Obama’s engagement with Cuba’s corrupt dictatorship: Helping democracy or kleptocracy?

Via Democracy Digest:

Engagement helps Cuban democracy – or kleptocracy?

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The United States could end its embargo on Cuba “before full democracy exists” on the island, says US Secretary of State John Kerry. He told Chilean TV that a “full democracy requires time, but there is progress.”

“For instance, we don’t have full democracy in Vietnam, but we eliminated the embargo because we saw progress (…) There was no democracy in China when we normalized our relations and began to make progress,” said Kerry. “Personally, I believe the embargo should be lifted, because it would help the people of Cuba,” he concluded.

He also described Venezuela as a “democracy in trouble,” adding that the upcoming parliamentary elections (Dec. 6) would offer a “measure of what sort of democracy it is.”

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Antonio Rodiles

But Cuban opposition activists fear that the US rapprochement will legitimize the Communist authorities rather than facilitate democratic change.

“Legitimizing the [Castro] regime is the contrary path to a transition,” Cuban democracy leader Antonio Rodiles [who was recently beaten by pro-government thugs – right] told Diario de Cuba. Other analysts argue that economic engagement with a corrupt government is more likely to consolidate kleptocracy rather than cultivate democracy.

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