BY THOMAS GRILLO
Just back from his historic trip to Cuba with the president, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton said the best part of the journey was meeting the island’s people.
“I thought the most exciting part of the trip would be the state dinner with the president — the first one I’ve ever attended — or history being made as Air Force One touched down in Cuba for the first time,” Moulton told The Item. “But the most meaningful part was meeting the Cuban people on the streets of Havana. They are yearning for freedom and the democratic values that we enjoy in America.”
Moulton was chosen by President Barack Obama along with about 30 other members of Congress, including Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate. He is unsure why he was selected for the trip that marked the first time in 88 years that a U.S. president had visited Cuba.
“The White House just gave me a call,” Moulton said. “But as a member as the Armed Services Committee, I have been a consistent advocate for the use of diplomacy and political engagement in our foreign policy. I don’t think we can achieve our goals by just dropping bombs or sending troops.”
One of the trip’s objectives was to renew trade relations with Cuba and remove a 54-year-old boycott that was imposed by President John F. Kennedy. It will take an act of Congress to revoke the ban. Moulton said he is hopeful trade will resume with the tiny country just 90 miles from Florida, but not as long as Obama is in the White House.
“The Republicans on the trip said they realized the embargo, while well-intentioned, simply hasn’t worked and we need to make this change,” he said. “But they also said the Republican leadership won’t do it in an election year because they don’t want to give President Obama a win.”
Two years ago, Obama pledged to restore diplomatic ties between the two nations. Many Republicans oppose the move, saying the Castro regime has an unsettling record of human rights violations. But normalizing relations with Cuba has been embraced by the business community, religious groups — including Pope Francis — and many Americans.
The next step, Moulton said, is to increase the number of co-sponsors for the bill pending in Congress that would remove travel and trade restrictions.
“The bottom line is that the embargo makes no sense,” he said. “No matter where you are in the political spectrum, from the staunchest anti-communist on the right, to the Socialist sympathizer on the left, the embargo simply hasn’t worked. The Cuban people are still living in poverty and oppressed by a Communist regime. If you want to see change for the Cuban people, you need to take a different approach.”
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].