It’s long been puzzling to me that policy reforms allowing Americans to more easily travel to — and conduct commerce in — Cuba receive more support from Democrats than Republicans. This shouldn’t be the case. While there are no guarantees, economic freedom tends to at least nudge otherwise reluctant countries toward political freedom. At least that’s what we say in our campaign speeches.
Furthermore, in Cuba, the result of relaxing rules governing U.S. travel and remittances over the past five years has led to economic freedom that has improved both the quality of life and the human rights condition of countless Cubans. That’s something for Republicans and Democrats alike to celebrate.
I took to the Senate Floor today to talk about it. Here’s the transcript:
After decades of isolation, we are seeing a measured shift in our policy toward Cuba. We have resumed diplomatic relations, expanded travel opportunities, lifted caps on financial assistance between families, and eased trade restrictions.
I congratulate the Administration for spearheading these changes. It took courage to embark on this path. These policy changes are supported by the vast majority of Cuban Americans. They are applauded by sector after sector of the U.S. business community. They are welcomed by Americans at large. Still, it took someone to lead, and President Obama did. I applaud him and his administration for doing so.
Make no mistake: conditions are improving for the Cuban people because of these changes.
There are some who do not fully appreciate the meaningfulness of this opening to Cuba. They maintain that we have somehow offered concessions to the Cuban government without benefit to the United States or to the Cuban people. Some contend that we have moved prematurely when human rights issues remain unresolved in Cuba.
To be clear, human rights abuses persist in Cuba. We all seek to remedy these abuses. Yet extending fifty years as the Cuban Government’s convenient scapegoat for the failure of socialism is unlikely to help to yield gains in human rights in the future, any more than our policies have done in the past.
Instead, this opening to Cuba takes full advantage of the opportunities presented by the failures of socialism in Cuba. Recognizing the inherent right of Americans to travel to Cuba isn’t a concession to communists, it is an expression of freedom. It is Americans who are penalized by our travel ban, not the Cuban government
During my first visit to Cuba, in 2001, I told the Cuban foreign minister in a meeting in Havana that I was attempting to lift the U.S. travel ban, and I added that if the Cuban Government didn’t improve its human rights record, I would seek to lift the entire trade embargo.
It was taken as an attempt at humor, of course, but for me it was no joke. I have always believed that denying Americans the ability to travel to, and trade with, Cuba has done more to extend dictatorial rule on that island than any policy we could have adopted.
For far too long, U.S. Administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have insisted that U.S. measures, like ending the travel ban or easing the trade embargo, must be met by moves by the Cuban Government to improve the human rights condition of its citizenry. I understand this instinct, but I would submit that ending the travel ban and easing the trade embargo, even when done unilaterally, leads to better human rights conditions in Cuba.
Milton Friedman wrote that economic freedom is “an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom.” Far from being concessions to dictators, changes in our policy toward Cuba are reinforcing and advancing opportunities for Cubans in the private sector. Citizens who are totally dependent on government for their livelihood are subject to the whims of all-powerful leaders in a way that those with economic independence are not.
In a very real sense in Cuba, the economic agenda is the human rights agenda.
Recognizing its precarious economic position in recent years, the cash-strapped Castro regime has laid off thousands of government workers and expanded legal opportunities in the private sector. This has given way to a dramatic rise in the number of entrepreneurs on the island running restaurants, bed and breakfasts, taxi services, barber shops, beauty salons, and more. In fact, it is estimated that as many as a third of Cuba’s 5 million workers are now operating in Cuba’s private sector.
This exponential expansion of Cuba’s entrepreneurial class would not have happened were it not for U.S. policy changes in 2009 that has led to an explosion of travel and remittances by Cuban Americans. Some suggest that remittances are responsible for 70 to 80 percent of the capital used in small businesses in Cuba.
Recent changes to U.S. regulations allowing for additional travel and remittances have further expedited the expansion of the private sector in Cuba. Additional regulatory changes, such as allowing so-called people-to-people exchanges to be conducted on an individual rather than a group basis, would propel this movement even further.
Again, this entrepreneurial explosion in Cuba has not only given scores of Cubans a better quality of life, it has lessened their dependence on the Cuban government in a way that has improved their human rights condition.
The recently completed bilateral air service agreement also represents a key piece to ensuring the continued travel of Americans to the island. This agreement will, for the first time in fifty years, provide scheduled air service between the U.S. and Cuba. Frequent and regular travel between the two countries will continue to open cultural ties and lead to private sector economic opportunities on the island.
I should note that the administration as done just about all that its authority permits to affect change in Cuba. In the coming months it will be up congress take the next steps. I hope that we, particularly those of us on this side of the aisle who believe so strongly in the value of free markets and free enterprise, will remember these principles as we promote democracy and human rights in Cuba.
Margaret Thatcher famously said, “There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.” This statement is as true in Cuba as it is anywhere in the world. It is my hope that this principle will guide our actions as we endeavor to promote freedom and liberty in Cuba.
