Paya's Visit, Reich's Reassignment Signal Quiet Shift on Cuba

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After receiving a travel permit "inexplicably," Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá arrived in Washington this week. He came by way of Europe determined to continue spreading the word about the difficulties of life on an island where, he said, one can feel imprisoned without being in prison. He had an audience with no less than the U.S. secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, among others. Score one--a big one--for the Cuban opposition, many would say.

Yet even before Payá could set foot on the sidewalk at the State Department's headquarters, his Varela Project that collects signatures in favor of a peaceful and democratic transition on the island was under criticism from a familiar stronghold of Cuban diplomacy--Miami's Little Havana.

A group of Cuban American organizations cast doubt on the value of Paya's meeting, asserting over the weekend that the Varela Project "would legitimize the absolute powers and abuses" by the Castro government and "undermine" the work of other democracy groups.

Not everyone in Little Havana agreed with that view, yet the message seemed to strike the same tone critical of the Bush administration that came this week from the traditional Cuban American leadership voices in this capital. In numerous interviews, they complained anew of the lack of a clear White House policy for the hemisphere-including, of course, Cuba.

Much of Latin America looks to the beginning of Bush's third year with skepticism. It is understandable that Mexicans and Argentines speak of White House neglect. It is rather startling that Cuban Americans do so, too.

Bush, after all, began his term expressing gratitude for the Cuban American support that helped put him there, particularly that from South Florida. He made Mel R. Martinez the first Cuban American named to a Cabinet-level position and selected another, Otto J. Reich, to direct U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere. He ignored criticism that he was paying a political debt by handing the Latin America portfolio to Cuban exiles.

The verbal dustup over the last several days here was further proof to some that U.S. policymakers are distancing themselves from Little Havana. It was also a sign that U.S. economic interests seeking to end the trade embargo are having more influence on U.S. Cuba policy. This explains why Cuban-American leaders once thought to have ample influence at the White House are becoming more openly dissatisfied with Bush, even as he pursues an international campaign against terrorism.

Cuba is the only country in the hemisphere on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism, they argue, and also has some capability to develop biological weapons. It spies on the United States and offers refuge to terrorists, they add. Doesn't that justify a more aggressive policy toward the Castro regime?

Yet the fact is that the Bush administration has arguably been no tougher on Cuba than its predecessors were. And Reich's appointment, forced to be temporary because of congressional opposition, has lapsed. On Thursday, the White House appointed him to a new post in the National Security Council not requiring congressional confirmation.

In response to the criticism of the meeting with Payá, a State Department spokesman said the session provided a rare opportunity to become familiar with the efforts of one very well-known leader of the freedom movement in Cuba, and added that Cuba now has a "constellation" of such activists worthy of recognition.

Another official acknowledged that the Cuban American community expects Bush to do more. But he insisted that Bush would continue to keep tough trade restrictions on the island, even though the official agreed with Payá that the solution for Cuba needs to become "de-Americanized." Neither the embargo, nor more tourists, investors or trade will be factors for change, said Payá, if Cubans continue living in fear and exclusion.

More than 40 years should have been enough to make it clear that the hard-line U.S. anti-Castro policy has not resulted in the hoped-for democratic changes on the island. And it is precisely for that reason that some here suspect that the real aim of the Cuban American community, and its emphasis on Castro as a terrorist threat, is to assure that these very policies will not be softened, even as more voices, especially in Congress, are calling for just that.

The real problem here may be one of expectations, of those looking to Washington to deliver more than it really can. The Cuban American community, as well as those from other Latin American countries in crisis, must accept a difficult reality: Often true change comes only from within, from initiatives like those of Payá, no matter how modest they may seem.