Abstract
Cuba is probably one of the best examples of the significance of the democracy promotion discourse in US foreign policy: the efforts to democratise the island have been one of the main features in the US—Cuba bilateral relations since the end of the Cold War. Even the embargo against the island has evolved from a tool to generate regime change to an instrument of democracy promotion to foster a democratic transition. Today, the Cuban embargo, after the codifications of the 1990s, is intimately connected to a ‘Cuban democratic future’. Moreover, in the last three decades, US presidents have committed themselves to promote democracy on the island, inaugurating a sort of ‘state policy’ with little or no evolutions or changes. The main aim of this two-part article is to explore the rationale behind US decennial efforts to promote a peaceful democratic change on the island, while trying to answer some crucial questions about US strategy in Cuba: Why promote democracy in Cuba? Why did democracy promotion become a long-lasting feature in US—Cuba relations? The first part deals with the security framework, and American economic interests in Cuba as a crucial push factor for democracy promotion, while the role of the Cuban-American community and the problems and perspectives of US strategy will be included in the second part, to be published in the next issue of the Journal.
Highlights
In a memorandum delivered to the members of his Cabinet (April 2009), President Obama underlined US strategy and interests towards Cuba: ‘The promotion of democracy and human rights in Cuba is in the national interest of the United States and is a key component of this Nation’s foreign policy in the Americas’ (White House 2009)
The study of the role of international actors in the internal process of democratic transition has been flourishing (Brinks and Coppedge 2006; Brown 2000; Gledish and Ward 2006; Pevenhouse 2002a, 2002b, 2005), but democracy promotion has remained as an external component and considered lower in importance in comparison with economic and social internal indicators (Mainwarning and Pérez-Liñán 2013: 214–41)
International and regional organisations saw a dramatic increase in their activities in the field of democracy promotion and the defence of human rights worldwide (Coicaud et al 2000; Forsythe 2006; Newman and Rich 2004)
Summary
In a memorandum delivered to the members of his Cabinet (April 2009), President Obama underlined (once again) US strategy and interests towards Cuba: ‘The promotion of democracy and human rights in Cuba is in the national interest of the United States and is a key component of this Nation’s foreign policy in the Americas’ (White House 2009). International and regional organisations saw a dramatic increase in their activities in the field of democracy promotion and the defence of human rights worldwide (Coicaud et al 2000; Forsythe 2006; Newman and Rich 2004) This impressive shift contributed to the rise of democracy promotion as an autonomous feature in US foreign policy and as a key component of US national interest abroad.
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