By Marilyn Haigh
After 53 years of severed relations, the U.S. and Cuba are undergoing changes to restore their bond. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced that they will take steps to better the relationship between the two countries, a relationship which was severed in 1961 when President Dwight Eisenhower closed the U.S. Embassy in Havana. Eisenhower instituted a ban on exports to Cuba.
For those who have the unique ability of being both Cuban and American, this new deal is not only about trade relations but cultural identity.
Joshua Olsberg is a first-generation Cuban-American who was raised in Louisiana and Texas, both communities with little Cuban influence, Olsberg said. His mother was born in Baracoa, a small city in Cuba where he eventually did research. The contrast between his upbringing and the experience of most Cuban-Americans made him curious to learn how identity varied within the Cuba diaspora. Olsberg compared the effects of location and political environment on Cubans living in Baracoa and Cuban-Americans living in Miami. He found that Cubans categorized themselves as humane, welcoming and open due to a regime that encouraged and necessitated taking care of one another. In Cuban-Americans, Olsberg saw more drive to succeed economically and in the workforce, as well as greater focus on immediate family.
In 2014, Olsberg received his Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at MU where he taught the class “Race, Democracy, and Violence in Cuba and Haiti”. Global Communications talked to Olsberg, now a peace studies and sociology visiting lecturer at Southern Methodist University, to get his insight on new U.S.-Cuba relations:
At the height of the embargo, what would life for an average Cuban citizen look like?
Joshua Olsberg: (The Cuban) economy is stagnant and it has been for a long time. What the embargo does is it forces them to consistently have to make tough decisions that don’t necessarily benefit the everyday citizen. Cubans are quite capable, and domestically they are capable of producing nearly all the goods and services that they need. But, we don’t necessarily see those goods and services staying in the Cuban economy … I was in a region in Cuba that’s a really rich coffee and chocolate growing region. But the average Cuban citizen has a ration for their coffee … So there’s some deprivation and definitely some poverty but because of the tremendous social safety net they’ve put into place they don’t end up being hit as hard as other countries that have stagnant economies.
Will the economic benefits from better relations trickle down to the average Cuban or will profits go to the elite?
It depends on how the development process unfolds in Cuba. Not all development is equal so let’s say economic trade resumes with the United States, there may be an influx of capital into Cuba but it really depends on what development looks like … My hope is that they follow a model that’s what we call protectionist in orientation. That is they are adamant about keeping a high minimum wage, a livable minimum wage, and that they are adamant about making sure that any businesses that come in and set up shop in Cuba … maintain adequate working conditions and the right kinds of wages and benefits. Hopefully the capital comes in and some of it stays in the form of wages and benefits and if that’s the case than I think things will get significantly better in Cuba over the next 10 to 15 years.
What kind of changes can be made to make the U.S. and Congress more open to normalizing relations with Cuba?
That particular way of framing it sometimes I think contributes to the problem instead of works toward a solution. I hear a lot of talk from the American political strata about what changes Cuba needs to make. I would say that given my experience in Cuba I would ask the question ‘What changes does the United States need to make in terms of how it sees foreign direct investment?’
… While (Cubans) would most certainly welcome foreign direct investment, there won’t welcome foreign control nor should they be expected to. The United States needs to partner with the World Bank and the IMP in helping Cuba to determine what it’s needs are and put in place a development plan that is consistent with Cuba’s interests and goals as well as our own.
Human Rights Watch has investigated Cuba for human rights violations including violation of free speech, maltreatment of prisoners and family separation. Will that need to change for a better relationship with the U.S?
I think we (the United States) poisoned ourselves as a moral authority that can come in and say, “OK, you need to make these changes.” However I think there’s a point at which Cuba is going to want to consider and need to prioritize doing free and fair elections. While the Communist party I think will continue to have a huge presence, there is an opportunity for a broadened political spectrum that can emphasize and prioritize different things. I think in terms of human rights, when you have more transparency in any regime and you have the possibility that should that regime be voted out of office, some of those things will take care of themselves. I think the Castro regime needs to be willing to believe in the strength of its ideas and put that to the ballot. Most of that will have to come from within.
Do you think that Cubans would choose to continue the Communist regime if they were given the vote?
Yes, I do. I suppose it depends on what the opposition looks like … I think given the chance to put it to the ballot a lot of what the Castro regime has done over the years Cubans support and are proud of. They’re proud of the fact that they have such a strong education system, they’re proud of their achievements in healthcare… I don’t think that they are against that system; I think they are going to embrace a lot of the core ideas that have carried them foreword from the time of the revolution.
Do Cubans feel as if there is someone to direct the blame at?
I don’t want to go too far in terms of speaking for them but I would say that they have a good understanding of their history and of politics and international politics. They talk a lot about their relationship to the United States. I think they realize that their relationship with the United States was tainted by the first half of the 20th century I think there’s some mistrust. I don’t know that I would say there’s out and out blame—a lot of those things are in the past. I think that Cubans welcome a relationship with the United States … they’re not necessarily going to lay blame but they’re not going to be dictated to.
Did you see this change coming? Why now?
I expected that it would come at some point. I don’t think that anybody could have necessarily predicated or suggested that now is any better time than another other than (the fact) that we have a president who has already won his second election. If this is something that he believes politically, then he doesn’t owe anything to anybody at this point … I knew that at some point this was going to happen and the reason that I felt like this was going to happen is that there is economic opportunity there on both sides. At a certain point that’s going to be to too good to resist.
The Missouri Atlas 