THE historic visit of US President, Barack Obama, to Cuba fascinated the world for its symbolism for world peace and as a legacy of the Obama presidency. It was the first visit of an American president to Cuba in 88 years. By making the trip, as the influential American newspaper – New York Times – said, “Obama ventured into diplomatic territory where the last 10 (US) presidents refused to go.” The journey further burnished his image as the “peace” president elected in 2008 to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and re-elected in 2012, to consolidate the peace and the economic recovery.
Obama has kept his promise to end both wars and, above all, to change the mindset which leads America into such wars. When this is added to his rapprochement with Iran, President Obama deserves commendation and he is likely to go down in history as one of the greatest influences on world peace in recent times.
The American conflict with Cuba, which spanned two generations, began as an ideological struggle against the forces of communism following the Cuban Revolution of 1959 which overthrew the capitalist monarchy of King Batista. When the Fidel Castro-led regime began to nationalise American assets in Cuba, the then American President, Dwight Eisenhower, responded with a travel ban on the country. Four months later, he ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to train Cuban refugees to overthrow the communist regime. Castro sought political cooperation with the Communist Soviet Union. By October 1960, the US stopped all exports to Cuba and then broke all diplomatic relations. The war of nerves had begun.
It was to lead to what is historically called the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, a badly organised attempt by the CIA to overthrow Castro using Cuban exiles in the US with the tacit approval of President John F.
Kennedy in April 1961. It flopped miserably and provided the justification for the Russian launching of ballistic missiles into Cuba, which led to what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis in which the two nuclear super-powers came so close to mutual annihilation in 1962.
Fidel Castro is like a cat with nine lives. He survived more than 10 American presidents, each of whom sought his demise. When they all thought he was finished, Fidel Castro simply handed over power to his brother, Raul, and went into retirement. President Raul Castro, in any case, was also a leader of the 1959 revolution.
The Cuban lobby in the United States was so powerful that in 1977, America’s President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, allowed some of the travel bans to lapse. President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, defeated Carter in the 1980 election and reinstated the travel bans. It is, therefore, no surprise that while the world saluted Obama’s trip, his Republican opponents ridiculed his efforts. The difference now is that though the Republicans may retain the trade embargo for ideological reasons, no Republican candidate is threatening to reverse Obama’s initiatives because even the most anti-communist Cuban-Americans seem to think that Obama did the right thing.
It did not come cheaply. Eighteen months of quiet negotiations, nine secret meetings held in Canada between two of Obama’s close advisers and the communist regime’s officials. Even Pope Francis had to intervene to nudge the adversaries to bury the hatchet and chart a new course which led to the Obama-Castro telephone conversation which finally broke the ice.
Obama’s courage in defying the conventional wisdom of American politics resonates around the world. He has won the respect of most South and Central American countries which now see the United States in a different light that is contrary to the overbearing imperial power image projected by previous US presidents. They now see a more understanding United States which wants to relate with them on the basis of mutual interests and mutual respect which has been the centerpiece of the Obama Doctrine.
Cubans can now sleep easy, assured that there is no enemy in America intent on regime change in their country. The economic benefits of this visit will be phenomenal for Cubans and the political liberalisation of Cuba, which the US has sought for over 60 years through military threats, sanctions and harsh rhetoric, may at last be realised through Obama’s more humane and more reasoned approach.
Obama’s monumental visit to Cuba is, indeed, a lesson to the world on the need for continuous exploration of all possible avenues for the promotion of world peace, progress and security. It is a lesson which Nigeria, Africa and rest of the world will do well to learn in their quest for global peace and prosperity.