|
CUBA POLICY
Sanctions can alienate allies
MIAMI HERALD
BY JAKE COLVIN
jcolvin@nftc.org
LAST weekend, the Mexican
government and the Starwood Hotels and Resorts
learned just how messy U.S. policy on Cuba can be
when both were dragged into a dispute over a
conference of Cuban officials and U.S. business
delegates. To prevent future conflicts with
important U.S. allies and to preserve the reputation
of U.S. brands worldwide, the U.S. government should
reconsider how it applies sanctions.
The controversy began when
Starwood, the U.S. parent of Sheraton Maria Isabel
Hotel in Mexico City, intervened at the request of
U.S. officials and ordered a delegation of Cuban
officials to leave its hotel. The Cubans were
participating in a conference on energy issues with
U.S. business representatives, including myself. A
Starwood spokesperson said that the Cubans were
asked to leave to comply with the terms of the U.S.
embargo against Cuba.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
This incident highlights the
unintended consequences and capriciousness of
unilateral U.S. sanctions. By applying U.S. law to a
foreign corporation, the United States has strained
relations with an important ally.
While the Mexico-based Sheraton
hotel shares its name with a division of an U.S.
corporate parent, the hotel is organized under the
laws of Mexico, which Mexican officials and
newspaper editorial boards have angrily noted.
This unnecessary irritant serves
to undermine official cooperation on important
security and economic issues and damages the
goodwill of the United States among the broader
population.
Extending U.S. sanctions to
foreign corporations also puts these companies
between a rock and a hard place by challenging them
to comply with conflicting laws. In this case, the
Mexican Congress passed a law, called a blocking
statute, in response to the Helms-Burton Act passed
by the U.S. Congress, which extended U.S. sanctions
on Cuba to foreign corporations. This blocking
statute prevents companies organized under Mexican
laws from complying with these extraterritorial U.S.
sanctions. As a result, the Sheraton Maria Isabel is
put in the impossible position of having to comply
with contradictory U.S. and Mexican laws.
Over the longer term, these
sanctions put the reputation of U.S. brands at risk
around the world. What conference organizer in his
right mind would ever organize a meeting even
remotely related to Cuba in a U.S.-branded hotel,
let alone a Sheraton? Organizers will look toward
companies such as the French-based Sofitel instead
to hold future events.
More broadly, the application of
U.S. sanctions to disrupt this conference is
counterproductive as it limits our ability to
project democratic values and advance U.S.
foreign-policy goals. This conference provided a
forum for dialogue on economic issues and introduced
a delegation of American capitalists to Cuban
officials. It is disappointing that the U.S.
government, which advocates dialogue and engagement
in so many other countries around the world,
including China, would stifle discussions involving
Cuba.
TAKE A CRITICAL LOOK
While it is absolutely necessary
to use all of the means at our disposal to advance
U.S. foreign-policy goals, current U.S. policy
toward Cuba is not making the impact that Congress
or the president intended. At the same time,
unilateral sanctions have caused unexpected problems
with U.S. allies, are harming the reputation of U.S.
companies and are being applied unevenly.
The U.S. Commission for
Assistance to a Free Cuba, chaired by Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, will reconvene in 2006 with
en eye toward further strengthening sanctions
against Cuba. A better idea would be to take a
critical look at what the sanctions have really
accomplished. This latest incident argues for new
approaches, not more of the same.
Jake Colvin is director of the USA* Engage project
of the National Foreign Trade Council, a trade
association based in Washington. |
