Biden must address issues in Cuba, Haiti

Both island countries are at a political crossroads after street demonstrations and an assassination.

Since taking office, Biden rightly has been preoccupied with freeing America economically and emotionally out of the quicksand of COVID-19 and making nice with world leaders, not Latin American leaders, despite Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent trip.

Now, with the dramatic — and historic — events of recent days in Cuba and Haiti, Biden likely has a case of whiplash.

A day after Sunday’s street demonstrations in several cities across the country, Cuba went dark on Monday because of internet outages and disrupted cellphone service. The rest of the world couldn’t tell if the protest had continued.

Cuban exiles held a news conference in Miami to show their support and ask the international community, led by the United States, to protect Cuba from bloodshed.

On the island, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called “all the revolutionaries in the country, all the communists, to take to the streets and go to the places where these provocations are going to take place.”

Biden joined in Monday, saying, “We call on the government … to refrain from violence or attempts to silence the voice of the people of Cuba,” Biden said.

When it comes to Haiti, it would be ill-advised for the U.S. to send troops to Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Given this country’s fraught history on the ground in Haiti — including its support for the brutal but anti-communist, Duvaliers — and some of the enduring problems that it spawned, such intervention is a job for international organizations such as the United Nations or Organization of American States.

What should the Biden administration do next about these two island countries at political crossroads? Both have made clear the United States can help them.

Haitian leaders want U.S. troops to stabilize the country.

Cuba’s leaders don’t want

Americans anywhere near their island — but they do want something from Biden.

Díaz-Canel didn’t mince words Monday in blaming U.S. policies, namely the 60year economic embargo on the island, with sparking the historic, social media fueled protests at both ends of Cuba.

Such useless finger-pointing has been the tried-andtrue default mode of every Cuban leader.

Díaz-Canel said the majority of people participating in the historic and massive protests were unhappy with the rolling electricity blackouts during the hot Cuban summer and the lack of food and medicine and COVID-19 vaccines. He said U.S. financial sanctions had made it almost impossible to pay for goods abroad, just when the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched resources to the limit in Cuba.

“This is part of the U.S. playbook to destabilize us, to generate chaos, to break our will and spirit,” he said.

Really? The cause couldn’t be that Cubans have had enough of government repression? Or that a new generation wants a new direction for Cuba? Díaz-Canel couldn’t possibly have missed demonstrators’ chants of “Freedom” and their calls for him to step down.

Until political issues in Cuba and Haiti stabilize, there are pitfalls for South Florida. Uprisings in Cuba have often been followed by a refugee exodus. Same with Haiti.

In the case of Cuba, the Biden administration should vigorously support the Cuban people and apply political pressure through international channels.

In the case of Haiti, the administration should support the U.N. or OAS in taking the lead to help stabilize the country.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration put Cuba and Haiti on the back burner. They are now boiling over and need more than the president’s platitudes.