‘Conflict Resolution’ between the United States and Cuba: Clarifications, Premises and Precautions

Abstract

In an article published in the winter 1991–2 edition of Foreign Affairs, and which has passed conspicuously unobserved by the majority of experts on Cuban problems, the secretary of state of the United States expressed the following:

As our president pointed out at Yale University in June, no nation has yet discovered a way to import the world’s goods and services while stopping foreign ideas at the border. It is in our interest that the next generations in Cuba be engaged by the Information Age, not isolated from global trends shaping the future… Resolving these issues… can only be pursued through a policy of active engagement… Our experiences in working with Havana on the South West Africa peace process and on the migration issue suggest that our engagement can produce results. In sum we need to recognize that Cuba is in a time of transition. An anachronistic regime has alienated us by lashing out, by seeking to repress an irrepressible spirit. A return to hostile confrontation will not help the people of Cuba nor serve our national interest.¹