Human rights key in policy toward Cuba

Activists waiting for Trump’s revision of U. S. relations with island

Four months after he was sworn in, President Trump has yet to make good on his vow to undo his predecessor’s Cuba policies.

There were reports that the president would unveil his plan Saturday to coincide with the 115th anniversary of Cuba’s independence. But those who oppose Barack Obama’s thawing of diplomatic relations with the communist country 90 miles south of Key West will have to wait until next month.

Trump initially applauded Obama’s decision to ease sanctions. But he shifted during the last months of last year’s presidential campaign. In media interviews, campaign speeches and tweets last fall, Trump said Obama’s Cuba policy gave away too much without requiring human rights guarantees from the Castro regime.

Then on Nov. 28, nearly three weeks after he won the election and two days after the death of Cuban President Fidel Castro, Trump tweeted an ultimatum. Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio expects he’ll follow through.

“The president has committed to addressing U. S. policy towards Cuba in a way that supports our national security, democracy and human rights,” said Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants and a fierce anti- Castro voice in Congress.

A top State Department official told reporters last week the administration is conducting a “comprehensive policy review” that will include an assessment of human rights progress in Cuba.

“I suspect that there will be important differences that will emerge between how this administration plans to address the situation in Cuba” and those under Obama, said Francisco Palmieri, acting assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Because most of the steps Obama took to open relations with Cuba, such as opening an embas- sy, loosening the ability of Americans to visit the island nation, and easing trade and financial barriers, were presidential orders, Trump could reverse them without congressional consent.

But whenever the president decides to announce his policy, anti- Cuba hard- liners might face some disappointment. Cuba experts don’t expect Trump to make the kind of wholesale changes that he hinted at during his presidential campaign.

Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, has been a longtime advocate of maintaining the economic embargo on the communist island and opposed Obama’s decision to open relations.

But even he doesn’t expect — or want — Trump to change some of the core aspects, such as the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, the reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana, and some of the new business oppor- tunities available to American companies that have already invested millions in new ventures.

“You can never go back,” Calzon said.

Many believe Trump will tinker around the edges of Obama’s opening. That could include revoking some business opportunities that are too closely tied to the Cuban government, or making it more difficult for Americans to visit the island.

Frank Mora, director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University in Miami, said Trump has never been adamant about shutting down Obama’s Cuba opening but feels he must do something to satisfy Cuban- American voters and members of Congress, who supported him in Florida.

“They can’t say, ‘ We were wrong; we’re going to continue with Obama’s policy,’ ” Mora said. “They need to deliver something. They need to be able to say, ‘ Promise made, promise delivered.’ ”

But that’s probably not a victory Cuban- Americans in Congress who remain critical of the Castro regime are likely to salute. They point to continued reports suggesting little has changed.

“The Cuban government continues to repress dissent and punish public criticism,” according to a report from Human Rights Watch. “It now relies less than in past years on long- term prison sentences to punish its critics, but short- term arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and others have increased dramatically.”

“The reality is that the regime’s repression is only getting worse,” Rep. Ileana Ros- Lehtinen, R- Miami- Dade, said on the House floor Wednesday. “We must be honest about what is really going on.”

“The reality is that the ( Cuban) regime’s repression is only getting worse. We must be honest about what is really going on.” Rep. Ileana Ros- Lehtinen, R- Miami- Dade

YAMIL LAGE, AFP/ GETTY IMAGES President Trump says former president Obama’s Cuba policy gave away too much without requiring guarantees.

SUSAN WALSH, AP President Trump