Editorial: Obama’s visit to Cuba sparks necessary discussion

President Obama’s Cuba visit this week was met with cheers and jeers, but his trip makes room for a conversation all Americans should consider.

After nearly six decades, an American president has ended the diplomatic isolation between the United States and Cuba.

While opponents are labeling his trip as just another check on the president’s legacy bucket list, that shouldn’t diminish the valuable conversations we must have about human rights issues in Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, trade and travel that this visit foregrounds.

Because of our broken ties with Cuba for the majority of the last century, Americans know very little about Cuba, despite its proximity to the United States. At least at Pitt, we can stay in touch with Cuba and its culture through our study abroad in Cuba program, but that program is one of the only academic exchanges to Cuba in the country.

Cuba is not just an island with a prison, and it’s not just a country with classic cars and cigars. There are people in Cuba with families in the United States that are our neighbors, and there are people in Cuba who have had little contact with the outside world because of their oppressive government.

Many people, such as Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, argue the president’s visit will not incite any change or reform because Cubans are already empowered enough. Parrilla said after the 1959 revolution that put the current government in power, Cubans aren’t in need of any help, but we shouldn’t ignore the poor conditions in Cuba because of the facade its government paints.

We have to remember that Cuba’s government may not be on the best of terms with the United States, but we shouldn’t define Cuba’s inhabitants by the diplomatic sins of its leaders. The international community agrees there are many human rights issues there in particular that raise red flags. According to Human Rights Watch, Cubans who criticize the government continue to face prosecution, and the government prevents human rights groups from accessing its prisons.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Guantanamo Bay violates the Geneva Conventions because of its lacking prisoner-of-war camp status, where prisoners fall outside the law. Because there are no labels, prisoners are interrogated, punished and forced to answer questions from which the Geneva Conventions provides protection.

We can’t turn a blind eye on the degradation and abuse of prisoners and Cuban citizens. The newly rekindled relationship with Cuba provides for this conversation as well as a discussion about the half-century old embargo and stringent travel restrictions.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Obama announced moves last week to further lift U.S. restrictions on Cuba. That includes easing travel restrictions and restoring Cuba’s access to the global financial system by ending the trade embargo. 

“What we did for 50 years did not serve our interests or the interests of the Cuban people,” Obama said about the embargo.

Ending the embargo, facilitating travel, shutting down Guantanamo and allowing for conversation to improve living quality and human rights in Cuba are all topics in the spotlight because of Obama’s visit — and topics we should discuss.

With those discussions, maybe then the United States and Cuba can finally find some common ground.