26th Parallel: Cuba Report Released: "Cuba Report Released
The Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (CAFC) has released a report to President Bush highlighting the steps necessary to hasten a transition in Cuba as well as supporting a transitional government. You can read the full 93-page report here, or you can go to Babalu Blog and check out the various pertinent statements here.
There's nothing really new or earth-shattering in the report which suggests a change in the U.S. stance towards Cuba. This has led many to wonder, 'why even bother with a lengthy report'? The fact is that it is a well-thought out document with many good ideas, ideas that make sense.
There are some problems, however. Primarily, the plan assumes that a transitional government is in place after meeting several conditions, one of which is free and fair elections. This means no castro (fidel and raul) nor any of their cronies would be involved. How do we get rid of them without direct and potentially forceful U.S. involvement?
The CAFC report states:
Recommendations to hasten the end of the Castro dictatorship include: measures to empower the Cuban people to prepare for change by strengthening support to civil society; breaking the regime's information blockade; a diplomatic strategy to undermine the regime's succession strategy by supporting the Cuban people's right to determine their future; and measures to deny revenue to the Castro regime that is used to strengthen its repressive security apparatus and to bolster the regime against pressure for change.
Sounds good, but we're a long way from even coming close to achieving these goals.
The Lexington Institute, a non-partisan public policy research organization, deals a lot with Cuban issues, mainly from the standpoint that current US policy towards Cuba is severely flawed. There's no doubt that current policy has some serious holes. In its latest Cuba Policy Report, it states the following (thanks"
