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By Robert E. Freer, Jr., Charleston *
Is there a White Rose in Cuba´s future?

In a hospital room 200 miles or so I south of Miami, Cuba^'s past half century is slipping into history, and an unknown future awaits. If Fidel Castro manages to rally from his life-threatening surgery, certainly it will be only for the briefest time. His single-minded rule over the island^'s 11 million citizens is entering the shadows from which it must surely pass into history, and the transition has already begun.

The future beckons all Cubans wherever they are to consider carefully the options just ahead. For much of the past 20 years, before I came to Charleston, concern with Cuba and things Cuban have kept me at or near the center of the relations between the United States and Cuba. Although an ^"Anglo,^" I am proud and fond of the many Cuban-American friends and_. associates I have come to know in this period and care as deeply as they do that Cuba chooses the right path for itself.

Which road will its people decide to walk? Both are strewn with obstacles of Castro's construction. Isolation, a continued lagging economy, and a society that chooses to be united only in its universal misery lie down one road, while the proven potential of free enter-prise engaged in by a free people beckons down the other. It is this second road that holds vast promise for all Cubans.

Those on the island consider this. Until all Cubans are free in their lives, their liberty and their pursuit of individual happiness, the tremendous potential of the Cuban people and their land will be shackled to another larger economy that subsidizes bare existence. There was inequality and corruption under the Batista regime, but does not the present regime have its corruption? While I do not approve of the abuses of the Batista era from which we all have learned, at least during his time in office there was the possibility that a Cuban could better his and his family's circumstances in an economy that produced a higher per capita income than most other countries in the hemisphere.

Raul^'s succession, particularly if, as rumored, he follows the China model, holds some promise of holding back the tides for a while, but his time is likely to be brief. Dr. Jaime Suchlicki at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies puts it this way. ^"[Raul] would face significant challenges. A bankrupt economy, popular unhappiness, the need to maintain order and discipline in the population at large, as well as to increase productivity within the labor force ... Raul would continue to be critically dependent on the military. Lacking the charisma and legitimacy of his brother, he would also need the support of key party leaders and technocrats within the government bureaucracy."

Rafael Diaz-Balart, father of our two congressmen of the same name as well as Univision's anchor, responded some years ago to my query on Raul^'s prospects for being able to stay in control for very long by responding in Spanish: "About as long as an ice cream cone at the school house door!" Rafael, who was my client for a period during the ^'90s, regrettably passed away before being able to see this day. He had much wisdom that could have made a difference in the challenging days ahead.

One additional challenge that doesn't get mentioned much is the loss of the managerial class. They ran Cuba's economy before Castro and left at the time of the Revolution or in the two substantial boat migrations and daily "bolsa" migrations that continues to drain Cuba of those who have both confidence in their own skills and God's assistance to get them to the United States and a fresh start.

This migration has transformed the island from a mostly white, free enterprise-centered economy to one that is heavily mulatto and black. Trained exclusively in socialist ways for the past half century and forbidden to engage in anything but the most basic forms of free enterprise, they are ill-equipped to adjust quickly to a free market reality. For them, any substantial success brings only punishment rather that security. Castro deserves credit for his emphasis on universal education and health care, but that is about it. The emphasis on socialist thought as the only approved solution for the problems crippling Cuba's economy leaves a potentially explosive situation for those Cubans who inherit his bankrupt economy and have only been awaiting his death to begin to assert their desire for fundamental change.

There are many models from the Eastern Bloc that may prove helpful in tackling the confiscated property issues that confront us before relations between the U.S. and Cuba can be fully normalized, but it is clear that the United States will be prepared to come more than half way in achieving normalization. It is also clear that those American investments made through-out the pre-Castro days were of a higher order of "investment backed expectation" than those found not certain enough to warrant a responsibility by the U.S. government to require their satisfaction when we normalized our relations with China.

The investments in Cuba were made pursuant to an unusually close relationship between our two governments and their active encouragement, including the stationing of a brigade or more of U.S. Marines at one end of the island in perpetuity. Also the legislation in which I had such a major laboring role and its implementation by our government specifically recognizes a statutory right of recovery. These factors and the strong representation of Cuban Americans in Congress are likely to result in a strong role for the government in fashioning a solution that will be fair for all parties.

Cuban-Americans are red, white and blue Americans, and the hyphen is useful only in describing, even in the second generation, their love for the homeland from which they have fled. While most have full lives here, I do expect a number will want to expand their businesses to Cuba and that virtually all of our principal industrial, financial and communications enterprises stand eager to invest large sums of both financial and human capital in the island.

One area in which they may not need much help is hospitality. Cubans are naturally good hosts. The beauty and exotic quality of a Cuban holiday have provided world-class experience in the hospitality industry for its people. After relatives^' remittances, tourism now must be considered Cuba's main source of continuing hard currency. Virtually all of those in this area would receive a huge boost from being able fully to realize income commensurate with that earned by those in similar positions in the free world.

I continue to be concerned about the political challenge of the returning Cuban-American investor and those who stayed behind who have only known Castroism. Perhaps, both groups equally loving their land and its traditions can find unity in the words of Jose Marti, a poet and hero of Cuba's attempts to free itself of Spanish rule in the late 19th century.

In 1891, Marti wrote a poem entitled "Cultivo una Blanca Rosa," which has been translated simply as "The White Rose." It reflected his goals of fighting for Cuba's freedom from Spain without the loss of the historical affection between Cubans and Spaniards. The English translation goes like this; ^"I cultivate a white rose/ in June as in January/ For the sincere friend who shakes my hand frankly./ And for the cruel person/ Who tears out the heart with which I live,/ I cultivate not thistles nor thorns,/ I cultivate a white rose.^"

Today the poem laments the loss both in Cuba and among Cuban expats of the affection that yet remains. If those who went and those who stayed will bring their differing gifts to the task with a sense of what unites them, rather than that which divides, the years of bitterness may be lifted.

In exile, Rafael Diaz-Balart formed an association called La Rosa Blanca that celebrated strong individual freedoms and opposition to Castro's dictatorial rule. Going forward the imagery of the White Rose can be a talisman for those who wish together to construct a firm foundation for a free market Cuba that protects individual rights but also is determined to proceed with a strong social conscience and commitment to avoid the mistakes of the past. May that be so! Both our countries would be the beneficiaries of such an effort.

* Robert E. Freer, Jr., president of the Free Enterprise Foundation, is a visiting professor and the John S. Grinalds Leader in Residence at The Citadel. He is a regular contributor to the Mercury and may be reached at Robert.... reer@citadel. edu. Have a favorite column from the past? . Copies of his earlier columns can be found in the archive at www. FreeEnterprise.ty.

September 23, 2006
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