Cuban Issues

Southcom General Calls for Review of Cuba Policy

June 1, 2006

The four-star general who heads the U.S. Southern Command has called for a major review of U.S. policy toward Cuba. Gen. Bantz J. Craddock's comments came on May 25, 2006, even as a new State Department policy toward Cuba was due to be published.

""One of the things that we as a government probably don't do well is to review our policies and our laws routinely, based upon the conditions in the world changing," said Craddock, as reported in the Miami Herald. "My judgment is we need to re-look laws, policies more often to ensure that they still make sense, given the changing conditions in the world," he said. He went on to say, "I don't want to make a judgment on whether or not to change [the Cuba policy], but I think it needs to be re-looked." Southern Command, based in Miami, is responsible for U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Among the policies Craddock called on to review is the long-standing ban on military-to-military contact between the U.S. and Cuba. The two countries do not have diplomatic relations, and have virtually no official dialogue. A number of U.S. military experts have called for greater communication between the two neighboring militaries in an effort to prevent misunderstandings at times of crisis. But until Craddock's comments, no active-duty general had publicly challenged the existing policy.

Many U.S. experts on the region believe regularized contact and interaction with the Cuban military would not only help with crisis prevention, but could evolve into cooperative efforts to counter the flow of drugs, weapons, and illegal immigrants in the region. Cuba stretches more than 700 miles across the Caribbean, separated by only 90 miles from Florida, and stands between the U.S. and the most direct transit routes for drugs coming from South America.

The Cuban Border Guard, equivalent to the Coast Guard, conducts extensive counter-drug operations, but lacks the resources to fully police the thousands of uninhabited archipelagos and islets that its territory includes, which are frequently used as transit points by drug traffickers. While there has been some counter-drug cooperation between the U.S. and Cuba on a case-by-case basis, many officers believe more systematic communication would greatly reduce the flow.

In addition, cooperation between the two militaries in search-and-rescue missions at sea, regional disaster relief, and response to environmental accidents that threaten both countries, such as oil spills, would increase the overall effectiveness of these operations.

The military is perhaps the most respected institution in Cuba, and would likely play a key role in maintaining stability in a post-Castro transition period. Because such a period will carry the risk of unchecked mass migration from Cuba to the U.S., a working relationship between the two militaries would be in U.S. interests. Craddock's comments indicate recognition of this fact. Military personnel with practical experience in day-to-day operations are often more likely to see the merits of operational communication than policy-makers whose positions may be shaped by electoral politics.

Since his comments, Craddock has been nominated to become head of NATO as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He is expected to be replaced at Southcom by Navy Vice Adm. James G. Stavridis, an assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Author: Glenn Baker