OPINION:
President Trump fancies himself a peacemaker, and the record supports him. His first-term Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and three Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
Since his return to the White House, however, diplomatic solutions have proved elusive. Most obviously, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin remains determined to conquer Ukraine, continues to target civilians and has rejected every proposal for a lasting ceasefire.
Mr. Trump has brokered several fragile truces (for example, India-Pakistan, Armenia-Azerbaijan, Rwanda-Congo, Egypt-Ethiopia). But the causes and animosities underlying these conflicts remain unsettled.
What if, instead of a peacemaker, Mr. Trump could be a liberator?
Perhaps that idea inspired his declaration last week that he “will not rest until the people of Cuba once again have the freedom their forefathers fought so valiantly to establish over 100 years ago,” when the island achieved its independence from Spain.
Mr. Trump’s motive is not solely altruistic. He also said, “America will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations just 90 miles from the American homeland.”
The president is referring to his January executive order that noted “Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility,” “continues to build deep intelligence and defense cooperation” with China and “welcomes transnational terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas,” proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Also, Cuba’s rulers have reportedly received more than 300 military attack drones from Moscow and Tehran and considered using them to strike American targets.
During the 1950s Cuban revolution that brought him to power, Fidel Castro presented himself as a nationalist. Within a few years, however, Fidelismo — the cult of one-man rule aligned with the communists in Moscow — was born and bred.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy took the U.S. to the brink of nuclear war after Mr. Castro agreed to host Soviet nuclear weapons on the island. Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev ultimately removed the missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba and the quiet removal of U.S. nukes from Turkey.
Over the decades that followed, the Castro regime came to depend on the Soviets for oil, arms and economic subsidies. In return, it sent troops and military advisors to bolster Soviet allies fighting in Nicaragua, Angola, Ethiopia and Congo.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba became an orphan. Deprived of Soviet largesse, the years that followed — the “Special Period” — were desperate ones.
In 1999, Hugo Chavez became president of Venezuela. Before long, he adopted Cuba, providing a new economic lifeline. Then and even more under his successor, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelans became increasingly impoverished and millions emigrated.
Mr. Maduro employed Cuban bodyguards — more than 30 of whom were reportedly killed by the U.S. forces who broke into his palatial residence in Caracas on the morning of Jan. 3 and arrested him.
Delcy Rodriguez, the Maduro deputy left in power, has been receptive to Mr. Trump’s pressure — including his demand that Venezuela provide no more oil or other support to Havana.
Earlier this month, CIA Director John Ratcliffe went to Havana to deliver a message from Mr. Trump. The United States, he said, would be willing to engage with Cuba on economic matters, including $100 million in humanitarian aid. But those funds would have to be delivered through non-regime channels — and Havana would be required to implement fundamental changes.
It appears the response Mr. Ratcliffe received was unsatisfactory.
Applying additional pressure, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche last week announced the unsealed indictment of Raul Castro, charging the 94-year-old brother of Fidel Castro and his direct successor with authorizing the 1996 downing of two unarmed civilian aircraft, killing four unarmed Cuban-American civilian pilots who were flying over international waters to rescue Cubans fleeing the island.
Will the combination of legal accountability, economic leverage and demand for fundamental change bring an end to 67 years of Fidelismo? It’s possible.
Who else might Mr. Trump help liberate? Ukrainians are fighting to sustain the independence they received due to America’s victory over the Soviets in the Cold War. Life has improved for Venezuelans since the ouster of Mr. Maduro, but only the replacement of the rump regime by decent leaders can restore democracy and prosperity.
Back in January, just after Iran’s rulers slaughtered thousands of unarmed Iranian protesters, Mr. Trump promised: “Help is on the way.” That gave the Iranian people hope that they might soon have a serious chance to liberate themselves from almost half a century of despotic Islamist rule.
As I write this, Mr. Trump’s envoys and those of the Islamic Republic are fitfully working on a “memorandum of understanding” — a ceasefire extension during which Tehran would refrain from threatening or striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. would lift its blockade on Iranian ports. All other issues are to be negotiated after that.
Mr. Trump has said repeatedly and emphatically that he has a red line: A regime committed to “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!” cannot have nuclear weapons. I’m confident that will remain his priority.
But he shouldn’t forget the Iranian people tyrannized by rulers whose proxies also have turned Lebanon and Yemen into failed states and prevented Iraq from reaching full sovereignty.
I’m not saying the U.S. should get back into the nation-building business. I am saying that while we can’t export freedom or democracy, we can support those fighting for rights we believe are “unalienable.” Surely that’s one of the ways America becomes great again.
If President Trump put that on his to-do list, he could be remembered as something rarer than a peacemaker: a liberator.
• Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a columnist for the Washington Times, and host of the “Foreign Podicy” podcast.
Follow the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.