U.S. President Donald Trump may be preparing to roll back key policies towards Cuba.
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His predecessor, Barack Obama, reestablished diplomatic relations with the Caribbean island nation beginning at the end of 2014 after almost six decades of hostility.
Reuters news agency reported Monday that the Trump administration will probably bring back some restrictions on trade and travel, but will “stop short of breaking diplomatic relations.”
Meanwhile, a report in The Daily Caller says Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and Republican Florida Representative Mario Diaz-Balart have been pushing to reverse Obama's policy.
It reported that the information comes from an anti-blockade group speaking on condition of anonymity. John Kavulich from the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council also told the news website “the Trump Administration has been ‘ready’ since February 2017 to announce changes, but issues unrelated to Cuba have intervened.”
The former U.S. president ended the policy known as “wet foot, dry foot” during his term in office. The Cuban government had continuously said the policy was a provocation and had demanded its repeal since it was enacted in 1966.
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The thawing of long frozen ties also opened up travel to the nation, re-established diplomatic relations and eased trade restrictions.
The U.S.- Cuba Trade and Economic Council also told The Daily Caller that Trump could announce the changes in a speech scheduled to take place in Miami next month.
Kavulich said that the administration will enact “increased enforcement relating to travel” and “a focus upon discouraging transactions with entities controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of the Republic of Cuba.”
The decades-long U.S. blockade of Cuba has had adverse effects on the country, but despite the United States’ attempts at isolating Cuba from the world arena by trying to deny it health equipment, financial transactions, and even cultural performances and sports competitions, the nation has advanced on a number of fronts.