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ALEXANDRA BARAHONA DE BRITO
economic policy induced by invitations to integrate can bríng
the political regíme under real pressure and weaken a defensive
sovereignty, breaking what Pérez-Stable notes is a symbiotic
identification of
revolución, nación
y
Pidel
¡s.
Other difficulties present themselves on the path towards
lowering conditionality. For one, the ínflexibility of U.S. policy
towards the country is problematic. Unlike for Canada and the
countries of the EU (with the possible exception of Spain) (he
forces which drive U.S. policy towards Cuba are domestically based
and as such a change of policy towards the island will require a
shift in the internal balance of forces within the U.S. political
system. Greater f1exibility on the part of the EU and the U.S. as
well as the countries of Latin America, however, will require a
corresponding f1exibility on the part of the Cuban regime.
Indeed, although this is a scenario which does not apply to
Cuba, where a transition process has not even been initiated,
the contributíon to democratizatíon or democratíc consolida–
tíon by ínternational actors, as opposed
to
mere liberalization
measures or transítion to democracy, ís extremely limited. These
developments are so dependant upon internal political, social
and institutional as well as cultural variables, that the capacity
for external actors to effect this kínd of deep transformatíon is
Iimited at best. As Font points out, however,
it
is unclear whether
the implications of the democratizatíon, liberalization and inte–
gration (riad which are currently re-shaping hemispheric rela–
tions are clearly understood by the regime. The ·survival. op–
tion, together with a selective use of external help to prop up
the current system, may be consídered preferable by the regíme
to a real acceptance of the need for change, even on more
favourable terms than those currently on
offer
i9 .
To date, (he Cuban government has shown that it is more
78 Marifeli Pérez-Stable, see chapter in this book.
79 Mauricio Font, comments at conference ,Integración Económica y De–
mocratización: América Latina y Cuba·) held in Santiago on May 26-27,
1997.
