Raising the American flag in Cuba again

Five years ago, on Aug. 14, 2015, the American flag was raised in Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years. I watched from a few feet away. Cubans flooded the streets around the U.S. Embassy in Havana to participate in that historic moment. I served in Havana under Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the head of our embassy at the time, and like him, I believe that stronger ties with the island today will accelerate the changes already happening. How we vote in the 2020 U.S. election can prove pivotal to the continued evolution of Cuba.

While in Havana I saw some of the worst of the Cuban government. Living near the Ecuadorean Embassy, I daily passed by the trucks full of black-uniformed security forces waiting to quell protesters angry about new visa requirements. I visited political prisoners at the Combinado del Este who had been jailed for exercising free speech.

There is no mistaking the human rights violations, missing civil rights and general lack of freedom in Cuba. This doom and gloom has been constant for decades and has driven U.S.-Cuban relations. But despite the current offenses, Cuba today is not the Cuba of the 1960s, or even the ’90s.

There are now more than 750 WiFi hotspots throughout the country, allowing communication with family abroad and access to information once forbidden. Home internet and data service have also been introduced. Not long ago a person caught with a U.S. newspaper would have been imprisoned for possessing “enemy propaganda.” Now, anyone can have access at home, on their cellphones or sitting openly on a sidewalk.

Recently Cuba announced changes giving private businesses more freedom. This continues the slow but persistent move away from a purely government controlled economy. By 2015 the percentage of Cubans working in the private sector had finally risen to 25%. Today it is already up to 33%. The vast majority is still required to work for the State, but it is progress. And this has allowed some private businesses like San Cristobal and Clandestina to become known all over the world. Their success and prominence solidifies the need for and influence of a private sector.

In 2016 President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years. The Cuban government allowed him to give a speech broadcast live on national television with no interruptions and no editing. The result was public displays of support for President Obama and for the United States. One street artist even painted the Havana skyline with Obama dressed as Spider-Man flying over. Contrast that to the Museum of the Revolution’s long- displayed caricatures of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush as “cretins” alongside Batista.

I was an American diplomat working out of the building Fidel Castro once called “a nest of spies.” Yet I attended church services every week alongside local Cubans. I visited church members in their homes and even served as a volunteer leader of a congregation. No one batted an eye. That would have been unheard of less than a decade ago.

Despite the internal changes the Cuban government has made in recent years, only so much has been realized. In 2019 a new Constitution granted criminal defendants a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Yet just months ago political dissident José Daniel Ferrer was sentenced after the Ministry of Justice publically called him “a common criminal” on the day of his presumed “fair trial.”

José Daniel Ferrer should have never been detained for peacefully expressing his ideas.

Cuba is evolving. For a few years the United States was part of these developments because we took a seat at the table. Just as Cuban citizens have stepped up to their own benefit, the U.S. must also capitalize on this moment.

This fall, we elect leaders from the president all the way down to local officials. We need representatives at all levels who recognize the changing winds in Cuba and will support increased relations, thereby supporting the Cuban people. Let’s find those people and elect them.

Travis Olsen served at the U.S. Interests Section/U.S. Embassy in Havana for three years beginning in January 2015. He is an immigration attorney and former Department of Homeland Security officer.