New Report: How Obama Can Break the Diplomatic Deadlock with Cuba

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
If Barack Obama and Raúl Castro sat down for negotiations, what could they talk
about?

The leaders could authorize cooperation in military affairs, law enforcement,
hurricane preparedness, health care, migration, trade, energy development,
academic exchange, and family travel that would provide real benefits to the
Cuban and American people while also building the confidence and trust our
diplomats need to bring this fifty-year-old conflict to an end.

These recommendations, by a former Combatant Commander of the U.S. Southern
Command, and other scholars, experts, and advocates for engagement, are
contained in this report - "9 Ways for US to Talk to Cuba and for Cuba to Talk
to US" - released today by The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA).

The report is available for download here.

"Our `9 Ways` report lays out a strategy for the Obama administration to rebuild
U.S.-Cuba relations," said Sarah Stephens, the CDA director and co-editor of the
report. "If we could cooperate with Cuba to fight drugs and human smuggling, if
our businesses could trade with Cuba and help develop its energy resources, if
we could learn why Cuba is better at protecting its citizens from hurricanes and
natural disasters, our people would be better off and our diplomats could
develop the trust they need to bring our countries together."

The report contains recommendations on national security, law enforcement, and
migration issues that include:

* Increasing dialogue between the Cuban armed forces and the U.S. Southern
Command;
* Working out protocols for greater intelligence sharing to fight
narco-trafficking;
* Allowing Cuban participation in military exercises for the defense of the
Panama Canal;
* Engaging Cuba in efforts against human smuggling;
* Facilitating contacts between agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration,
the Marshals Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and their Cuban
counterparts; and,
* Starting a dialogue with Cuba on port security in anticipation of increased
trade.

To promote cooperation on medical research and academic exchange, the report
advocates:

* Removing Cuba from the `State Sponsors of Terrorism` list to allow exchanges
of professionals in health care and research;
* Lifting restrictions on educational trips to facilitate medical education;
* Suspending trade restrictions on medicine and medical equipment sales; and,
* Including Cuba in the Fulbright Program, the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship
Program, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program.

To facilitate cooperation with Cuba in commerce and energy development actions
could include:

* Using the president`s executive authority to liberalize trade and financial
transactions;
* Lifting travel restrictions for all Americans;
* Opening U.S. participation in Cuba`s oil and natural gas development and
enabling U.S. firms to help Cuba improve environmental practices in off-shore
energy exploration; and,
* Lifting sanctions against future ethanol imports from Cuba to the U.S.

To improve our knowledge about extreme weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico
and Cuba`s civil defense program, the report suggests:

* Allowing Cuban scientists and emergency managers to visit the U.S. and share
information on evacuation plans, post-disaster medical support, and citizen
disaster preparedness education programs; and,
* Permitting U.S. scientists and emergency managers to visit Cuba and observe
storm evacuations in real time.

To engage the Cuban-American community and change the tone of U.S.-Cuba
relations, the report`s recommendations include:

* Eliminating restrictions on Cuban-Americans to visit the island and provide
financial support;
* Shutting down TV Marti; and,
* Shutting down Radio Marti or transferring its management to the Voice of
America in Washington.

Essays in the report were written by Sarah Stephens, Alan Webber, Gen. James T.
Hill, Randy Beardsworth, Robert Bach, Peter Bourne, Jake Colvin, Ivor van
Heerden, Amy Myers Jaffe and Ronald Soligo, Franklin W. Knight, Alberto R. Coll,
and Louis A. Pérez, Jr.

The report was produced by The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA) and
its Freedom to Travel campaign. Since 2001, the Freedom to Travel campaign has
taken bi-partisan delegations to Cuba that included 5 U.S. Senators, 28 Members
of Congress, and 30 professional staff.

Learn more about The Center for Democracy in the Americas by visiting its
website: www.democracyinamericas.org.

The Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA)
Collin Laverty, 202-234-5506

Copyright Business Wire 2009