End embargo, start dialogue, panel urges

The United States should repeal its embargo on Cuba and dialogue with Havana, recommends the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think tank based in Washington. In a 76-page report released Wednesday ("U.S.-Latin America Relations: A New Direction for a New Reality") the Council concedes that Cuba is "an authoritarian state guilty of serious human rights violations," but points out that positive changes have occurred under Raúl Castro and more may follow. Among the CFR's recommendations to the incoming U.S. administration:
• Repeal the restrictions placed on Cuban-American family travel and remittances in 2004.
• Reinstate the 13 categories of “purposeful travel” for other Americans, which include humanitarian and religious travel.
• Hold talks with Havana on issues of mutual concern, such as migration, human smuggling, drug trafficking, and the future of the Guantánamo naval base.
• Work with nations in the Americas and Europe to press Cuba for more reforms leading to democracy and improved human rights.
• Assure Cubans that the U.S. will pursue a respectful arm’s-length relationship with a democratic Cuba. Repeal the 1996 Helms-Burton law.
• Permit Congress to pass laws designed to liberalize trade with (and travel to) the island.
To read the entire report, click here. For an overview, click here.

---Renato Pérez Pizarro.