Cubans and Americans should talk
2024 Harvard Grad Student and Alumni-led trek to Cuba
Every spring I have the privilege of bringing a group of Harvard graduate students to Cuba for a series of cultural exchanges. We meet with entrepreneurs, designers, musicians, U.S. officials, and more.
In putting these trips together, I do little more than facilitate. They would not be possible without the help of enthusiastic Harvard students (some of whom step up to lead parts of the trek) and the support of an experienced, U.S.-based educational travel company.
The annual trip is one of my several high-cost passion projects (both in terms of personal time and money), and maybe the only one my wife Camila supports. She sees the same need I see: greater engagement between the United States and Cuba. As long as the status quo persists, Cuban people will continue to suffer in poverty.
Cuba is an extremely sensitive political topic. Although I do not have any partisan objectives with these trips, I do maintain one simple belief: Americans and Cubans should talk.
A multi-family dwelling in Vedado
My full-time work used to be focused on increasing internet access for Cubans, and for some time I was able to devote more time to analysis of the U.S.-Cuba relationship through this blog. Now that my work has taken me elsewhere, I at least want to share an annual update in connection with the Harvard graduate student trek I lead.
In that spirit, here are my brief observations about Cuba in 2024:
Shortages are visible everywhere. Even while driving around Havana, Cuba’s economic center, you see long lines for gasoline, basic food items, and more. Power outages plague the island, occasionally hitting downtown Havana, where the government tries to keep the lights on for tourists. This was the case in 2023; things appear worse in 2024.
Many Cubans feel that poverty is worse now than it was during the Special Period. The Special Period refers to Cuba’s prolonged era of economic crisis beginning in the early 1990s. The Soviet Union, Cuba’s main economic partner, had collapsed, and food, fuel, and medicine became scarce. People talk of eating rats to survive; truly terrible times. Many Cubans talk about the current situation as being worse than the Special Period.
Financial reforms have further complicated daily life. One Cuban showed us all of his “credit cards,” but stated he had “no cash.” The multiplication of cards that are required to live daily life are the result of financial reforms implemented by the Cuban government. For various reasons, the government is discouraging cash transactions and encouraging digital purchases. Because cash is still king (especially in U.S. dollars), you see people trying to take their meager government salaries out of ATMs—waiting in long, outdoor lines to do so.
The gap between the haves and have-nots is widening quickly. Recent Cuban government reforms have allowed more people to start businesses and make money. Owning a popular restaurant, for example, has allowed some Cubans to get very rich in comparison to their neighbors. With their newfound wealth, the wealthy class is finding that there is not much to buy with their money. Looking outside of Cuba, they might import a luxury car, paying a 20% premium to the government. The unprecedented display of wealth is not only jarring, but also bemusing: the only gasoline sold in Cuba does not work for a luxury car—after a few months on Cuban “combustible,” the cars are breaking down.
A doorway in Vedado
Cubans are watching the U.S. Presidential Election closely. Cubans are on edge about the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Life on the island is existentially linked to the policies of the White House, and Cubans are hoping for more favorable policies under a second Biden term. Given how little attention President Biden has given to Cuba so far, however, few Cubans believe that change will come.
Safety in Cuba has been slightly diminished. Public services around Cuba, including policing, appear battered. Cuba has long been known as an extremely safe place for visitors, but with an obvious cost to individual rights for Cubans. With a crumbling state and recent economic reforms, we’re starting to see more criminal activity. Havana is still safe for visitors, but not quite as locked down as an authoritarian government would like.
Struggling to Connect
We used to think the internet was a panacea for the world’s anti-democratic woes. It was a nearly universal truth: the free, open internet would let ordinary citizens dismantle authoritarianism and spread democracy. During the Arab Spring of the early 2010s, western outlets touted Facebook and Twitter as the harbingers of free speech and human rights.
Facebook? And Twitter? It’s hard to recall our former optimism. Looking back, these social media platforms don’t appear to have done their job. The number of democratizing governments peaked in 1992 and autocratic regimes are on the rise.
Yet in the White House, hope in the internet’s power to democratize persists. Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden have all invoked the power of the internet as a democratizing force in Cuba.
In a 2007 speech at the State Department, President Bush encouraged European embassies in Cuba to open up “to pro-democracy leaders and invite them to different events. They can use their lobbies of the embassies to give Cubans access to the Internet and to books and to magazines.”
He also proposed a trade with the Cuban government:
Here's an interesting idea to help the Cuban people: the United States government is prepared to license non-governmental organizations and faith-based groups to provide computers and Internet access to Cuban people—if Cuba's rulers will end their restrictions on Internet access for all the people.
When Obama made his historic visit to Cuba in 2016, the internet had already begun to be available in pockets of the island. In a speech at Havana’s Gran Teatro, Obama spoke to Cuban and American leaders on the power of the internet:
The Internet should be available across the island, so that Cubans can connect to the wider world and to one of the greatest engines of growth in human history.
In 2017, Trump set up a Cuba Internet Task Force to “examine the technological challenges and opportunities for expanding Internet access and freedom of expression in Cuba.”
Biden has made more than one indication that he plans to take action on the internet in Cuba. After the July 11, 2021 protests in Cuba, Biden said about the Cuban government: “They've cut off access to the internet. We're considering whether we have the technological ability to reinstate that access.”
Given the general alignment on this topic across the aisle and over time, it was a great surprise to see the following headline last week:
Rejected on national security concerns.
A consortium of companies under the name ARCOS-1 USA had proposed to connect Cuba to its existing network in the Caribbean, but it was rejected on national security concerns. Here is ARCOs-1’s current subsea network—essentially a circle around Cuba:
Giving Cuba the runaround
Source: submarinenetworks.com
ARCOS-1 USA intended to connect Cojimar, Cuba (near Havana) to the cable segment running from Miami, Florida to Cancún, Mexico.
Much of my time working on Google’s Cuba team was spent on this exact issue: exploring whether we could connect a landing station in Miami to a landing station in Havana via subsea cable. We faced headwinds from the Cuban government, but never our own.
So why is Biden’s White House asking the Department of Justice to reject this new deal?
Their concerns about national security may be legitimate, or it may just be the old political calculus; Cuba, in almost any context, is a radioactive issue for those with an election ahead of them.
Per usual, Cuba has found a workaround; just yesterday Cuba and French telecom Orange announced a new cable deal that would connect France’s Caribbean island Martinique to Cuba. Although details are few, I imagine the capacity will be significantly lower than what was proposed by ARCOS-1 USA. That means slower internet for Cubans—but likely better than what they have now.
The Cuban government harbors a love-hate relationship with the internet: out of fear of a political uprising, the Cuban government knows it must deliver internet to its citizens. But the internet itself can also aid a popular uprising, as seen in the July 11th protests of last year.
Thus, the rollout of any internet solution in Cuba is bound to have its stumbles. In the future, satellite internet may resolve many of these issues. Smuggling Starlink equipment into Cuba would be unadvisable (see Alan Gross), but I’m optimistic that at some point satellite internet access will not require any home equipment — you’ll only have to turn on your mobile phone.
Regardless of how fast the internet expands in Cuba, the question remains: does it have the power to bring about democracy? Under the current White House administration, it will take longer to find out.
An Island Without Fish
Photo taken in 2017
A friend recently gave me a copy of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, which, to my shame, I had never read.
I’ve now corrected course. If you’ve never picked it up yourself, I recommend doing so; at only 96 pages, the value-to-time-spent ratio comes out pretty high.
The Pulitzer-Prize winning novella chronicles the three-day journey of an elderly man named Santiago as he fishes off the coast of Havana. Through triumphs and challenges, he demonstrates undying determination. It reads easy, with a narrative style reminiscent of a childhood bedtime story.
Thumbing through The Old Man caused me to reflect on Hemingway’s Cuba of the 1950s and how it compares to Cuba today. Much has changed since the fictional Santiago went out to catch a fish.
Fishing was once an inextricable part of Cuban life. Shortly after Hemingway published The Old Man, however, Fidel came to power and nationalized the fishing industry. He methodically replaced artisanal fishing with a centralized industry that could publicly demonstrate the power of Cuban Communism. Here are his words on the topic:
We will no longer be speaking of small fishers with a dugout canoe or sail boat; we will be speaking of fish harvesters with increasingly modern means of production and larger boats; they will not be fishing only on the continental shelf but will be going out into the oceans. [1]
The simple practice of fishing gradually became less accessible to regular Cubans. But it didn’t stop there. In recent decades, the Cuban fishing industry overall has declined, suffering from overfishing, environmental factors, and a dilapidated fleet. Cubans now eat less fish than ever. In 2019, Reuters reported:
Cubans eat a quarter of the seafood they did at the end of the 1980s, according to official data, and just a fraction of the global average fish consumption per capita, leading them to joke bitterly about being an island without fish. [2]
Today, setting sail for the purpose of fishing (or any other activity) is essentially banned, because boats are often used for illegal migration to Florida. For regular Cubans, fishing in Havana has thus become a largely terrestrial activity. Walk down the Malecón and you’ll find old and young people wrapping lines around a small piece of plywood. The wood serves as a primitive handle and reel. Hoping for better odds of a catch, some innovative Cubans are using a method that involves condoms blown up like balloons that can float a line and hook further out from shore.
A single catch can greatly impact their financial situation or calorie intake. Rarely, it seems, do they catch anything. Perhaps they would have better luck on the open sea, but most Cubans will never know the seafaring life of Hemingway’s old man. They certainly know one thing, however: his tireless determination.
[1] Fishing for the Revolution: Transformations and Adaptations in Cuban Fisheries, Sabrina Doyon, Département d'anthropologie, Université Laval, Canada.
[2] An island without fish? Cuba aims to tackle problem with law overhaul, Reuters.
Homemade Boats: The Journey of a Cuban Migrant
I had never seen so many people at the José Martí International Airport. A crowd outside the main glass doors had overflowed off of the curb and into the street. I asked the taxi driver what was going on. “Nicaragua,” he sighed.
My travel mates and I grabbed our suitcases and walked up to the crowd. Several security guards were blocking the path into the airport. I approached a tall man in a uniform to get the story. “Where are you going?” he asked. “Back to the U.S.” He looked down at my blue passport and waved us through.
Struggling through shoulders and elbows, we carved a path through the crowd and made it through the glass doors. The airport was quiet.
Being able to travel to the U.S. directly from Cuba made us extremely privileged. Everyone outside would be doing the same, if they could.
I walked up to the JetBlue check-in counter and asked, gesturing outside, “Are they all trying to go see the volcanos?”
The check-in attendant was Cuban. Eyeing me, she said, “You know too much.”
Going on “vacation” to “see the volcanos” in Nicaragua is a recently minted Cubanismo for flying to Nicaragua to start the journey toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
During my trip to Havana in March of this year, almost every local I met was either thinking about leaving or preparing to leave the island. Close friends of mine would soon sell all their belongings and begin their own journeys to the U.S.
For emigrating Cubans, the most accessible starting point after leaving Havana is Nicaragua. Cubans don’t currently need a travel visa to get there, which means many buy a plane ticket as soon as they have enough money. But Nicaragua is far from the ideal pit stop; the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory puts Nicaragua just one level below Ukraine, asking U.S. citizens to reconsider traveling there.
Once in Nicaragua, Cubans pay coyotes upward of USD 5,000 to smuggle them through several countries and checkpoints, and ultimately across the U.S.-Mexico border. The risk of getting robbed is high, so Cubans often have a friend in the U.S. send them cash through Western Union in small tranches along the way.
The journey through Central America is perilous. Cubans are often on the run from the authorities even before they try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. They are likely to be “illegal” immigrants in Mexico unless they can secure a humanitarian visa.
Those with more resources or better luck avoid Nicaragua altogether; some Cubans are able to secure a visa to Mexico, leave for “vacation” to Cancun and start a safer, shorter journey to the border.
Presenting Cuban documents at a U.S. port of entry has a low success rate, so most Cuban migrants—rich or poor, PhDs or cab drivers (some Cubans are both)—eventually face the moment in which they cross the border illegally. They run through the Sonoran desert, wade across the Rio Grande, or jump over a fence. They face dangers that I will never fully comprehend.
Contemplating their journey evokes sorrow, dolor, tristeza.
There is one more way to get from Cuba to the U.S.
Many Cubans cross by sea. It’s quicker and more direct than land, but perhaps more dangerous. With homemade boats, thousands of Cubans are attempting the journey. Many have made it, but many have died at sea. The U.S. Coast Guard frequently tweets #DontTakeToTheSea to deter crossings.
Below is a Cuban vessel that was intercepted on May 29th (USCG news release). Its passengers were repatriated to Cuba.
Another Cuban vessel, christened “God is Just,” was intercepted in June off the Florida keys and its passengers repatriated to Cuba.
Some migrants, however, make it to Florida. Last week the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami Sector arrested 108 Cubans on shore.
Cubans who make it safely to land are often treated as asylum seekers. Many are put on a path toward legal status and obtain a work permit. Some, after years, eventually get U.S. citizenship. These success stories are relayed back to Cuba, giving hope to more potential emigrants.
Cubans are trying to enter the U.S. in record numbers. We don’t have data yet for July or August, but it’s clear that something big is going on this year.
So, what is driving Cuban emigration? How is the U.S. government reacting? This and more to be discussed in upcoming issues of The Cuba Reader.
Other stories from this week:
Cuba’s enormous blaze fuels fears of instability even as flames are doused | The Guardian
Covid-19 has damaged the reputation of Cuban health care | The Economist
2021 in review
Credit: YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images
Looking back on 2021, I feel grateful that you spent even a few minutes with The Cuba Reader, my humble newsletter and blog. It has been another fascinating year in the annals of the U.S.-Cuba relationship. In 18 posts we considered how the isolated island fought COVID-19 with ingenuity and determination, developing its own vaccine and rapidly delivering it to all its citizens. We watched, stunned, as Cubans spontaneously flooded the streets in a historic, mass protest against the Communist government. And we grew tired as the Biden presidency, which promised re-engagement with Cuba, chose silence and patience as its diplomatic strategy. In sum, it was nothing like the year I expected.
Next year will bring new opportunities to analyze the past, present and future of the U.S.-Cuba relationship. But as the year comes to a close, here are the 10 most-read stories on the blog:
Weekend reads: inside GTMO, a floating power plant, and Cuban emigration
The drive-thru window at the McDonald’s in Guantanamo Bay. Source: NYT
To keep you busy this weekend... here are three fascinating Cuba-related stories:
TRT (video): A floating power plant is providing 10% of Cuba's power. Cuba has long struggled to meet its energy demand from domestic sources. Until the early 90s, Cuba received free or subsidized oil from the Soviet Union. In recent years, Venezuela has provided much of Cuba's energy. Turkey is now selling power to the island from its innovative, offshore power plant.
Al Jazeera: ‘This is a new wave’: Hundreds of Cubans seek refuge in Greece. We may be seeing the beginning of a new wave of Cuban emigration driven by political and economic troubles at home. In the U.S. alone, the number of Cubans trying to cross the border has doubled from the previous year. Al Jazeera speaks directly with migrants arriving in Greece.
New York Times: Guantánamo Bay: Beyond the Prison A rare look inside the infamous U.S. Navy base, a place that is way more interesting than you think. For starters, it's the only place in Cuba with a McDonald's.
An unstoppable force, an immovable object
On November 15th, Cubans were prepared for what was supposed to be the largest anti-government protest in history. But instead of streets flooded in jubilant civil disobedience, we saw an empty Malecón, a quiet Paseo del Prado, and an extinguished grassroots movement.
As noted in my previous post, the Cuban government was aware of the protests planned for Monday and took early countermeasures against the organizers. On the Sunday afternoon prior, plainclothes police and pro-government supporters surrounded the home of Yunior García, who is widely seen as the leader of the movement, organized on Facebook under the title Archipiélago.
Believing that his incarceration was imminent, García fled to the Havana airport, and with $150 in his pocket, boarded a plane to Madrid. The Spanish government facilitated his escape while the Cuban government—which certainly could have clipped his wings—allowed him to fly across the Atlantic.
Yunior García during press conference in Madrid on November 18. Source: El País
Since then, Cuba has been quiet. With its leader in exile and its foot soldiers unwilling to confront Cuban police, the Archipiélago movement, which has been building throughout the year, has all but dissipated.
Is the momentum lost? Will protests flare up again in the near future? It's difficult to predict what's next, but here's round-up of news to shine some light:
New York Times: Playwright Is in Exile as Cuba Uses an Old Playbook to Quash Dissent
NBC News: 'Alive and well,' says Cuban protest leader Yunior García from Spain
[Spanish] CNN (video): "I was never going to be able to speak out in Cuba like I can in Spain"
[Spanish] El País: "I plan to return to Cuba once my work here is done"
Protests planned for today, the world watches
Yesterday, on the eve of the protests, Cuban police and pro-government supporters surrounded the home of a 39-year-old playwright named Yunior García Aguilera, who is seen as the leader of the opposition group.
An opposition group to the Cuban government, called Archipiélago, has spent the past few weeks planning a pro-democracy protest for today, Monday, November 15th, 2021.
The government has condemned the march and has denied necessary permits for the group to assemble in public. The protestors have stated that they plan to gather even without having secured permits. Yesterday, however, Cuban police took early measures to stop them.
Archipiélago is the same group that marched against the government earlier this year on July 11th, a date that is now a byword for the struggle to expand individual freedoms and effect constitutional change.
The date of today's march is likely not coincidental — it's also when the island re-opens to international visitors.
Frustrated, the Cuban government has cast both the July 11th protest and today's march as an American-capitalist plot. Many protestors from the summer remain in jail or are otherwise unaccounted for. The Archipiélago group has indicated that it is acting on its own accord and without international funding.
I find it interesting that the protestors don't match up with the historical anti-Communist crowd; the organizers are young people from the creative class who appear to come from the political left more than the political right. This precise demographic is one of those that Raúl Castro and President Diaz-Canel hoped would carry the banner of the Revolution into the future.
The leader of the Archipiélago movement, Yunior García Aguilera, was unable to leave his home yesterday due to a police blockade. Ramon Espinosa / AP
Yesterday, on the eve of the protests, Cuban police and pro-government supporters surrounded the home of a 39-year-old playwright named Yunior García Aguilera, who is seen as the leader of the opposition group. Other figures of the Archipiélago group have also reported being blocked from leaving their homes. A Washington post columnist in Cuba was at home taking out his trash when he was approached by police and placed under house arrest.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken responded on Sunday by condemning Cuba's "intimidation tactics" and calling for "respect for human rights." Meanwhile, Cuban-Americans in Florida spent Sunday rallying publicly in support of the "15N" march.
The world will be watching today to see if the Cuban government responds to protestors with restraint or brutality. Flouting human rights will further strain Cuba's relations with the international community, especially with its neighbor to the north. It would also be bad PR for foreigners contemplating a visit, which should be the government's primary concern given the dire need for tourism spending. I am anxious to see how it goes.
When will Cuba re-open?
In mid-March of 2020, I planned to join 42 of my grad school classmates on a week-long trip to Havana. This wasn't going to be your typical spring break trip; if we even made it to the beach, we were only there to do trash clean-up (the U.S. Treasury effectively has a ban on sunbathing).
Our schedule instead centered around hearing from Cuban citizens in the arts, agriculture, hospitality and more. We looked forward to long conversations on Cuban history and the U.S.-Cuba relationship.
The whole group was booked on JetBlue 867, a direct flight from BOS to HAV. But at the last minute, the trip was canceled. COVID-19 had, as they say, entered the chat. The pandemic would not only alter our travel plans, but go on to change the world as we knew it.
A year and a half later, Cuba is re-opening its borders to international visitors. November 15th is the date. Getting tourists back to the island, however, may prove difficult.
Cuba is just coming off a peak of Coronavirus cases, so the government and citizens are cautious about an influx of visitors. Due to early, restrictive measures, COVID-19 exhibited very little spread on the island during the first 12 months of lockdowns. But as other countries obtained access to vaccines, Cuba did not, and the situation took a nosedive. Cases and deaths rose throughout the summer. But thanks to an aggressive vaccination campaign, Cuba is getting back on its feet. Although the Cuban vaccine is still unrecognized by the World Health Organization, it seems to be working. Cases are down and the vaccination rate is higher than in the U.S., according to Our World in Data.
Still, caution abounds, among both locals and foreigners. Visitors may feel pressure to stay away from the island out of fear increasing Coronavirus transmission and potentially overwhelming an already challenged healthcare system.
The economic climate will also delay a full comeback. Cuba is in the middle of its worse economic crisis since the 1990s, which is when the Soviet Union collapsed and could no longer provide support. Today’s downturn was triggered by the pandemic, which killed tourism and access to foreign capital. As a result, Cubans have struggled to gain access to the most basic necessities, notably food and fuel.
Some Twitter and Reddit users have expressed that it may be immoral for tourists to enjoy food and drink aplenty while everyday Cubans scrape by. Given the fact that tourism is Cuba's largest economic sector, however, I would think liberal spending by foreign visitors would do the country more good than harm.
Politics are also at play. The ongoing tension between the US and Cuba creates an environment of uncertainty for visitors. The Trump White House rolled back many of Obama's Cuba policies, thereby tightening access to the island, and the current administration has shown no indication that it will nurture the relationship back to health.
Travel to Cuba was legal before the pandemic, and it will be legal after November 15. U.S. citizens cannot visit as tourists, but they can visit under a "support for the Cuban people" travel license. Providing support to the Cuban people can be as simple as staying in an Airbnb (instead of a government-owned hotel) and engaging with locals in various non-touristic ways.
Jet Blue's inaugural flight to Cuba in 2016. Associated Press Images for JetBlue
Despite the legality of travel, the political environment is confusing, and discourages Americans from visiting. Citizens from other countries not bound by these same restrictions may feel the confusion, too.
Tourism is the lifeblood of the Cuban economy, so re-opening to international visitors is a much-needed measure. But it will take quite a bit of time to return to pre-pandemic tourism volume.
However long it takes, it appears the travel industry is poised for a return to normal. Airbnb listings in Cuba are still widely available. JetBlue and Southwest are still running flights from Miami to Havana six days a week. We may be back in Cuba sooner than we think.
The strange story of the U.S.-Cuba hijacking accord
Looking back on decades of standoff and subterfuge, it's easy to miss the rare — and often strange — episodes of U.S.-Cuban collaboration. In one footnote of history, Nixon and Castro, otherwise sworn enemies, unite to curb the rise of plane hijackings.
Long before the advent of full-body scanners and 3.4-oz limits on toothpaste, airports had very little security. As air travel boomed in the mid-century, so did plane hijackings. Airline executives initially pushed back against added security measures because they didn't want to inconvenience their customers. Most of the hijacking incidents were fairly benign, anyway; injuries or fatalities related to the hijackings were rare. In a typical case, a troubled person would barge into the cockpit with a weapon, demanding that the plane be flown to a new destination. Where exactly? It varied, but more often than not, hijackers that started their trip in the U.S. conspired to end it in Cuba.
Many hijackers were pro-Cuban ideologues and believed that if they could make it to Havana, Fidel would greet them with a hero's welcome. Cuba was the symbolic antithesis to Western ideology; those who stood against the Vietnam War, domestic racism, and other issues of the day often viewed Castro as their spiritual leader, and Cuba as the land of milk and honey. But Cuba was inaccessible to Americans, made distant by the U.S. embargo enacted by President Kennedy. One of the only ways to get there was by hijacking a plane.
Source: Aviation Safety Network
By the late 1960s, the hijacking problem reached a staggering peak. Between 1968 and 1972, the number of hijackings worldwide was over 300, with over 50% of them originating in the US and landing in Cuba. Inconceivably, two American planes were hijacked on the same day on July 12, 1968. Both hijackers attempted to go to Cuba. One was successful, the other was not.
Source: NYT Archive
Fidel sought respect from the international community and wasn't keen on the optics of his young socialist country being a haven for hijackers. The Cuban government stated that although some hijackers were politically motivated, others were "common delinquents" [1] and did not deserve political asylum in Cuba. Criminals were not welcome in Havana – this was an ongoing theme for Fidel. A decade later, he announced a period of free emigration from Cuba to the United States, now known as the Mariel Boatlift. As part of the mass exodus (about 125,000 Cubans), Fidel released criminals from Cuban prisons and sent them to the U.S.
Washington didn't like the hijackings any more than Havana. Not only were the episodes bad for the airline business, they came with their own set of unfavorable optics. The U.S. was supposed to be a safe haven for Cuban refugees, not the other way around.
Seeing an area of aligned interests, Cuba reached out to its northern neighbor to put an end to the "skyjacking" problem. Knowing it would be difficult to engage directly, the Cubans tried something bolder, putting Washington on its heels. In a savvy political gambit, the Castro government made a public announcement: Cuba would start prosecuting or extraditing all foreign hijackers. Extradition, however, would happen only with countries that had negotiated a bilateral antihijacking accord with Cuba [2].
Long before the Cuban Revolution and the U.S. embargo, Pan Am started as a scheduled airmail and passenger service flying between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba.
The Nixon administration was more interested in overthrowing the Cuban government than extending the hand of diplomacy, so Cuba's announcement initially flummoxed Henry Kissinger's team at the State Department. But seeing no other alternative, Nixon and Kissinger warmed up to the idea of collaborating. The U.S. began secret communications with the Cubans via the Swiss Embassy in Havana.
A negotiation ensued, but the sticking point was reciprocity. The Cubans were offering to return American hijackers back to the U.S., but Nixon and Kissinger didn't want to commit to returning Cuban hijackers to Cuba. An internal memo at the U.S. National Security Council said it was a "commitment we cannot make because of the political asylum aspect." [2]
But after a few more high-profile hijackings, the problem became too grave to ignore. The U.S. decided to take things more seriously and ultimately agreed to Cuba's terms. There was one caveat, however: the accord wouldn't apply to hijackers who didn't use violence and claimed to be political refugees. In those particular cases, Cuban hijackers would be offered asylum in the U.S.
Although it would eventually hit some turbulence, the accord was a success. It dramatically decreased hijackings and set the stage for future opportunities to collaborate over common interests. Successful diplomacy is often just a series of small wins strung together into a bilateral relationship, and the hijacking accord was one of those small wins. In future posts, we'll explore other ways in which the Cubans and Americans have put aside their fiercest disputes in order to work together.
[1] "Antihijacking Law Enacted by Havana" NYT, September 20, 1969
[2] Leogrande et al. Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill, 2015.
Cuba erupts in protest
Source: Reuters
Nothing like massive protests in Cuba to pull you out of your summer sabbatical.
For the few people who really enjoy seeing the Reader in their inbox, I apologize for being offline the past couple of months. For the rest of you, hopefully you don't mind another point of view on the Cuba news of the day, which is quite big this time.
Cuba erupted on Sunday in what appears to be spontaneous, grassroots protests. They began in the provinces, but fueled by social media, quickly spread throughout the island. Cubans came out in thousands to protest their government on many issues: a fumbled COVID response, food shortages, and limited freedoms. Videos show Cubans shouting "we are not afraid!" and "freedom!" in the streets. Meanwhile, the government has been throttling access to the internet.
We haven't seen a movement like this for decades. Academics like Michael Bustamante are comparing these protests to the 1994 Maleconazo uprising, but bigger. The Maleconazo uprising led to an exodus of 35,000 Cubans to the U.S. on makeshift rafts — a dangerous way to migrate and a crisis for all parties.
The Cuban government, so far, has shown little restraint. AP reporter Michael Weissenstein tweeted a photo of a fellow journalist who was brutalized by police. Social media photos and videos portray widespread arrests and brutality. CiberCuba has compiled many of those posts here.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel went on TV to encourage "revolutionaries" to meet protestors in the streets. The protestors, by Diaz-Canel's measure, are just American-funded operatives and nothing more. In a closing statement, he gave his supporters permission to use violence against protestors.
Well, I don't like that.
Meanwhile, some on Twitter are calling for a U.S. military intervention in Cuba.
I don't like that either.
Certain people in D.C. are reveling in their political fortune. Marco Rubio, who owes much of his career to a hardline approach to Cuba, took to Twitter to voice support for protestors and condemn the Cuban government.
The White House, which has been mostly silent on Cuba up until now, responded with uncharacteristic boldness. President Biden released a statement this morning:
We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.
There is still much yet to happen here, but here are a couple of current thoughts:
Biden's silence on Cuba before today has been frustrating, but he may have played his cards just right. By leaving Trump's heavy sanctions in place while he "reviewed" his Cuba policy, he may have fueled the Cuban people's discontent with its Communist government. Now Biden gets to stand up for human rights and stand with the Cuban people without taking any political risks. Thinking ahead to 2024, his statement today will play well with Cuban-Americans in Florida (an important voting bloc). By letting things play out, he also doesn't run afoul of the far left that abhors the U.S. embargo. It was Trump, after all, that increased sanctions. Biden just needs some more time for his "review." A good situation for Biden.
The U.S. has to walk a fine line when responding to the protests. Biden and other politicians must voice support for protestors who seek basic human rights. But they also run the risk of voicing too much support, thereby playing into the Cuban government's narrative that this is all just an American-led or CIA-funded protest movement.
We should keep an eye out for what happens next. Here are some great reporters on the ground that you can follow on Twitter as things unfold:
Washington Post columnist Abraham Jiménez Enoa
CNN correspondent in Havana Patrick Oppmann
AP reporter in Havana Michael Weissenstein
Reuters reporter Sarah Marsh
Stories of the week
The Malecón in Havana
There were two very interesting stories on Cuba this week:
On Telegram, Cubans are coming together to revolutionize the internet
Rest of World covers technology in places that don't often get Western media coverage. This is a great story on how Cuban citizens are leveraging American technology companies like Google to drive policy reform in Washington. Here are the takeaways:
The tech scene is alive and well in Cuba. There is a rapidly growing cohort of NFT artists, YouTubers and crypto investors.
These tech-savvy Cubans are publicly calling on companies like Google to drive U.S. policies that will ease the embargo on internet services.
These folks are explicitly interested in using the internet to make money. This kind of entrepreneurship is becoming more socially acceptable and less restricted under Cuban law.
Read the whole story here.
Love or Spycraft: What Landed an American Teacher in a Cuban Prison?
Accompanied by heartbreaking family photos, The New York Times dives into the modern-day tale of espionage, love and betrayal. Here are the highlights:
A woman in Miami unwittingly fell in love with a Cuban spy, and they’re now both in a Cuban prison.
The Cuban government assigned her an attorney, and the attorney actively worked to convict and imprison her.
The State Department’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs is looking into a way to secure her release.
Read the whole story here.
Waiting for a vaccine in Havana
Looking at the vaccine flexes on Instagram and Twitter, you would think nearly everyone has the shot. In the U.S., it's trending that way. This week President Biden said, "Go get a shot. It's never been easier." The CDC reports rapid distribution—some 2 to 3 million doses per day.
Ninety miles south of Miami, vaccinations efforts have failed to launch. An early commitment to a home-grown vaccine has yielded good results but has yet to deliver an approved shot. However, success may be just around the corner.
There are five Cuban vaccine candidates, with two in the final phase of trials. This alone is a national triumph, and has given Cuban leadership opportunities to tout the benefits of a centrally planned medical industry.
But as trials carry on, COVID cases in Cuba are spiking. In response to the uptick, a friend and journalist on the island tells me that the Cuban government is expanding the pool of trial participants. Pairing a trial with a national vaccination effort is highly unorthodox, but it's what the Cuban government believes it must do to bring cases back down to former levels.
Fortunately for those getting jabbed, the vaccine has proved to be safe in early testing. Its efficacy, however, is still in question.
National pride drove Cuba's strategy to develop its vaccine in-house. The island nation has long prided itself on its government medical program, holding it up as a success of the Communist system of government. Throughout 2020, Cuba was able to maintain a low number of COVID-19 cases while exporting doctors and nurses to other countries. Last week Mexican President Lopez Obrador called Cuban President Diaz-Canel to thank him for sending about 1,000 health workers to help Mexico respond to the pandemic.
It's also likely that Cuba turned inward for a vaccine because its rolodex of strategic partners is severely limited by the U.S. embargo. Iran has been available to support trials, but otherwise it's a small group of countries that would be both capable and interested in partnering with the Cubans.
At the current rate of distribution in the U.S., all of Cuba could be vaccinated in under a week. But the Cubans would never ask for help, and I find it unlikely that the U.S. would be willing to share its vaccine supply without first putting some broader diplomatic framework in place.
Cuba's plan to approve and widely distribute a vaccine will likely work, and it will certainly be a national achievement, but the delays come at a cost. On Wednesday Cuban health officials reported a record 18 deaths on a single day.
As the virus remains part of daily life, Cubans continue to suffer. The country was already stumbling under inefficient government policies and a crippling U.S. embargo when the virus wiped out tourism, Cuba's primary economic sector.
On top of these troubles, the Trump administration blocked remittances from the U.S. to Cuba mid-last year, severely limiting access to a major source of income. Sending money to loved ones in Cuba now requires a hand delivery.
A successful vaccine rollout will mean many things for Cubans: cases will go down, tourism will return, and life will get better.
A goodbye to Castro’s Cuba
These are uncertain times. All at once, Cuba is facing new leadership, an economic recession, and a new White House administration. President Diaz-Canel is entrusted to carry the banner of socialism, but Cubans are hoping for changes that will stimulate economic growth. Raul is still behind the scenes, advising Diaz-Canel on major issues. There is a deep divide between the plans of the government and the wishes of the people, and it's growing wider.
This past weekend I met a man in his early thirties who had recently moved from Havana, Cuba to Houston, Texas. He didn't say exactly how he was able to establish himself in his new country, but he made it clear that he wasn't interested in going back to his old one. He told me that his mother and sister still lived in Cuba, and he was hoping to get them to Texas, too.
I commented on the economic situation. "Some people are saying it's as bad as the nineties right now."
"It's much worse," he countered.
I probed, "How do you think things will change now that Trump is out of office?"
"The politics never change. It's always the same."
His attitude reflects the current national mood; many Cubans have lost hope that the food and energy shortages, which define daily life on the island, will get any better.
If more Cubans had the resources or audacity to emigrate, it seems they would.
The Cuban economy is in a deep recession, despite Raul Castro's decade-long effort at reform. Critics say the reforms did not go far enough, leaving private enterprise severely hamstrung. Castro instead blames Cuba's economic failures on the U.S. embargo. Neither side, however, foresaw the COVID-19 pandemic and global shutdown of travel, which has flattened an economy almost entirely dependent on tourism.
On Friday, according to plans several years in the making, Raul Castro stepped down from his role as head of the government. He is leaving his successor with a tattered and worn Cuba.
His departure from the seat of power marks an end to 62 years of Castro rule. In preparation for this moment, Raul groomed a younger generation to take over. He handpicked party loyalist Miguel Diaz-Canel to be president in 2018. Last week, he handed over full power, naming Diaz-Canel secretary general of the Communist Party. There is only one political party in Cuba.
Raul Castro leaves a fascinating legacy. Although he served in the shadow of his brother Fidel, he wielded wide influence. The two Castros didn't always agree. For example, in the 2010s, Raul sold his capitalistic reforms as positive and necessary steps for Cuba, while his older brother Fidel, by then retired, portrayed them as "concessions to the enemy." When the Revolution first began, Raul encouraged his brother to embrace Communism, while Fidel kept his options open. Then and now, on the biggest issues, Raul has led the way.
As he steps back from governing, Raul is doing all he can to keep the country's faith alive in the Revolution, a cultural doctrine that centers on opposing U.S. interference in domestic affairs. In a speech that marked the passing of the torch, Raul portrayed the incoming party leadership as "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit."
But as Cuba begins a new chapter in its history, one must ask: what is Cuba without a Castro at its helm? What is a revolution without its leader?
These are uncertain times. All at once, Cuba is facing new leadership, an economic recession, and a new White House administration. President Diaz-Canel is entrusted to carry the banner of socialism, but Cubans are hoping for changes that will stimulate economic growth. Raul is still behind the scenes, advising Diaz-Canel on major issues. There is a deep divide between the plans of the government and the wishes of the people, and it's growing wider.
As stated by Professor Bill LeoGrande on my YouTube channel last week, the economy is at the center of Cuba's ills. The quickest way to alleviate the economic situation, of course, would be to engage commercially with the U.S., the largest trading partner in the region. But trade follows diplomacy, and it's still unclear whether Diaz-Canel and Biden are willing to engage.
Interview with Professor Bill LeoGrande of American University
It was my great privilege to sit down virtually with Bill LeoGrande and get his perspective on the U.S.-Cuba relationship. Bill is a Professor of Government at American University and an expert on U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. He is also the author of Back Channel to Cuba, which is an excellent read. In our 30-minute discussion, we covered the fraught diplomatic history, good and bad negotiation tactics, and Bill’s predictions for how President Biden will handle Cuba. Let me know what you think.
It was my great privilege to sit down virtually with Bill LeoGrande and get his perspective on the U.S.-Cuba relationship. Bill is a Professor of Government at American University and an expert on U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. He is also the author of Back Channel to Cuba, which is an excellent read. In our 30-minute discussion, we covered the fraught diplomatic history, good and bad negotiation tactics, and Bill’s predictions for how President Biden will handle Cuba. Let me know what you think.
I plan to host more discussions like this in the future, so if this is your kind of thing, please subscribe on YouTube to follow along. Let me know via email or in the comments if there’s anyone in particular you’d like me to interview next.
Caught in the ideological crossfire
When it came to engaging with Cuba, there was something special about President Obama. Some combination of the man and his times resulted in the perfect opportunity for a thaw in relations.
But the times have changed, and Biden may have to keep things on ice.
When it came to engaging with Cuba, there was something special about President Obama. Some combination of the man and his times resulted in the perfect opportunity for a thaw in relations.
But the times have changed, and Biden may have to keep things on ice.
In 2015, over half of Cuban Americans in Florida supported normalizing relations with Cuba. Obama had barely enough political support to exchange prisoners, unlock travel, re-open the embassy, and foster commercial partnerships.
A new poll from consulting firm Bendixen & Amandi International shows that nearly two-thirds of the same demographic are now against reengagement with Cuba.
Some hoped that Biden would pick up where Obama left off. It's clear that this time, it's different.
It would be easy to pin Biden's change of fortune on Trump. He fired up the anti-Castro rhetoric whenever it was useful. He made promises to hardline Cuban American voters and partnered with their representatives in Congress. His tirades against Cuban socialism still echo in Republican messaging. He may have effectively swayed public opinion against engagement with Cuba.
And Florida, a crucial battleground state, tilted his way.
Perhaps Trump's anti-socialism message worked, in part, because the pro-socialism message was gaining ground. In recent years, we witnessed the rise of the two most prominent socialists in American political history: Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. One of them almost nabbed the Democratic nomination and the other still has a long political career ahead of her. As Bernie and AOC leaned into socialist messaging, Trump pointed to the failings of Cuba and Venezuela. It was an effective tactic.
According to the data, Trump's message had a warm audience. A 2019 Gallup poll found that most Americans view socialism unfavorably.
Never mind that diplomatic engagement with Cuba has little to do with adopting Cuba's style of governance. These should be viewed as two separate issues. In fact, the U.S. maintains good relations with many countries that have rejected democracy.
Yet, amid the ideological mudslinging, it seems the two issues have been conflated, and the U.S.-Cuba relationship is collateral damage.
The way I see it, Biden has two paths before him. He could fit his presidential priorities into the limits of public opinion. Or he could try to shape public opinion to align with his presidential priorities.
The former option is politically expedient, but the latter may be fruitful as well. Since the Biden administration has said very little on Cuba so far, I think testing the waters is a good next step. Biden may find he has the Obama magic after all.
U.S.-Cuba history: Fidel at Harvard
It was April 1959. Fresh off a revolution, Fidel Castro showed up in America on an unofficial goodwill tour. Not wanting to give Castro an audience, President Eisenhower spent the week at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Hesitantly, Vice President Nixon met with the young revolutionary. The meeting left them resenting each other.
It was April 1959. Fresh off a revolution, Fidel Castro showed up in America on an unofficial goodwill tour. Not wanting to give Castro an audience, President Eisenhower spent the week at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Hesitantly, Vice President Nixon met with the young revolutionary. The meeting left them resenting each other.
Castro didn't seem to mind the snubs from D.C. Wherever he went, the new leader of Cuba was met with throngs of press and admirers. Nowhere was this more clear than in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On the last day of the tour, after visiting Princeton and Yale, Castro stopped at Harvard. The Crimson keeps the text from the original news announcement online, which highlights the risk of an assassination attempt on the Cuban leader.
Despite the risk, Castro spoke to thousands of students in front of the Dillon Field House. There would be no assassination attempt, and Fidel was left to deliver a speech in his typical style: long, exuberant, and critical of the U.S. For the most part, Harvard students loved it.
But that was a different time. Fidel had not yet embraced communism. In fact earlier in his tour, Castro told the National Press Club in D.C., "We are against all kinds of dictators...that is why we are against Communism."
He was also still promising free and fair elections in Cuba. During the speech, a Harvard Law student asked Castro a question: "The postponing of elections in Cuba has been explained by the need for special powers to fulfill your revolutionary reforms. Don't you feel you would have even greater powers if the people were allowed to speak through the polls?"
Castro responded that Cuba simply needed some time to get settled. Democratic elections were coming.
And yet, they never did.
One interesting anecdote from the speech: at one point Castro revealed to the crowd that he had applied to Harvard years before — and was rejected.
I imagine that as he looked out over the mass of students, clinging to every word of his speech, the sting of rejection was no more.
Artists seek change in Cuba
The particular brand of socialism practiced in Cuba can be compared to a religion. The doctrine and beliefs comprise The Revolution, which is not just a historical event, but an ongoing economic, social, and political mission. The Revolution is upheld and evangelized by the Communist party.
And as we see in all religions throughout time, there is a class of people that are not welcome within the fold: the heretics.
The particular brand of socialism practiced in Cuba can be compared to a religion. The doctrine and beliefs comprise The Revolution, which is not just a historical event, but an ongoing economic, social, and political mission. The Revolution is upheld and evangelized by the Communist party.
And as we see in all religions throughout time, there is a class of people that are not welcome within the fold: the heretics.
If you've been following the Cuba-related news over the past year, you may have noted the growing coverage of the Movimiento San Isidro, or MSI. MSI is a group of artists, academics, journalists, and other activists that seek freedom of expression. In November of last year, the group protested the arrest of a local artist (he was then imprisoned for "contempt"). This event ballooned into larger protests against the State’s growing surveillance program and other threats against the artist community.
The movement garnered support from the U.S. and other international voices, but resulted in a swift backlash at home. On Twitter Cuban President Díaz-Canel called MSI an “imperial show to destroy our identity and subjugate us again.” Meanwhile, the Cuban police ramped up surveillance and arrests of MSI members.
But despite orchestrated efforts to minimize the group’s influence, MSI has recently become a bigger movement.
The song features artists Yotuel, Gente De Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, and El Funky
A couple of weeks ago, the internationally-acclaimed reggaeton group Gente de Zona released a new song called Patria y Vida. Artists in the video are from both Miami and Havana. The song, which echoes the protest language of MSI, has nearly 3 million view on YouTube. The Miami Herald goes into the meaning behind the lyrics. (the story is free to read but may require a sign-up).
Whether you agree with the message or not, the video is worth a watch. The heretics have something to say.
Looking to save its economy, Cuba turns to market liberalization
When Miguel Diaz-Canel was inaugurated as president of Cuba in 2018, he declared that there was "no room in Cuba for those who strive for the restoration of capitalism." Yet in a surprising and bold move to save the Cuban economy, the president just opened up most sectors of work to free enterprise.
When Miguel Diaz-Canel was inaugurated as president of Cuba in 2018, he declared that there was "no room in Cuba for those who strive for the restoration of capitalism." Yet in a surprising and bold move to save the Cuban economy, the president just opened up most sectors of work to free enterprise.
Marc Frank of Reuters reported on the 2,000+ new activities that will be eligible for private business licenses:
The measure, coming as the Caribbean island seeks to recover from an economic slump, will expand the field from 127 activities to more than 2,000, Labor Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera was quoted as saying. She spoke at a council of ministers meeting that approved the policy. She said there would be 124 exceptions, but the media reports provided no details.
For many years, the Cuban government only allowed a handful of private markets to legally operate. Among the sanctioned sectors were dining, vacation rentals, and taxi services. As international travel to Cuba increased during the Obama administration, these sectors did very well. It was a common observation that in Cuba, taxi drivers made (a lot) more money than doctors.
But the last few years have been hard on these Cuban entrepreneurs, who rely heavily on tourism spending. President Trump’s sanctions on Cuba led to a downturn in visitors, and when COVID-19 started to spread, the tourists disappeared altogether. Foreign capital that used to flow into Cuba dried up overnight.
The state-run sector has been suffering too. A bevy of factors, including the collapse of Cuba’s ally Venezuela, has put a strain on the socialist economy. Basic goods are scarce and the government is strapped for cash. Cubans spend their days waiting in lines.
By opening more sectors to private business, the Cuban government hopes to find relief from its financial troubles.
Cuba’s opposition to capitalism is still a beloved, national narrative. In a tweet, the Cuban president effectively said that his hands are tied; he is only changing the policy as a result of external forces. The U.S.-Cuba embargo is too harmful. The effects of a global pandemic are too great.
Some have observed that Diaz-Canel has known this type of reform was necessary for a long time, but that traditional factions within the government wouldn't allow it. The current economic environment gives the president cover to drift from communism in a way that his predecessor, Raul Castro, could not.
Cuba’s opposition to capitalism is still a beloved, national narrative.
Is this policy change good for Cuba? Many believe it will be, but it’s going to be a bumpy ride. The state sector will continue to struggle, offering employees measly compensation. The private sector, in the near term, won’t offer much more.
But when travel to Cuba once again becomes the norm (and I think it will), Cuban entrepreneurs will thrive. Foreign cash will flow more freely into Cuba and throughout the island. Ultimately, everyone will benefit, including the government.
When this happens, we will see a new problem arise: extreme inequality. This, of course, already exists in Cuba, but not at a very large scale. State-sector employees will see the relative affluence of their private sector friends and family. This may drive resentment towards the government, one another, capitalism, socialism — all of it. But with its back against the wall, the Cuban government believes it has no other option. Things are going to get really interesting.
First hints from the White House
On Thursday of last week, the new White House shed some light on its Cuba strategy. Biden’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki (who I must say I find very impressive) slyly flipped to the relevant section of her notes as a reporter asked whether her boss would be reversing Trump’s heavy-handed Cuba policies. Her response was succinct and well considered, but only somewhat illuminating.
On Thursday of last week, the new White House shed some light on its Cuba strategy. Biden’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki (who I must say I find very impressive) slyly flipped to the relevant section of her notes as a reporter asked whether her boss would be reversing Trump’s heavy-handed Cuba policies. Her response was succinct and well considered, but only somewhat illuminating:
"Our Cuba policy is governed by two principles. First, support for democracy and human rights — that will be at the core of our efforts. Second is Americans, especially Cuban Americans, are the best ambassadors for freedom in Cuba."
She finished her brief remarks by stating that the Biden strategy towards Cuba will be a departure from previous administrations, but that she didn’t “have anything to predict” quite yet.
AFP via Getty Images
Let’s review Psaki’s first point. Focusing on democracy and human rights is a politically deft way to be pro-engagement without coming under fire from Cuban-American hardliners. This is a savvy move. Not only are democracy and human rights very important principles, but they give the Biden administration political cover to go into conversations with the Cuban government without pre-conditions. The Marco Rubio crowd generally does not support any type of diplomatic engagement with Cuba while it maintains its current system of government. Democracy and human rights are the magic words to get the diplomatic conversations started.
Now to Psaki’s second point — that Americans are the best ambassadors for freedom in Cuba. The word freedom is another one of those politically useful words. Hardliners generally don’t want Americans to travel to Cuba because at least some of the money ends up funding Cuba’s large communist bureaucracy. Psaki is taking the edge off by positioning travel as a channel for promoting American values.
Her remarks can be taken to mean that travel to Cuba will open up when feasible, i.e., sometime after both countries are in a better place with the pandemic.
For proponents of diplomatic engagement with Cuba, these are encouraging words, but they leave us with no greater insight into the Biden administration’s timeline for action. With all its other priorities (COVID-19, climate, the economy, etc.), it may be many months more before the White House is able to kick off its Cuba strategy.
For more insight on what Biden wants to do in Cuba (and what the Cubans want from him), check out my friend Patrick Oppmann’s analysis for CNN from Friday.