• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 29 / 2011

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By: Matthew Brady The announcement that the Cuban government invited former President Jimmy Carter to Cuba could lead to the release of imprisoned U.S. contractor Alan Gross and possibly greater dialogue between the United States and Cuba.

Carter last visited Cuba in 2002, and his scheduled trip this week comes at a conspicuous time. Two weeks ago, a Cuban court convicted and sentenced Alan Gross to 15 years in prison for “acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state.” The Obama administration has been clear that improved relations hinge on the release of Gross.

If Gross is released, Carter’s visit could kick-start U.S.-Cuba relations through a relatively moderate interlocutor. Carter is the only former or sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in more than five decades. He has publicly criticized the U.S. embargo. Carter already has used his status to obtain the release of U.S. citizen Aijalon Gomes from North Korea in 2010. A humanitarian request through a former U.S. president would allow the Cuban government to save face after keeping Gross locked up and without formal charges for 15 months.

Discussions between Cuba and the United States could then resume during the rest of Obama’s term. If Raúl Castro wants improved bilateral relations with the United States, he probably considers Obama a better option than some of the Republican candidates lining up for possible 2012 presidential bids, such as Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin or even the tea party’s Michele Bachmann.

Obama has not only stated that he is willing to reconsider U.S. policy toward Cuba, he also has already taken steps to do so.  


Since taking office, Obama has largely fulfilled his modest campaign promises by loosening restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba and encouraging licensed travel to Cuba for academic, cultural religious and scientific purposes. Obama has gone even further in terms of hitting a “restart” button by not opposing Cuba’s reinstatement as a full member of the Organization of American States, cooperating with Cuba following disaster in Haiti, resuming migration talks with Cuba, plus discussing direct mail service and taking down an inflammatory news ticker built by President George W. Bush.

Fidel Castro announced last week that he had resigned from all state and political positions during an illness in 2006, including head of the Cuban Communist Party, a position that he formally held since 1965. The official government proclamation in 2006 only listed the temporary transfer of powers to his brother Raúl, and there was no subsequent statement regarding Fidel’s resignation into retirement. So the announcement was a surprise to both Cubans and the rest of the world.

A Chilean businessman Max Marambio, who has close ties to Fidel, was tried in absentia in a corruption case involving former Cuban Food Minister Alejandro Roca. Both could be sentenced to as many as 20 years in the coming days. Marambio’s proximity to Fidel would have once prevented such accusations and convictions, but Raúl has declared a war on corruption and inefficiency, which has led to the dismissal of a number of ministers appointed by Fidel.

Also last week, the Cuban government completed a deal brokered by the Vatican and the Spanish government to release the remaining 52 political prisoners of the 75 imprisoned in a roundup in 2003. The gradual release of these and other political prisoners, mainly into forced exile without the right to return during the Castros’ tenure, has been heavily debated by supporters and critics of the Cuban government since the deal was announced in July 2010. But the fact remains that there are fewer political prisoners behind bars.

These and other events set the stage for the upcoming Cuban Communist Party Congress in April. The Cuban government announced that economic issues will dominate the agenda, but Fidel’s retirement implies that Raúl will be named first party secretary, prompting the selection of a second party secretary — an official successor to the Castro brothers — to accompany Raúl’s ministers. But the invitation to Carter suggests a much-broader agenda, pointing to the desire for dialogue or possible rapprochement with the United States — and an appointed successor by Raúl who will dutifully advance Cuban interests along this path.

Source: www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/28/2138703/carters-trip-could-improve-us.html