Secretary's Speech

Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
Council of the Americas
Washington, D.C.

I'm here today to talk about Cuba. Since July 2005, I have had the privilege to co-chair, with Secretary Rice, the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, which was established by President Bush in 2003. It is in that capacity I'm here with you today.

Cuba is at a critical point in its history. The country is poised for change. The policy of the Bush Administration has been to help the Cuban people achieve their freedom through democratic change, and not to do them a tragic disservice by legitimizing a successor regime and helping it maintain its tight grip over the Cuban people.

The regime has destroyed any opportunity for people to make a life for themselves. Cubans on the island are economic captives, and political captives. They have become the workers of this hemisphere's last plantation.

For over 48 years the regime has survived by stripping the average Cuban of all power and consolidating it among the privileged few. While the Western Hemisphere has been on a steady march toward freedom, Cuba has regressed.

There is no liberty in Cuba. There is no freedom of association, no freedom of speech, no freedom to work where one chooses, no free flow of information.

Those who attempt to exercise their fundamental rights are targeted for abuse by the regime, or they are imprisoned on charges of "dangerousness" and other "counter-revolutionary" activities.

In Cuba, there is not even freedom to make an honest living; to apply one's skills and creativity to help out one's own family.

The Cuban people live on ration cards, which provide staples such as rice and beans. But in a best case scenario, the cards only provide enough to live for 10 days.

To make up the difference, the Cuban people have been forced to turn to a black market that exploits the poorest of the poor. If they try to make their lives better by starting a small business venture, they risk being charged with breaking communist laws. These conditions have created a culture of widespread corruption.

To survive, Cubans have to skim off the top, live on the margins and resolve to get by however they can. Planks disappear from park benches to patch holes in roofs and walls. Tools disappear from government worksites so people can attempt to earn some income as cobblers or handymen.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost its largest subsidy. In 1993, after the Cuban GDP dropped by nearly a third, the regime began selectively issuing permits to allow private enterprise in an effort to offset the economic loss. Yet, when the economy began to improve, the experiment with capitalism was halted.

I believe that Castro saw this new-found independence as a threat to his power. After all, the most effective way for a communist dictator to hold power is to ensure that people are kept tied down by the chains of dependence. Self-sufficiency, individual empowerment and personal independence are all threats that are not tolerated.

How the United States Has Been Helping
Some claim that by maintaining the embargo, the U.S. has made the situation on the island worse--that is flat wrong. We have been a major source of humanitarian aid--we supply one-third of the island's food and medicine.

According to the first report of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, up to $1 billion, or roughly 2.5% of the Cuban economy, came from remittances from the United States.

The question is not, when will the U.S. change its policy, the question is, when will the Cuban regime change its policy?

Years of foreign investment have not improved the lives of average Cubans, only the lives of those in power.

According to the State Department, 1.9 million tourists predominantly from Canada and the EU generated $2.1 billion for the Cuban economy in 2003. This travel has not improved the plight of the Cuban people.

And the resorts, which cater to foreign tourists, are off limits for most Cuban nationals--in essence, a "tourism apartheid" that reinforces the repression of the Cuban people.

And foreign firms that operate on the island pay the government in dollars for the labor of the Cuban people. Yet the Cuban government turns around, pays the workers in devalued pesos and pockets the difference. And pity the worker who dares talk openly about the need to organize and operate unions.

The topics of trade, globalization and the working conditions of foreign laborers are being discussed and debated regularly in Washington, D.C. But why do labor conditions lose relevance when it comes to Cuba?

The Cuban system amounts to nothing more than indentured servitude, yet the exploitation and brutal repression of workers on the island are rarely acknowledged in calls to lift the embargo.

The record shows that the regime can manage trade and investment while still being repressive--the Cuban people simply do not benefit from foreign investment under Castro.

The embargo is not the problem or the solution. The problem is the repressive Communist system. The solution is to change the system.

To those who suggest Cuba is an untapped market for U.S. goods and investors, and that lifting the embargo would be a boon to foreign trade, I submit to you that foreign businesses will not flourish on the island as long as there is an active communist regime in control.

It is naïve to suggest that lifting U.S. economic sanctions would weaken the regime and force change. Castro understands that. The regime has long imposed policies to assure its own control over all economic activities, including those of foreign investors and tourists.

Those policies are deliberately designed to keep Cubans dependent, and to minimize outside influences on them. The focus must remain where it belongs--on the regime's treatment of its own citizens.

We must stand firm in our rejection of the Cuban dictatorship. That means standing firm on our policies to deny revenue to the regime, while reaching out directly to the people of Cuba.

The Compact With the People of Cuba
The United States of America is committed to helping the Cuban people. We have consistently planned to provide humanitarian aid.

We have also been actively preparing for how we help the Cuban people hasten the day for a transition government, for the moment when the Cuban people demand freedom.

Last year, we issued a "Compact With the People of Cuba," which clearly lays out the intentions of the U.S. government.

The United States stands ready to work with the Cuban people to attain political and economic liberty.

Around the world we have seen examples of transitions to democracy in places like Poland, Czechoslovakia, South Africa, and Chile. Each example is different, each path unique.

The people of Cuba deserve the same opportunity to craft their own future, design their own government, and elect their own leaders.

This is not about U.S. policy--that's what Castro would like you to believe. This is about Cuban policy. The focus should not be in Washington or Miami or New Jersey. The focus should be on the plight of the Cuban people in Cuba.

We believe Cubans, like others throughout the world, deserve fundamental freedoms:

• The freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of worship;
• The legalization of all peaceful political activity and the release of all political prisoners;
• The establishment of an independent judiciary;
• The right to own private property;
• The creation of independent trade unions and associations--to facilitate collective bargaining;
• The guarantee of fundamental human rights and eliminating any climate of fear and repression; and
• The organization of free and fair elections.

Forty-eight years of history has demonstrated that this will not happen under Fidel Castro or Raul Castro.

We can help the Cuban people. The U.S. can provide emergency food, water, fuel, and medical equipment. We can help ensure electrical power is maintained and improved. We can help rebuild Cuba's shattered economy, encouraging assistance from other countries, associations, and private companies.

We can actively work to support independent civil society on the island, providing funding for education and exchanges, and breaking the regime's information blockade.

In short, we will help the people of Cuba move away from a totalitarian communist dictatorship and toward a free and representative democracy. As the President has made clear, we will not work with a regime that is a declared enemy of the U.S. and opposed to every value we hold sacred.

Cuba Will Maintain its Autonomy and Independence
Castro has been building fear in the hearts of the Cubans on the island, while failing miserably to deliver results. He has repeatedly demonized the United States, blaming us for the abysmal failures of his regime's failed policies.

Let me be clear: The future of Cuba is in the hands of the people in Cuba.

To the Cuban people I say this: Our President has no imperialist intentions. We have no military intentions to occupy the island. We will not confiscate property or support any arbitrary claims for property.

The greatest threat against Castro is not the U.S. government. It is the spirit of freedom in the hearts of the Cuban people--their ability to invent, to dream and to create a society of prosperity, equality and hope.

As we've stated in our Compact with the People of Cuba, "Cubans who want democratic change should count on our friendship and support."

The people of Cuba deserve freedom, dignity and social justice. We share the dream of a better tomorrow for them and their families. Thank You. Viva Cuba Libre!