Washington, DC – Today policy and trade experts, prominent Cuban-Americans and former Senator George McGovern spoke at the Center for International Policy’s conference on the imperatives for a new Cuba policy. According to a poll conducted by Frederick polls, the great majority of Americans now see our 47-year old Cuba policy for the utter failure it is. Even the Cuban-American community, heretofore solidly behind the policy, is moving rapidly in the other direction. The polls taken in the congressional districts of Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, two of the policy's most iron-clad advocates, show that the majority of their constituents disagree with current U.S.-Cuba policy – 66% expressing disagreement in Lincoln Diaz-Balart's district and 69% in Mario Diaz-Balart's.

Conference participants discussed the implications of the changes in Cuban-Americans’ views on the United States policy toward Cuba, how pressure should be increased for expanded trade and travel, and the future of expanded trade with Cuba.

“U.S. policy toward Cuba is embarrassingly ineffectual,” said Wayne Smith, senior fellow and director of the Cuba program at the Center for International Policy. “We will not begin a dialogue; rather, our stated objective is 'to bring down the government.' But the measures we put forward to achieve that are little more than a joke. Radio and TV Marti broadcasts, for example. They haven't had any effect over the past 20 years and won't have any more now. We are thus simply left to stand on the sidelines mumbling to ourselves that we won't talk."

Conference panelists included Wayne Smith, Center for International Policy; Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), College of William and Mary; Phil Peters, Lexington Institute; Alfredo Duran, Cuban Committee for Democracy; Joe Garcia, Miami Dade Democratic Party Chair; Tony Zamora, US-Cuba Legal Forum; Alvaro Fernandez, Cuban-American Commission for Family Rights; Robert Muse, Muse and Associates; Timothy Deal, U.S. Council for International Business; Daniel O’Flaherty, National Foreign Trade Council; and former Senator George McGovern.

“U.S, policy towards Cuba is a failed policy and the Cuban American community is finally coming to terms with this fact,” said Duran. “All indications are that we shall see this confirmed at the ballot box.”

“PAC contributions have ensured that Congress is now at stalemate over Cuba policy,” said Muse. “Therefore, if relations are ever to be normalized between the United States and Cuba, the lead must come from a future American president. By reverting to the Clinton era policy of relaxation of specific elements of the embargo in response to positive developments in Cuba – for example economic reforms – he or she will have taken the first confidence-building steps toward a normalization of relations with Cuba. If such leadership is demonstrated by a future White House, Congress may be expected to ratify its results. The alternative is permanent estrangement between the U.S. and Cuba, regardless of who governs the latter.”

Former Senator George McGovern, who just returned from a fact finding trip to Havana noted: “We have normal diplomatic and trade relations with China and Vietnam, two other communist countries, and are negotiating with North Korea, a third. In all those cases, engagement and dialogue have had positive results. And so would they with Cuba. We should give them a try."

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