Trump Expected to Make Changes Involving U.S. Policy Towards Cuba

It has recently been reported by a U.S. government official involved in reviewing U.S. policy towards Cuba that President Donald Trump is expected to roll back Obama’s opening with the communist island as early as this June.

The ‘Cuban Thaw’ refers to the warming of U.S.- Cuba relations, which began in December 2014 and ended a 54-year long period of hostility and tension between the two nations, which has existed since Fidel Castro’s revolution. Obama became the first U.S. President to visit the country since 1928 in March 2016.

Cuban experts, as well former and current administration officials, believe that Trump will shortly announce that the United States will no longer have unilateral concessions with the communist-run country. It is also expected that the president will demand that U.S. fugitives of Justice, including Assata Shakur who was convicted of killing a New Jersey and escaping from prison, be extradited. However, it is also believed that Trump will ban American Companies from making deals with the Cuban military which controls much of the tourism in the state.

While Trump’s position towards the country can be seen as a symbolic gesture to fulfill campaign promises to conservative Cuban-American voters and anti-Castro Congress members, he is not expected to reverse all of the Obama Administration’s changes. It is unlikely that he will shut the door on the potential market for American businesses in Cuba.

Republican Representative, Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida), claims that he is, “1000 percent sure the president is going to deliver on his commitment.” Balart has lobbied a reversal of Obama’s policies regarding the country in The White House. In May he told the National Journal that, “I have no doubt that you’re going to see in short order a different policy.”

Cuban officials have not commented, as current leader Raul Castro has begun to finalize his last term as president. Fidel’s younger brother will step down in 2018 and is expected to personally choose his future successor. This potentially could give Trump the opportunity to work with a less polarizing leader if tensions do not heighten greatly in the coming months.

Trump actually looked into the possibility of opening hotels in Cuba, prior to campaigning for president. However, he recently developed a much different outlook. The president has threatened to cut all ties with the country unless improvements regarding human rights and religious freedoms were reached.

It has been reported that Trump may bring back the ban on U.S. travelers taking Cuban Cigars and Rum back with them, which the Obama administration lifted.

Currently, the US Treasury Department allows U.S. travelers license to visit the country under 12 categories, which include educational tours and sporting events. Sources say that Trump is looking to end that practice which has allowed almost anyone to travel to the country legally.

Further restricting those categories will impact earnings for cruise ship companies and U.S. airlines, which have recently opened services to Cuba. This May, 55 senators said that they would support getting rid of the travel ban altogether.

It is also possible that the new President turns over Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive. This directive explains the general parameters for policy engagement between the two nations, however, most sources regard it as mostly cosmetic and doubt it will have much impact.

Raul Castro has adopted a wait-and-see policy with the new president, after congratulating him on his presidency and saying that he hoped to work with Trump in the future in order to continue to improve relations between the nations. Recently, however, a Cuban Broadcaster read a statement calling Trump’s views on Cuba “poorly advised” and “clumsy.”

Featured Image via Flickr/Michael Vadon