United States-Cuba: A Tribute to the Architects of Peace

Half a century! More than 50 years were needed for two countries, which were prepared to fight to the finish up until the use of the atomic bomb was considered, to re-establish diplomatic relations. The road to “normalizing” relations is still only beginning. Some prisoners have been released (incarcerated for such a long time!), speeches have been made, locations for diplomatic representation have been considered …. A few economic measures have also been announced, which loosen the noose and represent a welcome breath of fresh air for the Cuban people. This accumulation of light breezes has not yet become a strong wind of freedom.

Indeed, there is much left to do. Barack Obama will have to convince the American Congress — especially Republicans — that the embargo must be lifted, that Cuba is no longer on the enemy list. Raul Castro’s Cuban regime will have to give its fellow citizens more individual and collective rights; it is no longer enough for it to liberalize the economic system to convince its new “partners” of its goodwill. (China shows us every day that the most energetic capitalism is not necessarily accompanied by democratic progress or respect for human rights.)

Always so impatient for instant outcomes, we are disconcerted by this long wait, so difficult for those subjected to its hardships. But it allows observers to note that History has not had its last word, that the outcomes of serious conflicts have not been decided, that continually tense relations can be thawed. The Cuban watershed also reveals to us the fruitful commitment of mediators, diplomats or others, who — with discretion — are forging links. This was the case of the Catholic Church, in Cuba even and at the Vatican; of its popes — since Pope John XXIII, who intervened when the missile crisis between Kennedy and Khrushchev broke out, up through Pope John Paul II in 1998 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. And after these years, another pope, from Argentina, is guiding the final agreements. A tribute to the perseverance of the architects of peace.