YOUNGSTOWN Diplomats call for end to Cuba, U.S. animosity

The political climate in Cuba will not change after the death of Fidel Castro, a top Cuban diplomat said.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two high-level Cuban diplomats say their country is eager to open up normal relations with the United States, but U.S. officials are resistant to changing the policy.
"There's no reasonable reason to maintain a trade embargo," said Jorge E. Autie, third secretary of political affairs for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C. "Ideological issues aren't a factor. The United States has normal relations with Vietnam and it has embassies in countries they were at war with years ago."
Autie and Florentino Batista Gonzalez, Cuban Interests Section's third secretary of consular affairs and its vice consul, were guest speakers Friday at Youngstown State University's Afro-Cuban Arts Festival. The two praised the festival as a way to help local residents get a better understanding of Cuba.
"People want to learn about Cuba, an island so close and so unknown," Gonzalez said.
Unofficial embassy: The Cuban Interests Section is the country's embassy in the United States, but it cannot be considered an official embassy because of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
There is a small group of wealthy and influential Cuban-Americans in Miami who have been able to maintain the embargo against Cuba, Autie said.
Change after Castro? There is a widely-held misconception in the United States that the two countries will normalize relations upon the death of Fidel Castro because Cuba's political climate will change, Gonzalez said.
"People are waiting for Fidel Castro to die and think that when that happens, there will be change," he said. "But the rest of the 11 million Cubans will not want to change our policies. People are waiting for a biological end to this issue, but it won't change Cuba."
Most of the current top government officials in Cuba were born after the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power and strongly believe in his political system, Autie said.
"There are several theories about what will happen" to Cuba when Castro dies, he said. "Some say it will be violent. But you'll hardly find anyone in Cuba who's worried about what will happen to the country after Castro is gone. It is not a concern. There will be no chaos or problems."
Lifting the trade embargo would prove to be beneficial to both nations, Autie and Gonzalez said.
Tourism: It would increase tourism to Cuba, which is not permitted by the U.S. government, Gonzalez said. Even with the travel restriction, about 100,000 Americans visit Cuba annually, he said. He could not speculate what lifting the travel restriction would do for his country's tourism industry except to say it holds unlimited potential.
Opening markets: Also, lifting the embargo will open up markets for both countries. The Cuban officials pointed to a study by the Cuba Policy Foundation that says the U.S. economy is losing up to $1.24 billion annually in agricultural exports because of the embargo.
"Cuba has to buy products, very basic products like food and medicine, from countries very far away," Autie said.
If the two countries normalized relations it would go a long way to resolving drug smuggling, antiterrorism and migration issues, Gonzalez said.
"We may not like each other's systems, but, by necessity, we have to exist," Autie said.
skolnick@vindy.com