While it is surely more urgent from a national security point of view to promote democracy in the Moslem world, decency requires us to address the ongoing human rights violation with a UN seat known as Cuba:
Bush was expected to tout peaceful, pro-democracy movements in Cuba and call on other countries to get behind them. In a direct appeal to ordinary citizens in Cuba, he was to tell them they have the power to change their country, but the White House says that is not meant to be a call for armed rebellion.
Bush proposes at least three initiatives: the creation of an international "freedom fund" to help Cuba's potential rebuilding of its country one day; a U.S. licensing of private groups to provide Internet access to Cuban students, and an invitation to Cuban youth to join a scholarship program.
The latter two offerings help the Bush administration underscore the kind of real-life limitations that Cubans now face, from blocked Internet access to restricted information about their leaders to denial of legal protections. The creation of the international fund is meant to speed up societal transformation.
"We all know that Cuba is going to face very significant requirements to rebuild itself," said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the president. "There's a whole set of challenges that Cuba is going to face. The United States will clearly want to help the Cubans as they define what it is they need, but we think the international community should be thinking that way as well."
Not that a free Cuba isn't in our national interest. But it has been a while since Cuban troops were the shock troops on the Soviet Union fighting in large numbers in Ethiopia and Angola.
Getting international help would be great. After nearly fifty years of the deadening impact of communism, bringing Cuba's infrastructure into even the late twentieth century is going to be pretty expensive. I'd like to see more detailed planning on aid and investment incentives that would be available should the Cubans throw off their dictatorship.
And it would be nice if Hugo got a little lonelier. He'd be far less annoying all by himself with only little Danny Ortega of Nicaraugua to share Marxist slogans.
