Interview with Former Senator Mel Martinez

By Latin America Advisor
June 16, 2010

The Dialogue's Latin America Advisor interviewed former Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, on the U.S.-Cuba relationship. A excerpt of this interview was published in the Advisor's Featured Q&A on June 16.

LAA: How would you characterize the state of U.S.-Cuba relations today, more than a year after President Barack Obama moved to loosen some travel and other restrictions?

Mel Martinez: I would say largely unchanged, and I would say that I would give the president and this administration credit for trying, but I would really lay the lack of progress at the feet of the Cuban government. I think their approach in increasing family travel was a good approach and the invitation to rejoin the migration talks probably was a good thing to do, although I’m not surprised by the lack of progress that they’ve been able to make because the Cuban dictatorship has fundamentally not changed, even though [it’s] in the hands of Raúl as opposed to Fidel. The policies continue to be the same and the same intransigence on all issues. What’s going on with the Vatican and whatnot, I think that’s more encouraging than anything that’s happened with our government.

LAA: What do you think is the significance of those talks?

Mel Martinez: I think it is significant that, for the first time, really ever, there seems to be a little bit of a quid pro quo going on between the Vatican and the Cuban government. However, it’s difficult to give anyone credit for holding a prisoner without trial for no reason other than the fact that they differ with you politically and then say that the Cuban government is doing a great thing by moving them closer to the family so the family can visit them.

LAA: How do you think the recent high-profile human rights cases have affected the willingness of the US to open up the bilateral relationship?

Mel Martinez: I think the high profile cases have been really important, because they’ve highlighted the continuing situation in Cuba, which is pretty much unchanged. They’ve highlighted the continued cruelty of the Cuban government while at the same time allowing people to see a human face. ... And I think that has created probably enough of an embarrassment to a regime that is beyond embarrassment to where they maybe have begun to rethink a bit, and that would be encouraging if they are. 

LAA: On the congressional aspect, how do you see the prospects for the bill that would repeal the travel ban and some additional agricultural restrictions? How do you think that those human rights cases have affected the prospects for that bill?

Mel Martinez: I think the human rights cases have made it less likely that there will be votes for lifting the travel ban and the other restrictions. I don’t think there’s any question about that. It hardens the views of some of us who are fairly skeptical about unilateral actions, but it also ... I think creates a very difficult vote for people who would otherwise believe that’s the right approach, unilaterally ending the embargo or the travel ban. It would make it a much harder vote to do that with a government who is so uncooperative and so callous about the human rights conditions within the country.

LAA: Do you see any possibility of that bill being passed? This recent cycle people seem to be more optimistic about it.

Mel Martinez: I don’t think there’s any real reason for that optimism. When you count the votes, I think there’s probably fewer votes today than there were two or three years ago for the lifting of the travel ban. If anything it becomes a more a distant hope. We tend to focus an awful lot of change here and unfortunately we do not focus enough on the lack of change there.

LAA: What would you recommend for the Obama administration to do?

Mel Martinez: I think at the moment I would wait and see what develops with the Vatican’s visit, which is very timely. … And then, perhaps, consulting with the Vatican diplomats and the Spanish and our E.U. partners, because there seems to be some movement there, although no real movement from Cuba. … It’s essentially this calcified, geriatric leadership that is so unsure of itself that it fears a hunger striker so much that it has to let him die rather than show any compassion. … [U]ntil this current set of leaders passes from the scene, there really is little likelihood that there can be a tremendous amount of change or too much of what the U.S. can do will change the condition of the Cuban people living under oppression. I’m not real concerned about American tourists being able to go to a Cuban beach. That is not going to fundamentally change the political situation, the oppression in Cuba. It’s not going to change because more tourists—now American ones as opposed to Canadians or Italians—are now sitting on a Cuban beach drinking rum.