#14
View attachment 420191
President Anderson meets with Secretary of State Percy. National Security Adviser Mort Halperin is sitting near the wall, trying to look inconspicuous.
“And I think that’s about it. I’ll be heading out to formally open the negotiations in New York but I won’t be staying. This will mostly be an affair between the Cubans, South Africans, and Angolans. Officially-speaking.”
“Yes, keep this out of the public eye. Especially if it’s going to be a long slog.”
“Yes, Mr. President. The career men at State are telling me it could be years. Though this business with the Russians might change things. I’m hearing the Cubans are a bit spooked.”
“The whole Eastern Bloc is spooked. They’re all retrenching. Trying to keep the doors from flying off the machine while the Russians get their act together.”
“Arrests are up all over. And from what I hear there’s an ‘every-country-for-himself’ mood out there. Some of my people are wondering if it might not be our chance to force more out of the Cubans.”
Halperin and the president exchange a glance, then the president stands and ushers Percy towards the door.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Namibia’s on our plate right now, let’s just deal with that.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“If there’s anything we can do to speed things up don’t hesitate to bring it to my attention, but otherwise we’ll trust the diplomats.”
“Understood, Mr. President.”
They shake hands and Percy leaves Anderson and Halperin alone.
“He’s an honorable man.”
“Yes, sir. And no fool. He knows we’re cutting him out of the loop.”
“It’s nothing personal. He’d be perfectly capable if we did bring him in, but he’s got another job now. We need Percy to play the Great Man. No offense Mort, but you’d be a terrible Great Man.”
“None taken, sir. I’m happier keeping a low profile.”
“Speaking of low profile, have you heard back from all of our South American friends?”
“Yes, and all in the affirmative. If we pull back, the Latin American Bridge Group will be willing to step in. Everything is still contingent on that, though.
“One thing at a time. Though I do think we need a catchier name than the Latin American Bridge Group.”
“I’m sure it’ll be the first item at their inaugural meeting.”
“Where and when again?”
“Contadora Island, and assuming our next step goes well, they’re hoping for early spring.”
“Is our man fully briefed? I hate using one of Percy’s men behind his back.”
“He knows his job. And he’s the one with the pre-existing relationship with Diaz. She’s got Castro’s ear right now.”
“Okay. Send him in.”
----
Two Days Later
Once again we find ourselves in the Cuban corner of the Swiss embassy. Mark and his counterpart share a smile.
“I was surprised to get your meeting request.”
“I thought we were developing a rapport, it seemed a shame to go to anyone else.”
“Go to anyone else with what? Negotiations on Africa are proceeding far away from here. If you think I’m going to make a back-channel deal and embarrass our delegation-”
“Not in the least.”
“Because the full faith of the Cuban government-”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. It’s not in the cards. It’s not why I’m here.”
She raises an eyebrow and spreads her hands, the universal signal for, “So tell me why you’re here, you smug jackass.”
“Central America.”
“Ha! In your dreams!”
Mark nods.
“In my dreams.”
“Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? We don’t even have a framework for Angola yet.”
“I’m sure we can all agree that Angola/Namibia is the priority. But what comes after that? If we can work together to diffuse one terrible situation, why not be ready to do more?”
“Any horrors in Mesoamerica are not our fault, my friend.”
“I appreciate your commitment to keeping up the party line even when it’s just the two of us. Alright, I'll say it. Anderson wants out. You've got an active intelligence service in the region, you already know this. You know we've pulled back our military advisers. You know we're not returning Argentina's phone calls anymore. So what do you say? If the US wants to start a new chapter in Latin American relations, one that doesn't involve...what are we calling it..."
"Torture? Murder?"
"...Any off-the-books operations. What would we have to do to get you to do the same?"
“If you want to support the legitimate political will of the people-”
“Okay, why the stonewalling? Why the propaganda? There are no cameras here."
"Now who's being naive."
"You know what I mean. We’re just two public servants, talking about possibilities.”
“Your sense of the possible is out of alignment with reality. If you want to get serious for a minute, I’ll play along. Our two countries? They had a chance at friendship, perhaps. But that was finished by the time of Kennedy, when you made it clear you’d back the interests of rapine gangsters over the will of the Cuban people. We did not seek out Moscow, my friend. You pushed us into alliance with Russia.”
“Oh yeah? How’s that working out for you these days?”
She’s silent.
“Getting many calls from Moscow? And who’s on the other end of the line, anyway? Do you know? Because I’m having trouble keeping up.”
She stares at him again, with that stare of hers.
"We can stop this right now if you're that committed. I'm telling you straight up: Anderson wants to pull back. He's open to negotiating. But he'll reverse course again this afternoon if that's how you want it."
She drums her fingers on the table.
“Just to be clear: I’m conceding nothing to you. But you’re here, I’m here. It’s just us.”
“Just two public servants.”
“What is on the table?”
“What do you want on the table?”
She raises an eyebrow and spreads her hands, the universal signal for, “You know what we want.”
“It’s on the table.”
“I need to hear you say it.”
Mark still can’t really believe he’s about to say what he’s about to say. He's about to propose reversing a policy that was in place when he was still in short pants.
“Normalization. The end of el bloqueo. If the deal is good enough, it’s all on the table.”
“A treaty?”
“On the table.”
“No preconditions?”
“On the table.”
“Ah….Well….Let’s hear what you have to say.”
And then the meeting really begins.