Biden – His Time?

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.13.1.0005
• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Date: 01 July 2021
• Pages: 5-7
• Author: Stephen Wilkinson

IJCS Produced and distributed by Pluto Journals www.plutojournals.com/ijcs/

EDITORIAL

BIDEN – HIS TIME?

Stephen Wilkinson

The nature of academic publishing, as we have commented before in these edi-

torials, means that, by the time you will be reading this, it will already be out of

date. However, as we went to press, the news came from the Biden Administration

spokesperson on Western Hemispheric affairs that his boss ‘was not Barak

Obama’ and there would only be a gradual change if any to US policy towards

Cuba under the new Democratic regime. If this remains unchanged it is a huge

disappointment and a dangerous decision for a number of reasons.

If the aim of the United States is to engender political change in Cuba, it is

clear that the policy of trying to starve the country of foreign investment and

trade has not worked. Instead of facilitating the advance and growth of private

enterprise on the Island, the policies of Donald Trump have had the opposite

effect. It is simply high time the US helped Cuba reform economically.

The changes in Cuba are steady and being carried out at a pace that is being

chosen by the leadership according to circumstances. If it is responding to the

demands of any outside actor, it is evident that Cuba is listening more to the EU

than it is to the United States. Absent US involvement, monetary reform and the

amplification of private enterprise are more to the benefit of those businesses

that already deal and are allowed to deal with the Island than those of the United

States. In terms of foreign relations, Cuba’s cooperation with EU countries and

others has been growing apace in areas such as biotechnology, Covid-19 response

and climate change. With regard to Asia, Cuba is making significant overtures to

be a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, seeking infrastructure investment

that will make the Island a hub in the Caribbean of this global commerce belt-

way. In other words, Cuba will reform in its own way with or without US

involvement. Therefore, it would be better for the US to engage now rather than

be isolated later.

That said, it is absolutely the case that it is impossible to imagine a US policy

change that will not have the stated intention of bringing down the Communist

government as its goal. Whatever policy Biden adopts will be justified on the