WASHINGTON—When President Barack Obama announced on Dec. 17, 2014, that the United States and Cuba would begin the process of normalizing relations between the two countries after 50 years of estrangement, some experts welcomed the president’s initiative.
For example, the former deputy foreign minister of Mexico and Brookings Institution’s senior fellow Andrés Rozental called it “a breath of fresh air.”
Brookings Institution senior fellows Ted Piccone and Richard Feinberg—Cuban experts—sat in on some of the secret discussions, working group meetings, and joint research projects that led to the president’s announcement.
However, others who have directly experienced the Castro dictatorial regime’s policies considered the president’s announcement a betrayal, and disgraceful.
On Jan. 23, the Heritage Foundation, the conservative Washington-based think tank, held a forum to make the case against the normalization policy with the Castro regime.
In addition, this forum served as a counter to the Latin American scholars from the think-tank, Brookings Institution, and its project, U.S. Policy Toward a Cuba in Transition, who had publicly supported the president’s normalization policy.
Not only Brookings’ scholars were supportive of the president’s normalization policy. Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, identified others at the forum, including the New York Times, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Council of the Americas, The Atlantic Council, Washington Office on Latin America, Cuba Study Group, Cuba Now, and Center for Strategic Studies. All were aware, he said, that some change was imminent, and gave encouragement to the president’s new policy of engagement with the Castro regime.
