Relations "Kool" again

As the U.S. band Kool and the Gang played in Havana this weekend, Raúl Castro made his annual address to the Cuban Councils of State and Ministers. Many had looked forward to the former event as the most recent of several cultural exchanges between the United States and Cuba that indicate improving ties between the two nations. The concert was authorized by Washington and by Havana, and Kool and the Gang played on an open-air stage with the U.S. Interests Section on one side and the Caribbean on the other.

But the latter event—President Castro’s speech to the Cuban Councils of State and Ministers—did not look as good for bilateral relations. Raúl lashed out at the United States, attacked U.S. policy in the Americas, and accused the Obama administration of supporting efforts to undermine the communist regime. Some such highlights (in my own translation: the Spanish text is here):

— “One month from completing its first year in office, the current U.S. administration is ignoring the calls of the international community and of an ever-growing domestic majority that advocates a change in policy toward Cuba.”

— “Despite an enormous propaganda campaign aimed to confuse the global community… the truth is that the instruments of a policy of aggression against Cuba remain intact, and the U.S. government has not given up on destroying the Revolution and bringing about a change in our economic and social system.”

— “[Washington is] giving new breath to open and undercover subversion against Cuba. The enemy is as active as ever, a sign of which is the recent detention of a U.S. citizen, euphemistically described by U.S. State Department spokespeople as a government ‘contractor,’ who had dedicated himself to illegally distributing sophisticated means of satellite communication to those ‘civil society’ groups that [the United States] hopes to shape into opponents of the Cuban people.”

It is difficult to be optimistic in the face of such rhetoric, but trust is hard to come by in the U.S.-Cuba relationship and Raúl’s attacks are (dare I say it) not so unfounded as one might want to believe. Washington has maintained the embargo, despite nearly universal global opposition and increasingly vocal domestic opposition. And as dialogue between the two sides has not increased to anything close to normal levels, it is quite difficult to determine the intentions of U.S. paid “contractors” in Cuba. Without clear signals from either side, how can one trust the other?

On a separate topic, Raúl addressed race and gender discrimination in Cuban leadership (a headliner abroad in recent weeks) and his intention to work toward improved representation of women and of afro-Cubans in leadership positions. The Spanish excerpt from his speech and my English translation are below.

Personalmente considero que es una vergüenza el insuficiente avance en esta materia en 50 años de Revolución, a pesar de que el 65 por ciento de la fuerza laboral técnica se compone de mujeres y que la ciudadanía forma un hermoso arcoiris racial sin privilegios formales de tipo alguno… Por mi parte ejerceré toda mi influencia para que estos nocivos prejuicios sigan cediendo espacio hasta ser finalmente suprimidos y se promuevan a cargos de dirección a todos los niveles, por sus méritos y preparación profesional, a las mujeres y los negros.

Personally I find embarrassing the insufficient advances on this issue made in the 50 years since the Revolution, despite the fact that 65% of the the technical work force is composed of women and that the Cuban population forms a beautiful racial rainbow without formal privileges of any kind… I myself will exercise my complete influence to making sure these harmful prejudices continue shrinking until they are finally overcome and women and blacks, judged on their merit and professional preparation, are promoted to leadership positions at all levels.