Cuba Still Threatens U.S. Interests and Security

A high-level U.S. government delegation was recently in Cuba seeking “improved law enforcement coordination” to stem a growing exodus that in 2022 alone saw 313,488 Cubans arrive in the U.S. (nationwide encounters), mostly after treacherous journeys by land and sea. As it has done several times in the past, Cuba is using its citizens as weapons to extract enabling concessions. Appeasing and rewarding a totalitarian regime that oppresses and impoverishes its people and attacks regional democracies is misguided, especially as it continues to suffer from its own failures. It ignores the true nature of the system and provides legitimacy and resources to strengthen the ruling elite rather than empower its people. A short-sighted approach only postpones the inevitable collapse of a failed state, prolonging the agony of the Cuban people.

This latest act of treating Cuba’s Communist government, an avowed enemy of the United States, as a legitimate diplomatic actor comes at a propitious moment — for the Cuban government. Ana Belén Montes, one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history, was recently released from federal prison after serving 21 years of an already lenient 25-year sentence. She had been spying for Cuba for almost 17 years. As senior Cuba analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, she had access to top-secret intelligence from dozens of federal agencies. Montes worked diligently to convince the U.S. intelligence community that, after the end of Soviet communism, Cuba posed no significant security threat. Other agents of influence worked in tandem within the U.S. government and academic circles to support this view and to mold policy in Cuba’s favor.

EG

About the Author

Enrique Garcia

Enrique Garcia is a security consultant living in Florida.

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A high-level U.S. government delegation was recently in Cuba seeking “improved law enforcement coordination” to stem a growing exodus that in 2022 alone saw 313,488 Cubans arrive in the U.S. (nationwide encounters), mostly after treacherous journeys by land and sea. As it has done several times in the past, Cuba is using its citizens as weapons to extract enabling concessions. Appeasing and rewarding a totalitarian regime that oppresses and impoverishes its people and attacks regional democracies is misguided, especially as it continues to suffer from its own failures. It ignores the true nature of the system and provides legitimacy and resources to strengthen the ruling elite rather than empower its people. A short-sighted approach only postpones the inevitable collapse of a failed state, prolonging the agony of the Cuban people.

This latest act of treating Cuba’s Communist government, an avowed enemy of the United States, as a legitimate diplomatic actor comes at a propitious moment — for the Cuban government. Ana Belén Montes, one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history, was recently released from federal prison after serving 21 years of an already lenient 25-year sentence. She had been spying for Cuba for almost 17 years. As senior Cuba analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, she had access to top-secret intelligence from dozens of federal agencies. Montes worked diligently to convince the U.S. intelligence community that, after the end of Soviet communism, Cuba posed no significant security threat. Other agents of influence worked in tandem within the U.S. government and academic circles to support this view and to mold policy in Cuba’s favor.