Is It Ethical to Visit Cuba?
In 1960, then President John F. Kennedy and his administration placed an economic embargo on communist Cuba, prohibiting almost all sales and purchases of goods to and from the Caribbean nation. Subsequent presidential administrations have only tightened this embargo, making it increasingly difficult for Americans to visit the island.
Fidel Castro and his fellow revolutionaries enter Havana
© Rolls Press/Popperfoto January 8, 1959
This embargo was meant to weaken Cuban president Fidel Castro’s regime after taking power in a communist revolution in 1958. Old, and in ailing health, Castro stepped down from the presidency in 2006 and was succeeded by his brother Raul. During his presidency, Raul Castro acted deliberately to improve the relationship between Cuba and the United States.
During the second term of his presidency, President Barack Obama and Raul Castro both agreed to reopen embassies in each other’s respective capitals for the first time since 1961. In 2014, President Obama became the first president to visit Cuba in 88 years.
US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shake hands after announcing several agreements to increase cooperation and economic investment between their countries.
© Reuters March 21, 2016
The easing of tensions ultimately culminated when the Obama Administration eased certain restrictions on the island, including allowing American citizens to visit Cuba for “people to people education trips.” Although the embargo is still in place, individuals would finally be able to travel to the island without special permission from the US Government.
This change in policy has sparked an interesting discussion: “Is it ethical visit Cuba?”
The vintage cars and bold facades of Old Havana.
© Getty Images
As a communist nation, a significant portion of businesses in the country are owned and operated by the local government. This means that the government itself would directly profit from American tourists staying in certain hotels, eating at certain restaurants, or buying goods from certain shops. Congressman Marco Rubio (R-FL) and senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), both of whom are Cuban-Americans, argue that the easing of restrictions will lead to American dollars directly going to finance a regime with a history of human rights abuses.
One cannot deny the crimes of the Castro regime. Numerous watchdog groups have reported corroborated instances of people being imprisoned arbitrarily, stifling of freedom of the press, people being placed into labor camps, and much more. Any time you visit Cuba, you are supporting the government in one way or another. It is possible however to visit Cuba while supporting the locals as well.
Some Republicans see improved relations as a chance for freedom and capitalism to begin taking over. In an interview with the New York Times, former Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) stated, “the Cuban people, particularly the growing number of Cubans who run their own small businesses, benefit when Americans travel to the island…Increased travel by Americans will lead to more Cuban entrepreneurs who are less dependent on the Cuban government.”
“The private tourism industry is in direct competition for good supplies with the general population... There are a lot of unanticipated consequences and distortions.”
Unfortunately, there is a darker side to tourism that many people fail to think about. In 2016, 4 million Americans flocked to the island after the easing of restrictions by the Obama administration. That same year, the New York Times reported that the sudden influx of American tourists was literally starving the Cuban people, “without supplies to match the increased appetite, some foods have become so expensive that even basic staples are becoming unaffordable for regular Cubans.”
Without the easing of the embargo to go along with the loosening restrictions for people traveling there, Cuba is simply unable to grow enough food for itself as well as all of its tourists.
In June 2017, while accompanied by Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), President Donald Trump announced a reversal of several of Obama’s policies on tourists going to Cuba. Although mainly symbolic in nature, the reimposed restrictions would once again make it difficult for Americans to visit the island on their own. Instead, tourists wishing to visit the island nation will have to do so on privately owned guided tours of the country.
These tours themselves are problematic for several reasons. Many of these tours start off at $1000 per person (or more) for a three day trip not including airfare. Since these tour companies are privately owned, very little of that money actually reaches the people of the country.
Furthermore, these tourist companies must get approval from the Cuban government to operate and therefore their itineraries include things the regime wants you to see. This lack of natural interaction with locals ultimately keeps people from seeing the real Cuba, good or bad.
“In our diligence to make sure people were doing people-to-people, we allowed them to fall into the trap of the Cuban propaganda machine.”