After more than 50 years of political and economic tension that began with the Cold War, relations between Cuba and the United States have transformed from hostile to friendly. Over the past year, President Barack Obama’s administration has taken steps to restore diplomacy between the two countries.
A formal relationship has redeveloped with the opening of embassies in Havana and Washington D.C. last July. Miguel Fraga is the first secretary of the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., and he will be visiting Seattle from March 3 – 5.
Fraga will be meeting with representatives from local companies and speaking with officials from organizations, as well as participating at public events throughout the city.
“There’s a large number of people in this city who are dedicated to ending the blockade and changing the relationship with Cuba,” said Victoria Kill, an English professor at Seattle University who is helping to organize “Imagining New Paths for U.S. Cuba Relations,” a daylong conference centered around Fraga’s visit to the campus.
“It’s an honor for our campus to have this opportunity to bring people there, and quite a few interesting people in the community,” Kill said.
Students and members of the public at the conference will be discussing lessons to be learned from the Cuban revolution, the current state of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, U.S. trade embargo laws and solidarity between Seattle and Cuban communities.
The programming surrounding Fraga’s visit is an example of the steps some locals have been taking to push for positive relationships between the two nations.
“We just work slowly to lobby Congress to change some of the old laws that enforce the economic blockade and also to enforce the ways that U.S. citizens are not allowed to freely travel to Cuba,” Kill said. “But a lot of it is also citizen-to-citizen diplomacy.”
In addition to educational outreach, groups such as the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee have been dedicated to normalizing U.S. and Cuba relations since 2010. They participate in an annual caravan to the country with the organization Interreligious Foundation for Community. Now that a formal relationship is reemerging, they hope for more opportunities to continue bridging knowledge gaps and advocate for positive relations.
Fraga’s trip was planned in partnership with the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee, the U.S. Women & Cuba Collaboration, National Lawyers Guild and other organizations. To view the schedule of events for Fraga’s visit, go to seattlecuba.org.