NAM meeting: Castro responds to Obama

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a collection of nations whose mission is to protect members’ sovereignty “against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.” Associated countries account for 2/3 of the members of the United Nations and around 55% of the world’s population. In fact, over 120 countries’ representatives participated in the NAM meetings in Havana this week—the last conference with Cuba holding the temporary presidency of the organization (the presidency now passes on to Egypt).

Raúl Castro used the occasion and the opportunity of a giant audience to speak his mind on the still-recent developments in relations between his country and the United States. His message: Cuba will not make “gestures” to the United States, because Cuba is not the aggressor.

His key comments, for non-Spanish speakers, were:

It is not Cuba that has pursued the [irresponsible] financial transactions carried out by North American banks; it is not Cuba that has a military presence in the United States against the will of the citizens of the country; etcetera, etcetera (in order not to make this an endless list); and therefore, it is not Cuba that has to make goodwill gestures.

Raúl further stated that Cuba was indeed ready to speak on all subjects, but on equal footing, without any questioning of the nation’s sovereignty or of its social and political systems.

This is his first direct response to President Obama’s comments at the Summit of the Americas, which expressed hope for reciprocal gestures from the island nation. Obama had suggested one such move; that Cuba free its political prisoners.

Castro’s argument is tempting (indeed, Cuba is a small nation that has been harmed by U.S. policies), but it is also misleading. The United States has not been a static entity over time: presidents, congresses and administrations have come in and out, and policies have been built up over time in opposition to the political and social realities on the island. The Obama administration is seeking to rectify past errors and has said so. In that spirit, asking for positive and reciprocal gestures on both sides in order to increase trust is not unreasonable. Listing the errors that have been made by past actors over the course of many years does nothing to advance meaningful shifts in the U.S.-Cuba relationship.

The State Department is not giving ground: it has again emphasized that the onus is on Cuba to show that they are serious about negotiations.