This is the third major Obama-era accomplishment that has been reversed by Trump, who first repealed his predecessor's signature healthcare law "Obamacare" and then went on to announce US' withdrawal from the landmark Paris climate deal.
"Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with Cuba", he said, to cheers at the Manuel Artime Theater. He clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened.
"We are at an important moment in the relationship between the United States and Cuba", Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson said in a statement.
The historic deal Obama struck with Cuba in 2014 led to the 2016 opening of a Starwood hotel on the island - the "first Cuban hotel managed by a US company in almost 60 years", according to the Post, and other hotel companies had hoped to follow suit.
Trump's policy keeps a U.S. Embassy open in Havana and allows U.S. airlines and cruise ships to continue service to Cuba.
The president, who promised to be tough on Havana during the presidential campaign, outlined stricter enforcement of a long-time ban on Americans going to Cuba as tourists and will seek to prevent US dollars from being used to fund what he sees as a repressive military-dominated government.
President Donald Trump speaks about Cuba policy, Friday, June 16, 2017, in Miami.
Although the policy changes announced were limited, Trump has tightened rules for Americans travelling to Cuba, banned ties with a military-run tourism firm and reaffirmed the existing United States trade embargo.
Donald Trump says he's being investigated over Comey
In an interview with NBC's Lester Holt in May, Trump said he made the decision to fire Comey before receiving Rosenstein's letter. " Witch Hunt " he tweeted from the White House shortly before leaving for Miami.
"Because we know it is best for America to have freedom in our hemisphere, whether in Cuba or Venezuela, and to have a future where the people of each country can live out their own dreams", he said. Among other changes, travel for non-academic educational purposes will be limited to group travel. 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.
The rules apply to all "persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction", which includes foreign visitors planning to fly from America to Cuba. Cubans, who had little access to the Internet, also found themselves able to browse online.
"I am concerned it will affect the private sector quite a bit and much more than the Cuban government", he added.
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".
The change will make it harder to travel to and do business with Cuba. Refusing to negotiate domestic reforms in exchange for US concessions is perhaps the most fundamental plank of Cuba's policy toward the U.S.
Likewise, Trump will not cut off recently resumed direct U.S. -Cuba commercial flights, but will impose additional restrictions for personal travel to the island 90 miles south of Key West.
America severed ties with Cuba in 1961, shortly after Fidel Castro launched a revolution that toppled a US -friendly government, and the two countries had been at loggerheads ever since.
Comments