John Kerry under pressure to meet Cuban dissidents
By Nahal Toosi
August 11, 2015

Even if they can’t keep John Kerry from visiting Havana this Friday, opponents of America’s fresh engagement with Cuba are trying to at least shape his schedule.

The secretary of state is coming under growing pressure to meet with Cuban political dissidents and human rights activists during his historic visit to the communist-led island, during which he will raise the American flag over the newly reopened U.S. Embassy. The critics’ push comes after Cuban authorities arrested dozens of dissidents, some of them reported to be wearing paper masks of President Barack Obama, during a march in Havana over the weekend.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, urged Kerry to “at least use the opportunity of your upcoming August 14th trip to Havana to demand the freedom and rights of the Cuban people.”

“During your meetings with Cuban officials, you should demand that all political prisoners are released,” the Florida senator, who is of Cuban descent, wrote in a letter dated Monday. “During your visit, you should meet with the courageous leaders who are fighting to bring freedom to Cuba and invite them to the ceremony you will be presiding over at the new American embassy.”

Other members of Congress also weighed in, with some planning to hold a news conference on Wednesday. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said in a statement that the Obama administration “demonstrates willful blindness when it comes to the brutal repression that occurs in Cuba every day.”

It was unclear exactly how many Cubans were arrested and for how long on Sunday — some reports said around 90 while others said it was more than 100. But it’s not the first time the Cuban government has clamped down on dissidents since December, when Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced the two countries would restore diplomatic relations after 54 years.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the U.S. is “deeply concerned by this roundup of peaceful activists,” and he insisted that America will “continue to voice our support for improved human rights conditions and democratic reforms in Cuba.” Kirby gave no details, however, on whether a meeting with Cuban dissidents would be included in Kerry’s schedule, which does include talks with senior Cuban government officials.

A State Department official speaking on background Tuesday said that “Secretary Kerry plans to meet with a broad range of civil society during the day. We do not have specific information about which members of civil society the secretary will meet.” Asked whether Tom Malinowski, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, would go on the trip as well, a different State official said no decision has been made.

Cuba and the U.S. formally restored diplomatic relations on July 20, with each country officially upgrading its “interests section” to an embassy. Kerry’s visit will be a largely ceremonial event (the Cubans already held their flag-raising in Washington), but it will also be the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to Cuba since 194
 
Kerry, Obama and other U.S. officials have repeatedly said that they are not blind to Cuba’s human rights transgressions; they argue, however, that the U.S. will have more influence on Cuban behavior if it engages with the communist leadership there than if it continues with an isolationist policy that didn’t work for more than five decades.

Still, the roundup of activists over the weekend didn’t look great for the administration’s philosophy.

According to Agence France-Presse, some of the dissidents held Sunday, which included members of the well-known Ladies in White group, said the U.S. détente with Cuba was emboldening authoritarianism.

“It’s his fault, what is happening,” said former political prisoner Angel Moya, speaking of Obama, according to AFP.

Sarah Margon, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, said there’s been a rise in short-term detentions by Cuban authorities “as a warning for activists and those who are trying to bring change to Cuba.”

But, she added, U.S. engagement with Cuba offers more opportunities than dead ends when it comes to human rights. For one thing, it eases relations with other countries in Latin America, many of which have long insisted that America’s policy toward the Caribbean island made no sense, and which might now be more amenable to also pressuring Cuba to tolerate more dissent.

Opponents of the rapprochement may have been legally unable to stop the president from relaunching diplomatic relations and reopening the embassy, but they do have some leverage.

While the administration can ease some trade and travel rules for Cuba, only Congress can lift the embargo on the island — something unlikely to happen under the current GOP leadership. Rubio and others also insist they’ll do everything they can to block the appointment of a U.S. ambassador to Cuba.

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