Obama’s policy on Cuba rolled back with travel and business bans
DONALD TRUMP yesterday announced the partial reversal of Barack Obama’s policy on Cuba, reimposing restrictions on travel and business in a move he said would “empower the Cuban people and hold the regime accountable”.
The US president campaigned on a pledge to roll back Mr Obama’s historic reform, which supporters said nudged Cuba towards political change by removing the “US threat” as an excuse for the status quo.
Opponents of Mr Obama’s policy, however, have pointed out that Raúl Castro, the Cuban president, has shown no sign of allowing democratic process, and is harassing and rounding up protesters at a greater rate than before.
“Our policy will seek a much better deal for the Cuban people and the United States of America,” said Mr Trump, addressing a crowd in Miami’s Little Havana district – home to fervently anti-castro Cuban exiles. “We do not want to support a policy which props up the regime in Cuba.
“We will not lift sanctions until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of expression are respected, all political parties are legalised and internationally recognised free elections are held.”
Under Mr Trump’s new policy, a ban will be imposed on business dealings with the Cuban military, and there will be toughened restrictions on Americans travelling to the island. Under Mr Obama’s policy, US citizens could not travel as tourists but could visit under 12 broadly defined categories, including cultural tours, sports interests and “people to people” visits as independent travellers. By May 31 this year as many Americans had already travelled to the island as did in the whole of 2016.
Mr Trump will scrap the “people to people” category, and seek evidence that US travellers are visiting as part of a tour “and not just lying on a beach”, a White House official said.
Preventing business dealings with the Cuban military may prove complex to enforce, however. The military is estimated to control 60 per cent of the nation’s economy.
“That’s a huge deal; that’s pretty much everything,” said Mario Diaz-balart, a Florida congressman whose aunt was Fidel Castro’s first wife and who has been pushing Mr Trump to take a hard line.
James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, said it would be “insane” to revert to policies that could cripple the ability of US businesses to operate on the island.