Yesterday, the US President unveiled plans to switch up predecessor Barack Obama's Cuba policy.
"It's hard to think of a policy that makes less sense than the prior administration's awful and misguided deal with the Castro regime", Trump said in Miami. He also will not cut off recently resumed direct U.S. -Cuba commercial flights or cruise-ship travel, though his more restrictive policy seems certain to dampen new economic ties overall.
President Donald Trump shows a signed executive order on Cuba policy, Friday, June 16, 2017, in Miami.
It said Trump was resorting to "coercive methods of the past" that hurt the Cuban people, but would not weaken the revolution. Yet island officials say they remain willing to continue "respectful dialogue" on topics of mutual interest.
Many government officials and their supporters saw the Obama policy as an attempt to lull Cuba into complacency and undermine the foundations of a communist system based in part of near-total control of virtually every aspect of society, from animal-rights groups to the film industry.
Boosting travel was a key aim of Obama's effort to restore ties with Cuba after a half-century chill, which culminated with a visit by the then-president in 2016. But, in a shift from Obama's approach, Trump said trade and other penalties would stay in place until a long list of prerequisites was met. His aides contend that Obama's easing of USA restrictions amounted to "appeasement" and has done nothing to advance political freedoms in Cuba, while benefiting the Cuban government financially. Previously, Cubans who reached US shores earned automatic visas.
Emmer, Crawford and five other House Republicans have warned that rolling back U.S. Cuba policy could threaten new bilateral agreements with Havana to combat human trafficking, illicit drugs and cyber crimes. Outside of Miami, Trump faced opposition in the USA agricultural sector.
Members of Cuba's small but vibrant independent civil society say they fear the new policy will do more harm than good.
"Last year, I promised to be. a voice for the freedom of the Cuban people", he said in Friday's speech.
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Trump also demanded the return of USA fugitives including Joanne Chesimard, a black militant convicted in 1977 of the murder of a New Jersey state trooper.
In opposition to his stance on refugees fleeing persecution from the Middle East, Trump said, "America will always stand for liberty and America will always pray and cheer for the Cuban people".
Cuba functioned as a virtual USA colony for much of the 20th century, and even reform-minded Cubans are highly sensitive to perceived US infringements on national sovereignty.
Trump yesterday was set to announce a plan to tighten rules on Americans travelling to Communist-run Cuba and significantly restrict U.S. firms from doing business with Cuban enterprises controlled by the military, White House officials said.
"Cuba denounces the new measures tightening the blockade, which are destined to fail", the government said in a communique carried on national television.
"I do believe that end is in the very near future", he said.
"Further U.S. disengagement opens up opportunities for countries like Iran, Russia, North Korea and China to gain influence on an island 90 miles off our coast", Crawford said.
The Obama administration argued that decades of isolation had failed to produce changes in the Cuban regime and sought a diplomatic and economic opening between the nations.
Cuba's state Business Administration Group (GAESA) manages some 50 hotels, chains of shops, construction, communications and distribution firms and the major port of Mariel west of Havana.
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