Anti-Embargo Activism and Us Cuba Policy: A Rational Departure

Abstract

AbstractSince 1969, more than one hundred organisations in the United States have been attempting to change US Cuba policy. Collectively, they constitute a dynamic social movement clamouring for change on family, tourist, cultural and academic travel, remittances and trade to Cuba. This article attempts to explain why this movement, identified as the 'anti-embargo movement', has persisted in attempting to change US Cuba policy for decades although it has met with such limited success over time. A social movements theoretical framework is employed to analyse the persistence of the movement and to explain the impetus accounting for its sustained activism in the post-Cold War era. Drawing on the popular resource mobilisation literature, the article contends that the rational, utilitarian model is inadequate to understand the multifarious attributes of the movement. Therefore, it turns to alternative social movements perspectives such as tactical frames, solidarity networks and co-option, for possible answers.Keywords: activism, embargo, United States, Cuba, popular resource modelIntroductionThis article is part of a broader research project of my PhD dissertation entitled 'Down with the Embargo: Social Movements, Contentious Politics and U.S. Cuba Policy (1960-2006)' (Rampersad 2007). The research methods are diverse ranging from content analysis of major American newspapers to archival research on official documents, books, journals, newspapers, magazines and websites. A significant contribution to this article are the findings obtained from a series of unstructured and semi-structured elite interviews undertaken in the US between 2005 and 2006 amongst scholars, leaders of both hardline and moderate Cuban and American groups as well as non-Cuban American organisations, their staffmembers, congresspersons and congressional staff.The Anti-Embargo MovementThe anti-embargo movement in the United States comprises more than one hundred organisations which seek to change US policy to Cuba. They are led by both Americans and Cuban Americans located mainly in Washington DC, New York and Miami, though a few are found in other states like California and New Jersey. They fall into three main categories. The first includes older and larger organisations, some of which are international activists which do not have Cuba as a special project but have taken up the Cuban cause. Amongst these are the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, Madre (an international human rights organisation), Global Exchange, Oxfam America and faith-based groups like the World Council of Churches, Church World Service, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Episcopal Church. The second group consists of organisations which treat with other Latin American/Caribbean issues but have a specific Cuba project. These include the Center for International Policy (CIP), the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Latin American Working Group (LAWG), World Policy Institute and the Lexington Institute. The third group comprises organisations concerned only with US Cuba policy such as Venceremos Brigade, the Center for Cuban Studies, the Emergency Coalition to Defend Education Travel (ECDET), Pastors for Peace, and business interests including USA Engage and the US-Cuba Trade Association. It also includes a host of moderate Cuban American organisations. The most prominent are the Cuban Committee for Democracy, Cambio Cubano, the Emergency Network of Cuban American Scholars and Artists (ENCASA), the Cuban American Alliance Education Fund (CAAEF), the Cuba Study Group, and the Cuban American Commission for Family Rights.This article focuses primarily on organisations in the second and third categories which either have a specific Cuba project, or treat with US Cuba policy as their sole agenda. These are the most active on the contentious embargo issues treating with tourist, academic and family travel, remittances, trade and cultural exchanges to the island. …