Carter’s Cuban Spadework

The moment former President Jimmy Carter sets foot in Havana today, the eyes and ears of Cubans will be on him.

Fidel Castro, the nation’s dictator for four decades, will be poised to applaud if, as expected, Carter condemns the U.S. trade embargo, a cruel and useless sanction endorsed by 10 consecutive U.S. administrations.

Castro haters, including the Cuban American National Foundation, and expatriates, mainly in Florida, New Jersey and California, will save their cheers for Carter’s expected statement of support for the 10,000 brave Cubans who have signed a petition to convene a national referendum that would increase the freedoms of the island’s people.

Carter probably will address both issues, echoing views he has repeatedly expressed. In 2000, for instance, he said: “We should press for democracy in Cuba, but I don’t think we should predicate the lifting of sanctions on the demise of Fidel Castro. I think the sanctions are a mistake. They allow Castro to blame all of his mistakes on Washington.”

Carter’s soft-spoken, rights-based approach once served him well with Castro. While in the White House he brought more positive change to Cuba than any U.S. president before or since. With nudges from Carter, Castro freed political prisoners. The two gave Cuban Americans the right to visit their families and agreed to permanent diplomatic representatives in Washington and Havana.

Now, as the first sitting or former U.S. president to visit Cuba in 43 years, Carter arrives with grudging authorization from the Bush administration but no diplomatic portfolio.

That’s OK. He’s not there to issue ultimatums or go belly to belly with Castro but as an American citizen with a background in defending human rights. He’s there to initiate a dialogue with Cuban citizens on such matters as racial, sexual and religious discrimination. They’ll talk about the inequities that are creating a two-tiered society on the communist island as dollars flood in from relatives who escaped to the U.S.

What will all this jawboning accomplish? In the short term, nada. But the people with whom Carter will be chatting in that gentle Georgia drawl will be there long after Castro is gone. And when future U.S. administrations are ready to advance rapport with these neighbors, they’ll have Carter to thank for helping break the ice.