U.S. trade advocates renew push to open up to Cuba

[Jimmy2]

Trade advocates reignited their push to lift a U.S. ban on travel to Cuba, saying Americans should be able to travel there freely.

BY LESLEY CLARK

WASHINGTON -- Buoyed by a new administration, U.S. advocates for trade with Cuba introduced a bill Tuesday that would lift travel restrictions to the island, allowing Americans to visit there freely.

The bipartisan group of senators, who have long pushed for increased trade with Cuba, say they believe momentum is now on their side, noting that President Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to change U.S. policy toward Cuba.

The bill would bar the president from regulating travel to Cuba, and its supporters said it would help bring changes to the communist-led nation, which for 50 years has been governed by Fidel Castro and now his younger brother, Raúl.

Current U.S. policy ''has done nothing to weaken the Castro regime,'' said the bill's chief champion, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who has introduced similar bills since 2003. ``It's long past the time to change this ill-advised policy.''

But proponents of hard-line sanctions against the Castro regime vowed to block the legislation -- as they have for the past two sessions of Congress -- saying the bill would enrich Cuban government coffers by promoting tourism to the island.

''We should be siding with the oppressed, not with the oppressors,'' said Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican and the first Cuban-born U.S. senator. He suggested the Senate was getting ahead of Obama, noting that Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday said during a visit to Chile that the administration had no plans to lift the economic embargo against Cuba. And Martinez noted Obama has not said he would lift the travel ban, but would roll back President George W. Bush-era regulations that limit remittances and bar Cuban Americans from visiting family on the island more than every three years.

PROS AND CONS

Supporters of the legislation argue that U.S. policy is a Cold War relic that should be scrapped. Dorgan was joined by Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, who argued that current U.S. policy ''has neither weakened the Cuban government'' nor improved conditions for Cuba's political prisoners. And business groups pledged to push for the legislation with Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, saying it would help farmers sell more products to Cuba, which he called an ''important market'' for soybeans, rice and poultry.

''I think we've finally reached a new watermark on this issue,'' Dorgan said, adding that he believes he has sufficient votes in the House and Senate to get the bill passed. 'At some point, this is a policy that is no longer justifiable. When something doesn't work for 50 years, clearheaded thinking has to say, `You know what, it's time to change it.' ''

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., suggested that lawmakers don't have the votes to repeal the economic embargo against Cuba. But he said travel strikes a chord: Cuba is the only country to which U.S. residents can't travel freely.

''For those who truly seek a change in Cuba, this may be the best step we can take,'' Dodd said.

Martinez scoffed at the suggestion that American tourists will usher in democratic change, noting that tourists from Canada, Italy, Spain and Germany have had little effect on the country's government.

Identical legislation will be introduced in the House on Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supports the bill, but a Democratic aide said its passage is uncertain. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has opposed changes to U.S.-Cuba policy, but said Tuesday he expects a vote on the measure.

''It's rarely a year goes by since I've been in the Senate that we don't have a vote on Cuba, and I'm sure this year will be no different,'' he said.

SKEPTICISM ABOUNDS

Mauricio Claver-Carone, a Washington lobbyist who opposes change to U.S. policy, said he is skeptical that proponents have the votes to succeed.

''They have the same steep hill to climb in Congress that they've had the last six years,'' he said. ``We're repeating history.''

West Miami travel agent Jose Borrego, who is authorized to arrange trips to Cuba under the current restrictions, said he would like to see the bill passed but isn't convinced Congress will act.

''It would be a great change, for my business and for the people who have had difficult times getting to the island,'' said Borrego, who owns Jame Enterprises Viajes a Cuba. ``It's better if people don't have to ask permission to go home.''