Unmet expectations at Year One checkpoint

Havana is not alone in its judgment that the Obama administration has not done enough in its first year to achieve rapprochement. Analysts have been voicing their dissatisfaction in connection with the end of year one: the Center for International Policy’s critique sums up the main complaints that have been circulating.

Over-arching thesis: “Obama is so far falling short of promoting the principles of reconciliation, self-determination, mutual respect, social equity, and peace that he espoused at the April 2009 Americas Summit.”

Scathing comparison: “Obama lifted restrictions on Cuban-American travel and remittances and has allowed a few more Cuban officials and cultural figures to come to the United States, but that is about it. The same attitudes that drove the Bush administration regarding Cuba seem to be present in Obama.”

And what should Washington do? “It needs to take Cuba off the list of terrorist states. There is absolutely no evidence that Cuba should be on it. It needs to lift travel controls across the board, and especially educational travel. And there is really no reason we cannot now again have diplomatic relations.”

… and beyond: Liz Harper at the Americas Quarterly proposes that Obama “unleash the Googles on Cuba,” referring to the recent Google-China dispute which continues to receive much publicity (Henry Hoyle has more on Google in Chine here).