President Obama’s Cuban relations legacy might be meeting it’s own end in the wake of Fidel Castro’s death.
Obama’s statement offering “a hand of friendship to the Cuban people” obscured the communist dictator’s record of oppression and murder, as he has actively sought to normalize relations with the Castro family regime.
This past spring, Obama used his Executive Office powers to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in an attempt to “normalize relations” with the regime.
President-elect Donald Trump delivered some bad news for the President however, announcing that he’d terminate the policy with Cuba if the nation doesn’t provide “a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole.”
If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2016
Via Politico:
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened to unravel President Barack Obama’s progress with Cuba unless the communist nation accedes to his terms.
“If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal,” Trump tweeted Monday morning.
Incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus on Sunday warned that Trump was “absolutely” willing to reverse the progress of the Obama administration’s diplomatic reset with Cuba.
“Repression, open markets, freedom of religion, political prisoners — these things need to change in order to have open and free relationships,” Priebus said on “Fox News Sunday.” “There’s going to have to be some movement from Cuba in order to have a relationship with the United States.”
In stark contrast to Obama’s statement on Castro’s death, Trump refused to sugarcoat the history of the dictator’s legacy in Cuba.
“Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights,” he stated.
Trump pledged that “our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.”
That begins with terminating Obama’s policies in the island nation.
Comment: Do you agree with Trump terminating Obama’s policies with Cuba if they don’t offer something more for the American people? Share your thoughts below.
