Customer Reviews

Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a history cum analysis of the Cuban government and its interactions with the US government from 1959, when Castro took over, to the present. It is generally accurate and reveals information not previously well publicized, thanks to arduous research by the author viz a viz review of declassified but not publicized documents from the US State Department.

Having said that, I found the author's slant (mostly pro-Castroite, always suspicious of US motives, albeit often justifiably) a bit tiresome. His diminution of the human rights violatons in Cuba undermines his credibility here and there, thus the 4 stars, not five. It is, nevertheless, an admirably researched book, important for anyone (even those in government positions) who may want a better understanding of the past and future for the relation between the two countries.

There are other sources readers may want to use to get a deeper understanding of the pre Castro Cuba and its troubled history with the US, including Tom Gjelten's book on the Bacardi family.

If you want to read just one book on Cuba, I would recommend this one. It is an easy read, packed with information, and surprisingly honest for a US journalist. The author has no ideological axe to grind, neither for nor against the Cuba government. He simply gives an honest, thorough and factual presentation of Cuba in a pleasantly readable way. His book covers a wide range of subjects, in both a personal and general way. For those who know more about Cuba, it has the bonus of containing a great deal of very useful references and footnotes. This is a very good book to give someone to start learning about what Cuba is really like, and doesn't want to get thrown into the constant ideological battles taking place in the US over Cuba. I recommend visiting Cuba, go see why the US government doesn't want you to go there, and read this book to educate yourself about Cuba before you go.

In Dateline Havana, Reese Erlich takes on the central paradox of American attitudes towards Cuba, which is that almost no one in United States, on the right or the left, has a realistic appraisal of the modern Cuban state. The misperceptions and outright distortions of the right have, without doubt, had greater policy import, and are probably held by a greater number of people. However, those on the left often overlook the shortcomings of the Revolution, and the problems afflicting Cuba today. Although Mr. Erlich does not spare those on the left (he was once in solidarity with them) he appropriately reserves most of his criticisms for the right wing interpretation of the Cuban Revolution. It is this interpretation, advanced by Cuban exiles and unrepentant Cold Warriors, that has structured US policy towards the island for the last fifty years.

The strongest aspect of the book is the extended discussion of the Cuba Lobby. The Cuban exile community has engaged in political activity against Cuba since the early 1960s; this activity has extended from a direct invasion of the island, to a campaign of terrorism, to concerted efforts to mold US policy. The last has been most successful. Extremist Cuban-American exiles no longer represent a majority of the Cuban population of the United States. Nevertheless, they wield outsize influence over US policy towards Cuba. Reese argues that the Cuban-American extremist exiles succeed not simply because of the electoral power they wield in Florida, but also because they are the only ones paying attention. In this, as in many situations, a small minority with intense preferences can impose its preferred policies on a majority that just doesn't care very much.

Mr. Erlich's account of Cuban political repression is largely fair. I found it a touch too credulous in parts-- it's unsurprising that a dictatorship does not create strong incentives for speaking truth to power, and I'm not convinced that the Cuban government's resistance to the spread of cell phones was wholly the result of a capacity problem--but he constructively compares the current situation with that of the United States, its allies, and of Cuba prior to the Revolution. Mr. Erlich notes that the Revolution remains popular in substantial portions of the population, and that free elections would likely result in significant (if not, perhaps, majority) support for the current regime. That said, regimes confident of their popular support do not, by and large, need to resort to the oppressive measures that have characterized the Castro regime since the 1960s.

I was troubled by a few of the claims made by Reese; in particular, he cites reports that the United States engaged in biological warfare against Cuba on two separate occasions during the Cold War. These claims do not make up a substantial part of his argument, but nevertheless the evidence supporting them is exceedingly thin. Experts on biological warfare do not, by and large, accept these claims or list them in the history of the use of biological weapons. One footnote cites an article that is apparently no longer available on the internet. Again, these claims do not go to the heart of his argument, but it would still have been helpful either to excise them or back them up with more substantial evidence.

Mr. Erlich makes sophisticated sketches of a few potential transition paths. He warns against the belief that a US opening will undermine the regime in short order, noting that Canadian and European tourists and money have already flooded Cuba. Fair enough, but I suspect that American investment and tourism will dwarf the European and Canadian contributions in short order. I also suspect that this influx will have a significant economic and political impact on the Cuban state. Of course, any such impact depends on the United States relaxing a number of different restrictions on commerce and tourism, and the interest of the Obama administration in making big changes on Cuba policy remains in some question. In any case, Dateline Havana is an extremely useful primer on US-Cuban relations, and a strong contribution to the debate on the future of US policy towards Cuba.

This is a decent history of the Cuban Revolution, but the author identifies his bias at the beginning and then reaffirms it constantly throughout the book. It felt unobjective, especially given the author's credentials as a journalist. The final chapter deals with the appropriate policy response from the U.S. Government in light of Raul Castro eventually stepping down and giving way to something. Unfortunately, there are no policy recommendations with a supporting rationale, just a few scenarios. One small irritant...some of the notes provide interesting background, but they're buried at the back of the book. It would have been nice to have them at the bottom of the relevant page where the reference occurs.

This is a terrific book, one that deals honestly and intelligently with a subject that rarely gets discussed nowadays: how an "underdeveloped country" achieves economic independence, how socialist regimes work, the sometimes difficult choices they face, how well they are able to acknowledge and correct mistakes. Cuba survived the collapse of the Soviet bloc despite its catastrophic impact on the island's economy; Erlich suggests that its staying power owes much to the fact that, at critical times, the government has been able to acknowledge when a certain policy or approach isn't working and change it without the kind of convulsive social conflicts that have periodically wracked post-revolutionary China. His style, as always, is both informal and accessible, discussing complex issues in an understandable way without oversimplifying or "dumbing down." His section on the organic farming movement in Cuba is particularly eye-opening and has relevance far beyond Cuba.

The Cold War is over. It's refreshing to read an account of what's happening in Cuba whose purpose is not to refight old battles (although Erlich does deal with them) but to understand what's happening in Cuba now. The crazies who brought us the Elian Gonzalez controversy (child abuse in the service of a political agenda) will hate the book, but everybody else should find something in it to ponder and learn from.

In his biased book the author blames the United States and the Cuban/American comunity for supporting the embargo. This is nothing but pure nonsense.

The main reason the embargo continues is not because of US unreasonable demands toward Cuba, or the failure of American presidents to understand the issues at hand. It persist because the last thing the Castro brothers want is to open the eyes of an enslaved people to the outside world, especially to the fruits of capitalism and the American free enterprise system.

In addition, it is very convenient for tyrants to blame a common enemy for their nation's miseries while they continue to pilfer it.

I suggest the author reads a 2007 Forbes magazine article in which old Fidel comes out as one of the wealthiest heads of state second to Queen Elizabeth II with a billion dollars in foreign investments.

To the intelligent reader who doesn't believe in Santa Claus: The Cuba of today is nothing but an elongated island/farm managed and owned by the Castro brothers for their own enrichment. Communism--already an accepted failure--is just their excuse to continue in power.

Andrew J. Rodriguez

Award-winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir