U.S. lawmakers blasted efforts by the Obama administration and the U.S. business community to develop closer ties with Cuba as activists continue to face repression on the communist island.
A group of 44 former U.S. government officials, business executives, and academics sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday calling on him to loosen U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba and allow for more travel and financial flows between the two countries. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also announced on Monday that it would send an executive delegation next week to Cuba to meet with entrepreneurs, government officials, and other leaders.
The calls for closer economic ties to Cuba come as democracy advocates continue to face pressure from President Raul Castro’s government. Prominent Cuban dissident and blogger Yoani Sanchez introduced the country’s first independent website on Wednesday, but it was promptly hacked and altered so that it redirected viewers to a website critical of Sanchez.
"Bad strategy by the Cuban government to redirect our new web 14ymedio.com," Sanchez tweeted on Wednesday. "From #Cuba nothing is more attractive than the forbidden."
Information is tightly controlled in Cuba, where there are no independent newspapers and only about five percent of citizens have access to the global Internet, according to Freedom House.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), a Cuban-American lawmaker, condemned the Cuban government’s alleged hacking of Sanchez’s website in a statement issued Thursday.
"Press freedom is a universal human right, and we should be outraged that yet another blatant instance of repression has taken place in Cuba," he said. "I recognize it’s not the role of government officials to tell the press how to do their jobs, but I do believe it’s the responsibility of Yoani’s fellow journalists everywhere to stand in solidarity with her as the Castro government blocks her from doing her job and help her shine a light on the regime’s repression, its failures, and the Cuban people’s aspirations for freedom."
"This is also a reminder about the dangers of potentially turning over governance of the Internet to any entity that gives any influence whatsoever to regimes and governments that view the Internet as a threat to their power," he added.
Critics of the Obama administration say that its Cuba policy has prioritized a rapprochement with Castro on economic matters at the expense of focusing on human rights violations. The administration has already loosened some travel and financial restrictions on Cuba and enabled greater access to donated cell phones and online chat services, but it remains unclear how much freedom Cubans have to use them.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.), another Cuban-American lawmaker, took aim at the Chamber’s upcoming visit to Cuba. The Chamber has pointed to some limited freedoms granted to about 400,000 self-employed entrepreneurs in Cuba as a sign of progress, but Ros-Lehtinen said more U.S. investment threatens to place human rights on the backburner.
"It’s pathetic and disappointing that the Chamber is putting financial interests ahead of human rights and democratic values," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Under the Castro regime, the Cuban people have no right to private ownership and are continually victims of policies that prohibit free market principles," she continued. "While the Chamber is being given the Potemkin Village tour by the Castros, it should keep in mind that every dollar given to the regime will only further finance the oppression of the Cuban people."
"The Chamber has long supported a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, one that seeks more opportunities for companies and individuals to interact with Cuba and Cuban society, while recognizing that our stance in no way excuses or condones Cuba’s record on human rights and political and economic freedoms," said Jodi Bond, vice president for the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We have been told that there is a genuine shift in the economic model underway in Cuba, our plan is to see those changes first-hand and to help clarify the benefits of pro-market reforms."
Jonathan Lalley, spokesman for the National Security Council, pushed back against charges that the Obama administration has not done enough to address human rights abuses in Cuba. He said the administration’s policies have granted Cubans more alternative sources of information and opportunities for self-employment.
"The president and his administration remain committed to policies that support the Cuban people’s desire to freely determine their future, that reduce their dependence on the Cuban state, and that advance United States national interests," he said in an email.
However, human rights activists say repression by the Cuban government has only increased in some cases. Cuban authorities have arrested and temporarily detained thousands of dissidents in recent months, a spike compared to previous years. Alan Gross, a former U.S. government contractor, also continues to serve a 15-year jail sentence in Cuba for attempting to provide Internet access to small Jewish communities.
Additionally, Cuba has long provided diplomatic and military support to U.S. adversaries such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia. A recent United Nations report appeared to signal that U.S. diplomats would not press for sanctions against Cuba after it violated the U.N. embargo on arms shipments to North Korea.
Ros-Lehtinen on Thursday called the report "laughable."
"Instead of a slap on the wrist, the Obama administration should submit a list of Cuban officials and enterprises involved in this illegal operation to be sanctioned by the United Nations," she said. "We must show we will not turn a blind eye to conduct that only serves to assist those who would do us harm. Otherwise, the U.S. should further sanction these entities ourselves."