Towards the end of his disastrous eight years in office, Barack Obama unilaterally reversed decades of American foreign policy, restoring diplomatic relations with the Communist island of Cuba.
At the time of Obama’s decision, millions of Cuban-American spoke out strongly, condemning the move. Many in Congress, including Senator Marco Rubio, called the move “absurd” as it made the United States look weak by opening up relations with Cuba without forcing the Communist nation to make much-needed reforms.
Now, an exclusive report from The Daily Caller claims that President Donald J. Trump will rollback all of Obama’s new policies towards Cuba, a major shift in U.S. foreign policy.
Daily Caller: Trump set to announce rollback of Obama’s Cuba policies https://t.co/2z6i3xGT6H
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 29, 2017
From The Daily Caller:
Two sources told TheDC that the development is due to the behind-the-scenes efforts of Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and Republican Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.
This information coming from an anti-embargo group, which spoke on the condition of anonymity, was confirmed Sunday by John Kavulich of the nonpartisan U.S. – Cuba Trade and Economic Council. “The Trump Administration has been ‘ready’ since February 2017 to announce changes, but issues unrelated to Cuba have intervened,” Kavulich said.
Former President Obama worked to enact several changes to Cuban policy during his tenure in office. He ended the policy known as “wet foot, dry foot” that gave Cuban illegal immigrants a path to legal status, opened travel to the island nation, re-established diplomatic relations and loosened restrictions on doing business in the country.
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His [Trump’s] administration launched a “full review” of Cuban policy, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer told TheDC Sunday that there “are no updates on this issue at this time.”
When Obama announced the new Cuba policy, many Cuban-Americans believed that the Castro regime was being rewarded by the United States without actually making any economic or political reforms that would move them into the 21st century.
Despite opening up an embassy and allowing Americans to travel to and from Cuba, Barack Obama did nothing to pressure the Castro brothers to end their brutal treatment of political opponents and economic oppression.
If the United States wants to implement Obama’s Cuba policy, it should not do so until Cuba makes substantial reforms that likely will not occur as long as Raul Castro remains in power.
President Trump’s decision to reverse this failed policy is the right call, as it shows Obama’s willingness to make deals with regimes run by brutal dictators, see the Iranian nuclear deal, while getting nothing in return.
Do you support President Trump’s expected decision to reverse Obama’s Cuba policy? Share your thoughts below!