Move Forward With Cuba

When President Obama announced that the United States would normalize relations with Cuba, he quoted a Cuban saying — “No es fácil,” or “It won’t be easy” — to emphasize the long road ahead in discarding a more than 50-year-old policy.

Mr. Obama’s historic announcement has provided the foundation for a vastly improved relationship. But ensuring that the new relationship prospers and becomes an engine for a democratic and stable Cuba will not be easy. To move the process forward steadily and quickly, the United States and the international community should agree on a strategy that encourages positive change.

The symbolism of full diplomatic relations is huge: The American flag will fly in Havana, and the Cuban flag in Washington. But for American and Cuban diplomats to collaborate effectively, each government should remove all remaining restrictions on their travel and allow them to meet with appointed and elected officials, as well as representatives of advocacy groups, news organizations, universities and other parts of civil society. The first order of business is for our diplomats to expand and formalize cooperation on migration, the environment, narcotics and crime.

Under a policy informally known as “wet foot, dry foot,” Cubans caught in the waters between Cuba and the United States are sent home or to a third country, while Cubans who make it to America’s shores are allowed to stay. The policy needs to be rescinded — an action that can occur through executive order — to foster safe and orderly migration and to save lives.

Cuba is the largest island neighbor of the United States. Opportunities for joint research, the definition of territorial waters and the prevention and cleanup of toxic spills will benefit both the United States and the Caribbean basin.

Exchanging information on criminal activity, providing training on border control and undertaking joint enforcement action against traffickers in illicit drugs, weapons and people will make the region and our country safer.

These are the relatively easy issues. The harder ones will be the settlement of claims for property that was confiscated after Fidel Castro took power in 1959, and the status of the Guantánamo Bay naval base, which is on land that has been leased under an agreement dating to 1903. (The Cuban government does not recognize the legality of the lease.)

Negotiations are the only way to begin to resolve these two challenging issues. The United States government should open negotiations with the Cuban government on all registered claims of American citizens. Good will generated through the settlement of these claims could set in motion a process for exploring formulas that would lead to a fair resolution of the claims of those who were Cuban citizens at the time of the expropriation.

The United States should also begin a process that would result in returning the southern half of Guantánamo Bay, the land where the naval base sits, to Cuba. Cuban sovereignty over the territory is not an issue. The 1903 treaty and subsequent agreements recognize Cuban sovereignty over the land, but until both governments agree to abrogate the treaty, the United States can legally continue to occupy the territory.

Finding solutions to these disputes will build trust that can help the United States to press Cuba’s government to ease its authoritarian rule. But resolution of these issues should not be preconditioned on political reform; they are essential to any future friendship between our countries.

This is not to say that the United States should not use incentives and disincentives to encourage political and economic reform. If the Cuban government allows the free flow of communications, the transfer of financial resources for small business, and greater economic opportunity for its people, then the United States should not block financial assistance to the Cuban government from institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. If the Cuban government reduces restraints on civil society so that Cubans can speak and assemble freely without fear, the United States should dismantle Radio Martí and Televisión Martí, which broadcast American information to Cuba.

The international community has a critical role. It can act as an honest broker in facilitating discussions and in pressing Cuba to move toward a more open society. For Cuba to become a full and active member of organizations like the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, it must meet the standards for membership.

There is substantial disagreement among Cuban-Americans over Mr. Obama’s decision to normalize relations, but progress over the long term may ultimately depend on them. One obvious reason is that a future president who disagrees with the new policy could reinstate the measures Mr. Obama has eliminated. He or she could downgrade diplomatic relations, rewrite embargo regulations and squash talks on everything from migration to property.

The more the administration consults with and involves Cuban-American leaders, the more likely it is to support the normalization of relations. In the long term, reconciliation between Cubans and the Cuban diaspora is essential.

Of course, Cuba’s future is ultimately up to the Cubans on the island — not just political dissidents, but all of society. No lasting change can take place unless Cubans are willing to cast off fear and demand that their voices be heard. The reinstatement of normal relations with the United States will be a crucial opportunity for the people of Cuba, one that must not be squandered.

Vicki Huddleston, a retired United States ambassador, was the deputy, and then coordinator, for Cuban affairs at the State Department from 1989 to 1993, and was chief of the United States Interests Section in Havana from 1999 to 2002.

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