargo with the implementation of the full spectrum of the Diplomatic Instruments of Power illustrated below. Fidel Castro should be inconsequential to the transition: Diplomatic. Open dialogue with the government of Cuba. Fidel Castro says he wants to open negotiations with the U.S. The U.S. should capitalize on this new stance of openness and use it to its advantage. The U.S. has open dialogue with China; Cuba should be no different. This idea will also open doors to establish relationships with the progressive Cuban leadership willing to consider change. The Bush Administration should also consider supporting the Cuba Working Group’s 9-Point Plan as a tool to initiate reform. Information. Reform TV and Radio Marti by taking it out of the Cuban American National Foundation’s span of influence. Place it under the control of a non-partisan government organization that can develop a robust and meaningful information campaign targeted towards the Cuban people and reform. Conduct an information campaign within our own borders to educate the American public on the costs and benefits of helping the Cuban people. Military. Militarily engage Cuba by including it in one of the Unified Commands. Develop long term bilateral cooperation with the Cuban military and incorporate their armed forces in multilateral cooperation throughout the Caribbean region. 49 Economic. Incrementally lift the embargo beginning with the lifting of the travel ban and the restrictions on the sale of food and medicine, followed by reforming the Torricelli Bill and the Helms-Burton Act.
Gradual lifting best – provides incentives for additional Cuban progressLedger 11 – Lakeland newspaper (“Tourism vs. Embargo: Time to Engage Cuba,” 24 August 2011, http://www.theledger.com/article/20110824/edit01/110829730 A better approach toward Cuba would entail a gradual lifting of the economic embargo and measured moves toward the establishment of normal diplomatic relationships. If the liberalization of Cuba's private-property laws moves forward, that development could be — and should be — a trigger for easing the embargo and establishing political ties. Benchmarks, including the protection of private assets, could be created in order to promote additional progress. Incremental Key – Bargaining ChipGradual key to ensuring US maintains influence in CubaKagan 08 – American historian, author and foreign policy commentator at the Brookings Institution (Robert, “A Card to Play for Cuba's Freedom,” The Washington Post, 20 February 2008, http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-02-20/opinions/36789855_1_opposition-parties-international-election-monitors-cuban-government, Accessed 29 June 2013 The lifting of the embargo could be undertaken in stages linked to the fulfillment by the Cuban government of key conditions necessary for holding elections. These would include allowing genuine independent opposition parties to function, freeing the press and other media and opening them up to the opposition, allowing international nongovernmental organizations to provide elections training and technical assistance to the Cuban people -- in short, taking all the steps necessary to hold a full election campaign in which opposition parties have an equal chance to participate and compete.¶ With international monitors in place months in advance of any vote, the actions of the Cuban government could be watched and evaluated for compliance by members of the U.S. Congress and respected international figures. The Bush administration could determine at each stage whether conditions had been met that would allow the gradual lifting of specific aspects of the embargo. Incremental Key – Laundry List[Needs terminal impacts] Incremental change key to regime change, relations, agriculture, and growthZimmerman 10 - Barnard College (Chelsea A. Zimmerman, “Rethinking The Cuban Trade Embargo: An Opportune Time To Mend a Broken Policy,” Published 2010, http://www.thepresidency.org/storage/documents/Fellows2010/Zimmerman.pdf, accessed 6/30/13, IS) This proposal sets forth multiple reasons for the failure of the U.S. policy of¶ economic sanctions to promote democracy in Cuba, but I will now focus on the¶ costs and benefits of a gradual modification of the current policy. The U.S. needs¶ to adopt a new approach to Cuba that is not based on sanctions, passivity, and¶ waiting. The U.S. government should instead take a more pragmatic approach¶ 9¶ when trying to encourage change in Cuba, especially with the opportunity created¶ by the change in leadership of both countries and with the recent reforms¶ announced by Raul Castro which will over time eliminate the state’s information¶ monopoly. The opportunities involved in gradually loosening trade restrictions¶ with Cuba and promoting cooperation on issues of mutual benefit far outweigh the¶ risks. Benefits for the U.S. in reducing financing restrictions and travel restrictions¶ with Cuba include the following: 1) U.S. agribusinesses will benefit from¶ substantial revenue increases derived from a more significant share of food exports¶ to Cuba, from reduced transportation costs and delays caused by travel restrictions,¶ and from the elimination of cumbersome payment requirements; 2) the U.S.¶ government will benefit from additional tax revenues on the increase in sales; 3)¶ funds wasted on attempts to de-legitimize the Castro regime, such as Radio and TV¶ Marti, estimated to be in excess of $35 million annually, instead can be used for¶ more productive purposes, such as academic and cultural exchanges; 4) the U.S.¶ Treasury’s administrative expenses of enforcing complex financing restrictions and¶ investigating illegal U.S. investments and travel to Cuba will be reduced and¶ redirected to a more practical use, such as investigating terrorist networks abroad;¶ and 5) improved foreign relations with some of the U.S.’s most important allies¶ including the European Union and OAS partners will result from the reform¶ measures (Sweig)..¶ Download 0.7 Mb. Share with your friends:
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