New Report: How Obama Can Break the Diplomatic Deadlock with Cuba

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--If Barack Obama and Raúl Castro sat down for negotiations, what could they talk about?

“9 Ways for US to Talk to Cuba and for Cuba to Talk to US”

The leaders could authorize cooperation in military affairs, law enforcement, hurricane preparedness, health care, migration, trade, energy development, academic exchange, and family travel that would provide real benefits to the Cuban and American people while also building the confidence and trust our diplomats need to bring this fifty-year-old conflict to an end.

These recommendations, by a former Combatant Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, and other scholars, experts, and advocates for engagement, are contained in this report – “9 Ways for US to Talk to Cuba and for Cuba to Talk to US” – released today by The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA).

The report is available for download here.

“Our ‘9 Ways’ report lays out a strategy for the Obama administration to rebuild U.S.-Cuba relations,” said Sarah Stephens, the CDA director and co-editor of the report. “If we could cooperate with Cuba to fight drugs and human smuggling, if our businesses could trade with Cuba and help develop its energy resources, if we could learn why Cuba is better at protecting its citizens from hurricanes and natural disasters, our people would be better off and our diplomats could develop the trust they need to bring our countries together.”

The report contains recommendations on national security, law enforcement, and migration issues that include:

• Increasing dialogue between the Cuban armed forces and the U.S. Southern Command;
• Working out protocols for greater intelligence sharing to fight narco-trafficking;
• Allowing Cuban participation in military exercises for the defense of the Panama Canal;
• Engaging Cuba in efforts against human smuggling;
• Facilitating contacts between agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and their Cuban counterparts; and,
• Starting a dialogue with Cuba on port security in anticipation of increased trade.

To promote cooperation on medical research and academic exchange, the report advocates:

• Removing Cuba from the ‘State Sponsors of Terrorism’ list to allow exchanges of professionals in health care and research;
• Lifting restrictions on educational trips to facilitate medical education;
• Suspending trade restrictions on medicine and medical equipment sales; and,
• Including Cuba in the Fulbright Program, the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program.

To facilitate cooperation with Cuba in commerce and energy development actions could include:

• Using the president’s executive authority to liberalize trade and financial transactions;
• Lifting travel restrictions for all Americans;
• Opening U.S. participation in Cuba’s oil and natural gas development and enabling U.S. firms to help Cuba improve environmental practices in off-shore energy exploration; and,
• Lifting sanctions against future ethanol imports from Cuba to the U.S.

To improve our knowledge about extreme weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba’s civil defense program, the report suggests:

• Allowing Cuban scientists and emergency managers to visit the U.S. and share information on evacuation plans, post-disaster medical support, and citizen disaster preparedness education programs; and,
• Permitting U.S. scientists and emergency managers to visit Cuba and observe storm evacuations in real time.

To engage the Cuban-American community and change the tone of U.S.-Cuba relations, the report’s recommendations include:

• Eliminating restrictions on Cuban-Americans to visit the island and provide financial support;
• Shutting down TV Marti; and,
• Shutting down Radio Marti or transferring its management to the Voice of America in Washington.

Essays in the report were written by Sarah Stephens, Alan Webber, Gen. James T. Hill, Randy Beardsworth, Robert Bach, Peter Bourne, Jake Colvin, Ivor van Heerden, Amy Myers Jaffe and Ronald Soligo, Franklin W. Knight, Alberto R. Coll, and Louis A. Pérez, Jr.

The report was produced by The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA) and its Freedom to Travel campaign. Since 2001, the Freedom to Travel campaign has taken bi-partisan delegations to Cuba that included 5 U.S. Senators, 28 Members of Congress, and 30 professional staff.

Learn more about The Center for Democracy in the Americas by visiting its website: www.democracyinamericas.org.