President Donald Trump on Friday is expected to announce plans to tighten restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and clamp down on USA business dealings with the military, fulfilling a campaign pledge. Still, Cuba said it is willing to continue "respectful dialogue" with on topics of mutual interest.
While on the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump criticized President Obama's Cuba policy.
What followed over the next two years was the most significant change in US-Cuban relations since the 1959 revolution.
The trade embargo remains in place under Trump.
"The new policy centers on the belief that the oppressed Cuban people - rather than the oppressive Castro regime's military and its subsidiaries - should benefit from American engagement with the island", said a Trump administration statement obtained by USA TODAY. "They are rejected officially today - rejected".
"The president's one-sided deal for Cuba and with Cuba benefits only the Castro regime", Trump said during a campaign rally in Miami on Sep. And they may be told they can't stay in state-run Cuban hotels - at least those run by the military, which controls most of Cuba's tourism industry.
More details about the changes are expected to be released Friday, when the new policy is set to take effect.
"If the Trump administration really wants to improve conditions for everyday Cubans and advance US interests, ending engagement is precisely the wrong approach", Jiménez said. Now that the two countries are talking, this is no time to stop.
In addition to keeping open embassies in Washington and Havana, the two governments are expected to continue negotiating on a variety of problems of mutual concern and some commercial US flights and cruises crossing the 90 miles separating the two countries could continue. This will essentially shield USA airlines and cruise-ship companies now serving the island. Trump isn't overturning Obama's decision to end the "wet foot, dry foot" policy that allowed most Cuban migrants who made it onto US soil to stay and eventually become legal permanent residents.
American tourists with existing plans to travel to Cuba may not be affected. And the US government will police other such trips to ensure there's a tour group representative along making sure travelers are pursuing a "full-time schedule of educational exchange activities".
Trump will tighten travel restrictions and ban USA spending with any state-run businesses tied to the military.
Almost five months into office, Trump has reversed Obama on items ranging from business regulations to participation in the Paris climate change agreement.
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"No, I don't think that Trump will undo everything that Obama did, everything that Obama accomplished, let's say", said Wayne Smith, a former US diplomat who was once stationed in Havana.
Yet it also exposed the shortcomings in Obama's approach. Obama and his aides argued that commerce and travel between the countries, which has blossomed since he relaxed the rules, would make his policy irreversible.
Some aides have argued that Trump, a former real estate magnate who won the presidency promising to unleash USA business and create jobs, would have a hard time defending any moves that close off the Cuban market.
Despite the years of hostility, Cubans generally love America.
How will the Cuban government respond?
The Castro government is certain to reject Trump's list of demands, which includes releasing political prisoners, halting what the US says is abuse of dissidents and greater freedom of expression. Only the U.S. Congress can lift the embargo, and lawmakers, especially those of Cuban heritage, like Sen.
Trump's revised Cuba rules aren't all that drastic.
"I do believe that end is in the very near future", he said.
But on Friday, President Trump, citing human rights violations, will sign and executive order in Miami on the new policy.
That brings us to the second facet of Trump's rollback of former President Obama's engagement with communist Cuba.
Obama announced in December 2014 that he and Castro were restoring ties. In this photo, Cubans watch the TV broadcast of the inaugural ceremony of Trump, from Havana, Cuba, Jan. 20, 2017.
Weissenstein reported from Havana and Lederman from Washington.
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