Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/548484
August 2015 | EquipmentWorld.com 94 I n July Caterpillar sent out a press release calling for an end to the trade embargo against Cuba. This was in re- sponse to the president's eas- ing of sanctions and the announce- ment of an American embassy to be built in Havana. All this is good news for Cuba and for us, and it demonstrates thoughtful leadership from the Peo- ria, Illinois-based heavy equipment manufacturer, which has been ad- vocating for an end to the embargo since 1998. Cuba needs to modernize three things we could help with im- mediately: jobs, infrastructure and agriculture. Every one of our equip- ment manufacturers – not just Cat – should play a constructive role in all three. Some Republicans criticized Presi- dent Obama's Cuba initiatives. But anybody who thinks this is a bad idea, doesn't know their Cold War history or their conservative heritage. Eisenhower wooed Khrushchev. Nixon went to China. And in the 1980s President Reagan, despite his anti-communist rhetoric, was deep- ly engaged in normalizing relations with the Soviet Union. This never made big headlines in the United States, and perhaps Reagan's people wanted it that way. But I had the good fortune of watching all this from a ringside seat in West Berlin where I was assigned to the U.S. Army's Public Affairs Office. Despite the "evil empire" speech in 1983 and the "tear down this wall" speech in 1987, Reagan en- gaged in numerous low-level nego- tiations, cultural exchanges and spy swaps with the Soviets throughout the decade. Perhaps the most inspir- ing of these was the release of Natan Sharansky, a dissident Russian Jew, in the spring of 1986 on the Glien- icke Bridge linking East and West Berlin. A few weeks later we traded four of their spies for a busload of ours on that same bridge. By working on the small issues first, Reagan built up a reservoir of trust and goodwill. The strategy paid huge dividends in the late 1980s when the United States. and the Soviets signed the most significant nuclear non- proliferation treaty in modern history. You probably didn't hear much about this either because: 1.) it was compli- cated, and 2.) the media hated Reagan and gave him no credit. On the night of November 9, 1989 something even more incredible happened when the Berlin Wall came down without a shot fired in anger. Concerning Cuba and Caterpil- lar, cynics allege that company only wants to sell more bulldoz- ers. That's rubbish. Cuba is a tiny country of just 11 million people, one-tenth that of Mexico. As a market, it's insignificant. I think Cat is doing this because it is the right thing to do. In Cold War Berlin every small agreement between ourselves and the communists added to a cautious sense of hope on the other side of the wall. The same hope animates Cuba today. It may not seem like a big deal to us, but announcements like Caterpillar's are a huge boost to the morale of the Cuban peo- ple. Best of all such actions show Cubans what the United States is really like: a country with a big heart, with optimism to spare, and a willingness to forgive past trans- gressions. If we want to promote liberty in Cuba, every manufacturer needs to be as vocal as Caterpillar about ending the trade embargo. This is a world-historical moment, not unlike the fall of the Berlin Wall and not to be squandered. We can table the big issues for now, and I don't discount those. But let's get to work on the smaller challenges – the low hanging fruit, things citizens in both countries want to see happen. It is time to let the United States. and Cuba do business together, starting with the trade embargo. It has worked before, it will work again. That's how the world gets better. final word | by Tom Jackson TJackson@randallreilly.com Caterpillar calls for engagement with Cuba Anybody who thinks this is a bad idea, doesn't know their Cold War history or their conservative heritage. " "