During a memorial service for the late South African President Nelson Mandela, President Obama briefly shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro. Cuba and the US have been at odds for decades, to put it mildly, although in recent years relations have been improving.
Following the handshake, various news sources described it as "a message of openness" and "a deliberate seizing of the moment to edge forward the prospect of a thaw in relations." Obama emphasized after the memorial the need for reconciliation and forgiveness, and although he was talking about Mandela, his words could have very well applied to Cuba. However, this gesture was not without its controversy. Several Republicans, including Senator McCain, denounced the handshake—McCain called it propaganda to improve Castro's image. He took it even further, remarking, "Neville Chamberlain shook hands with Hitler," and comparing Hitler to Castro. Reactions by other Republicans were more muted, many of which declined to criticize Obama. Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban American, simply stated Obama should have questioned Castro on human-rights issues.
Is this handshake a monumental step forward to improved US-Cuba relations? Or was President Obama simply channeling the memorial's message of forgiveness? Was this "symbolic gesture" mere sensationalism? And should the US even attempt to thaw relations with Cuba, or continue with its existing sanctions instead?
6 comments:
I think that Obama was primarily "channeling the memorial's message of forgiveness," but also had ulterior motives. He probably made the decision to shake hands with Castro with his advisers to see how the public would respond to this interaction. He was able to hint at improving US-Cuba relations without actually doing anything policy-wise. The media has most likely sensationalized and exaggerated this event to make a story out of it, but there are definitely some interesting implications. I don't know how Obama and the US will act regarding Cuba, but I'm interested to hear Obama's response to the media.
Although we like to find significance in everything, I think that the motivation behind this encounter was a desire to avoid awkwardness. I think that Mr. Obama would've have felt very uncomfortable to walk down a line of world leaders, shaking all of their hands, and then skipping Mr. Castro. Given the context of a memorial founded on openness and cooperation, such an action would've been extremely awkward.
However, I could see the argument that Mr. Obama's handshake is indicative of his position on Cuban relations. During Obama's tenure, we have seen a decrease in travel restrictions to Cuba. Who knows, maybe we'll be getting some Cuban cigars soon.
I like the points Connor and Joey have both made, but I agree more with Joey in stating that a handshake was only proper and normal during the memorial service, and that an even more controversial/awkward move would've been if Obama had ignored Castro entirely. I definitely believe that the media has blown the incident completely out of proportion, and if you'd like a laugh or two, Jon Stewart does a much better job articulating this than I possibly could: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-10-2013/tuesdays-with-mourning
In response to Sean's last question, I would find it rather stupid if we didn't move toward improving relations with Cuba in the future. It is extremely hypocritical that we cite the Castro regime's supposed human rights abuses as an obstacle to normalizing relations when we are violating human rights in a prison on Cuban soil. Additionally, we are just about the only country in the western hemisphere that does not have normal relations with Cuba, so you'd think that we'd fall in line with everyone else sooner or later.
In considering the implications of this event, I'd like to look at the possible motives for such a move. Yes, I agree that the handshake is, as Patrick put it, only proper and normal. However, looking at Cuba-US relations on the whole, I believe, like Connor, that there may be ulterior motives. The US enacted an embargo against Cuba in 1960 out of fear of the so-called "domino effect." After looking at our much more open relationship with China, also a Communist state, it's hard to believe that the embargo continues because of the same fear. While it's complicated, I think that economic incentives play a huge role in the differences in our relations with these two nations. An explain our relationship with China hearkens back to discussion we had in class where we tend to prioritize economic benefits(for lack of a better word) over ideals like discrimination. However, economic incentive is lacking in Cuba, ergo we have no motivation to lift the embargo. However, recent Russia-Cuba relations perhaps have provided that motivation with the Russian debt write-off. Russia agreed to reduce Cuba's debt from $32 billion to $3.2 billion. As Bloomberg states: "Putin believes in geopolitics, and pictures of Obama's handshake with Castro will convince him that the debt write-off was a timely move. Russia has to 'come back' to Cuba before the U.S. does or risk forever losing its tenuous foothold in the tropics." The US may have a future interest in strengthening it's economic and political ties with it's tropical neighbor. The handshake, intentionally or unintentionally, may foreshadow more "openness" between our two nations.
To read more about the debt write-off: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-11/obama-s-handshake-trumps-putin-s-money-in-cuba.html
I see all points made above, but I understand Joey and Patrick's perspective more. During the memorial of Nelson Mandela, I doubt anyone was focused on using the event as an opportunity to amend foreign relations. I don't think the president had any idea a single handshake could bring to their foreign relations. I think the act itself was committed to be "proper and normal," but only afterwards did people realize that this can lead to an opportunity to loosen tension between the two countries. This leads to Connor and Chris' point. Chris has a good point that the US's economic interest is probably prioritized when we want to strengthen relations with Cuba.
I don't really like how the media sensationalizes stories like this. The president was only being respectful during the memorial when he shook Castro's hand. It's sad to think that the media jumps to the conclusion that a simple handshake is connected to some political motive. Yes, the US has advantages in opening up relations with Cuba, but a handshake isn't enough to support that the US is trying to make a political move. Regardless of what the president plans to do with Cuba, the media should not blow up a story about a handshake out of proportions.
I agree with Joey's and Patrick's points—if Obama had not shaken Castro’s hand, the media would sensationalize it just as much, and that the main point was to avoid awkwardness. After all, Obama also greeted leaders of other countries the US has tense relations with.
However, what is also interesting is that Castro detained more than 150 dissidents the same day Obama shook hands with Castro, an oppressive event that has not happened since 2003. Although Obama didn’t have ulterior motives, I think Castro possibly did, using the handshake as a positive cover for more negative actions. The Cuban police did release the dissidents the following day, though.
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