Secretary's Speech

Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Washington, D.C.

Since July 2005, I've co-chaired, 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, as you well know, is at a critical point in time. The country is poised for change. The policy of the Bush Administration has been to help the Cuban people hasten the day of their freedom, and not to do them a great disservice by legitimizing a successor regime and helping it maintain its tight grip over the Cuban people.

Cubans on the island are economic captives, and they are 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 free flow of information. In fact, just last week three independent journalists were kicked out of Cuba.

There is not even freedom to make an honest living or work where one chooses. 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 about 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. These conditions have created a culture of widespread corruption. To survive, Cubans have to skim off the top, live in the margins and get by however they can.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost its largest subsidy. To make up the difference, the regime began selectively issuing permits to allow private enterprise to offset the economic loss. Yet, when the economy began to improve, the limited and selective 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 on to power is to ensure that people are kept tied down by their dependence on the state.

How the United States Has Been Helping

Contrary to claims that the U.S. has made the situation on the island worse, we have been helping the Cuban people for decades. We have been a major source of humanitarian aid--we supply one third of the island's food and one third of the island's medicine.

We have been actively working to support independent civil society on the island, providing funding for education and exchanges, and helping to break the regime's information blockade.

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--that's the wrong question. 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 European Union generated $2.1 billion for the Cuban economy in 2003. This tourism has not improved the plight of the Cuban people.

And the resorts, which exist today in Cuba and cater to foreign tourists, are off limits for most Cuban nationals—in essence it is a "tourism apartheid" that reinforces the repression of the Cuban people.

In fact, racial inequality is rampant on the island. Since Castro's overthrow of Batista in 1959, Afro-Cubans who now make up 60% of the population have been unable to play a role in society that reflects their importance in the country. They, tragically, are only equal in the sense that they are also denied fundamental human rights.

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 fewer 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 today 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 repression of workers on the island are rarely acknowledged by those who call for lifting 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 only solution is to change the system.

To those who suggest Cuba is an untapped market for U.S. goods and investors, 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 has long imposed policies to control economic activities on the island, including those of foreign investors and tourists. Those policies are deliberately designed to keep Cubans dependent and to minimize outside influences on them.

We need to 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 Cuban people.

The Compact with the People of Cuba

The United States stands ready to work with the Cuban people to attain political and economic liberty. We have seen examples of transitions to democracy in places like Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, South Africa and Chile. Each example is different, each path unique.

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

This is not about U.S. policy--that's exactly what Castro would like you to believe.

This is about Cuba's policies, about the treatment of the Cuban people by the regime in Havana. 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--that is where the problem lies.

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 most important,
• The right to participate in free, open, competitive elections.

Forty-eight years of history has demonstrated that these changes will not happen under Fidel Castro. And it is naïve to think that it will happen under Raul Castro.

Since the revolution, General Raul Castro has been the enforcer of the regime's repressive apparatus. He is the longest-serving minister of defense in the world today. Handing the dictatorial reigns to a military leader would be a step backwards, denying Cuba the opportunity to move into the modern era.

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

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 others around the world.

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 failures of his policies.

The chief architect of the plight of the Cuban people is Fidel Castro. The chief enforcer of the brutal police state is Raul Castro. With the unflinching and unquestioning support of Cuba's elite, the Castro regime has destroyed the ability for Cubans today to succeed, prosper and make a life for themselves. The United States is ready to help the Cuban people peacefully usher in a new era.

Let me be clear: We recognize that 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 plans to occupy the island. We will not confiscate property or support any arbitrary attempts to reclaim property.

The U.S. government is not the greatest threat against Castro. 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 the Compact, "Cubans who want democratic change should count on our friendship and support." The people of Cuba deserve freedom, dignity and true social justice. We share the dream of a better tomorrow for them and their families.

Thank You. Viva Cuba Libre!