Daschle: Cuba Embargo Has to Go

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle flew to Cuba Wednesday for a five-day visit with government officials, business leaders and cultural figures. He's said the "time for the embargo has come to an end."

Daschle, CEO of The Daschle Group and Baker Donelson public policy adviser, tells us he'll be meeting especially with individuals in areas related to health and nutrition assistance. He's traveling with a group organized by the Blum Foundation, where he sits on the board. Compared to his prior visit to Cuba in 2000 — during which Daschle met officials including President Castro — he tells us that planning guidelines for this trip were much more streamlined and "not nearly as restrictive."

Daschle has said that the fastest way to facilitate Cuba's democratic reform "is trade and access to capital." Regardless of Congress' status on the trade embargo, the Administration should "act boldly to facilitate expanded trade." He tells us we could see a huge boom in industries such as tourism, real estate development, commercial business development and trade. As only 5% of the Cuban population has access to the Internet, there are also extraordinary opportunities for telecom and tech acquisition. (Netflix has already thrown its hat into the ring, the Washington Post reports.)

Conventional wisdom says a congressional repeal of the '96 Helms-Burton Act is unlikely to happen soon. (The act says the trade embargo with Cuba is in place until conditions are met that include "free and fair elections" and a democratic government.) Daschle tells us it has outlived its usefulness. The US didn't stick to the act's standard when creating a relationship with China, he points out, or many parts of Eastern Europe or the Middle East. Daschle adds, the more interaction the US has with Cuba, the more we'll be in a position to make our case about governance and human rights.