The Handshake - Notes from a Long, Hot Summer

When does a simple handshake seem to be more than what it is? Much ado has been said about the recent handshake between US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro. Right wing critics bemoaned that Obama was legitimizing a brutal dictator. On the other hand, Obama’s left wing supporters try to portray him as a second-coming of Nelson Mandela.

As I see it, it was nothing more than a polite gesture by two gentlemen. Even rivals have to show respect to each other. Make no mistake. The US policy on Cuba will remain the same after the handshake. Things have remained the same even after then-US President Bill Clinton shook Fidel Castro’s hand in the 1990s. More than 50 years of geopolitical animosity between the US and Cuba cannot be erased by a simple handshake.

Here’s the deal, though! Both Obama and Raul have done more to make the two rivals come together than any other in recent years. That is a fact. Obama eased travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans visiting Cuba and removed remittance limits. Raul, on the other hand, has always maintained that he is willing to negotiate with the US on any terms. Now, they have decided to walk their talk.

It shouldn’t be a big deal. Sometimes a handshake is just what it is, a simple gesture of politeness. US presidents since Richard Nixon have shaken hands with various Chinese leaders. Many Vietnamese leaders have shaken hands with various US presidents since the Vietnam War.

The bigger issue here should be the issue of the continuing existence of the economic sanctions on Cuba. Why does it still exisit when US food producers are making a killing by selling food to the Caribbean island? The US policy of imposing economic sanctions is already being evaded by the exemptions provided to American food producers. There is no need for the stupid policy to exist then.

The embargo is dumb. More than 50 years of trying to starve a people to submission has obviously failed. The embargo has only strengthened the hold of the regime in Cuba by making them look like the victims. This has allowed the economically-inept Fidel Castro to portray himself as a David fighting against the American Goliath. He should have just faded away as a failed leader, like the Kims in North Korea and Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Yet, the continuing embargo gave him an excuse to absolve himself from any blame.

Let’s be perfectly honest. Even without the embargo, the Cuban economy would flounder. Cuba’s problem is systemic in nature, not the effect of external interference. The more than 50 years of economic mismanagement won’t easily disappear even if the embargo was removed today. The US needs to abolish a policy that has failed for 50 years.

It is a dumb policy propagated by bitter people who can’t seem to forget. Cuban-Americans pine for a nonexistent lifestyle that they used to enjoy in Cuba. All the while, they enjoy the comforts of the US of A. As any man who had been rejected by a woman would tell you, it is unhealthy to cling on to a memory that no longer exists. It’s ever worse to remain clinging to something or someone who have already moved on. Cuba has obviously moved on from Batista. So should the America.