It's UN-American To Wish For Someone's Death

IT'S UN-AMERICAN TO WISH FOR SOMEONE'S DEATH
Let's Stop Celebrating Over Castro's Illness

WASHINGTON - I have been shocked and offended at the sight of people dancing in the streets over reports of President Fidel Castro's serious illness. It is unseemly, and even un-American, to publicly wish for someone's death.

There is no way to tell in what direction the political situation in Cuba may turn. So it just seems that requesting and legislating monies to influence a future transition, as the Bush Administration has proposed, is not only premature but wrong. Further, injecting the U.S. into Cuba's internal politics would seem to violate the very democratic principles we all want to see promoted on the island.

We all hope to see a free and open democracy in Cuba. But the way to achieve that is not by attempting to dictate who runs for office or who doesn't, as we have done in the Helms-Burton law. Rather we should be opening doors to Cuba by promoting free trade, cultural, scientific and academic exchanges and encouraging travel to and from both countries. Showing off the American way of life is the best way to influence the choices that must eventually be made by the Cuban people themselves--not by American politicians in Florida.

Instead of condoning celebrations of a death that has not occurred in Cuba, the Bush Administration would be better served by rethinking a policy that has failed to achieve its ends after nearly 50 years. The U.S. embargo, which I and many of my colleagues in the Congress have opposed for years, has only hurt the Cuban people and economy, but done absolutely nothing to advance democracy.

The embargo has actually helped the most hard-line factions in the Cuban government who point to it as evidence of America's malevolent intentions. Even the leading dissidents on the island have pleaded for an end to the embargo, not only because it harms their efforts for change but because it actually takes bread out of the mouths of Cuban children.

The sad fact is that most of those dancing in the streets in Miami have never lived in Cuba themselves and are celebrating based on the stories of an angry and aging generation who left Cuba after the Cuban revolution and are the strongest proponents of the U.S. embargo. The likelihood is that any leader who takes over in Cuba will be less than inclined to welcome back those people whose mission in life has been to keep the boot of the embargo on Cuba's neck.

As much as I am offended by the celebrations, I feel for those Cuban Americans who have relatives remaining in Cuba whom they may visit only once every three years because of the recent tightening of the Bush embargo.

The policy that, in fact, is dividing Cuban families was not devised by the Cuban government. It is the American government's misguided policies that have erected walls between Cuban Americans and their families on the island.

Instead of dancing at the prospect of Castro's death, we should be encouraging our government to figure out how to open the doors to Cuba that have been shut for 50 years.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny15_rangel/CBRStatementCastroCuba08032006.html