Building Trust and the Future of Cuban-U.S. Relations

• In Event: Dreams, Possibilities, and Necessities in U.S.-Cuba Relations: Language, Policies, Resources, Resilience, Trust, and Position

Abstract

Objectives or purposes:
1) Analyze the legacy of distrust in the US-Cuba relations and the factors that led both governments to normalize diplomatic relations.
2) Identify the main sources of distrust while building a “normal” relation.
3) Propose actions both countries could take to build confidence effectively.

Perspectives: The long legacy of mutual distrust may be the most significant problem that confronts Cuba and the United States in attempting to build a “normal” relationship. In the case of U.S.-Cuba relations, the legacy of distrust has its roots on historical and cultural events. Each country has its own timeline for narrating the history of distrust. For Cubans, the chronology begins in 1898, when the United States intervened in the Cuban War of Independence and essentially robbed Cubans of agency in their own affairs. After the 1959 Revolution, distrust was compounded by multiple U.S. efforts to overthrow the Cuban government, assassinate Cuban leaders, support terrorist actions both on the island and abroad against Cubans, and find justifications to close off promising opportunities for rapprochement. The common U.S. narrative is that distrust of the Cuban government dates from 1959, because the revolutionaries broke their promise to hold open elections and maintain friendly relations with the United States. After the announcements of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations on December 17, 2014, policy makers in both countries found that confidence-building is a complex process that demands a longer time period than some anticipated and involves more than merely reducing unwarranted fears and suspicions. An important lesson from the two years of efforts to normalize Cuban-U.S. relations is that the essential task of developing trust is a two-step process: first, the sources of distrust must be removed; second, both countries must engage in activities that promote trust.

Methods:This presentation will employ qualitative methods of excerpts from case studies, empirical analyses, and primary and secondary sources review.

Data sources: The data sources include analyses of primary and secondary sources, specifically Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama speeches, regulations from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), reports from the Press Office of the U.S. Department of State, reports from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Investment, Fact Sheets from the White House, Office of the Press Secretary, and polls from the Cuban National Office of Statistics and from Florida International University. In addition, analyses of secondary sources such as books, magazine articles, newspapers, and think tanks’ studies from Cuba will be presented.

Conference Theme Connection:
Despite the achievements and cooperation developed by the two nations in 2015 and 2016, the long legacy of distrust between Cuba and the United States may be the most significant problem the two countries confront in trying to build a normal relation. Besides the lack of trust, the announcements made by President Donald Trump on June 16 have added uncertainty to the future of the US-Cuba relations. This paper proposes actions both countries could take to build confidence and enhance future cooperation that will benefit people in both countries.

Author

• Teresa Garcia Castro, American University