Posted on 05/29/2017 5:27:52 PM PDT by markomalley
President Donald Trump is set to announce a rollback of former President Barack Obama’s policies toward Cuba, The Daily Caller has learned.
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.
These moves were applauded along bipartisan lines, but Cuban hardliners weren’t pleased. Trump himself has been on both sides of the issue. He told TheDC in 2015 that the “concept of opening with Cuba is fine,” but on the campaign trail he threatened to “terminate” deals that the Obama administration made with Cuba.
The campaign trail rhetoric carried over into the administration, as Trump said in a February press conference that he has “very similar views” on Cuba as Sen. Rubio.
His 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.”
Rubio and Rep. Diaz-Balart, however, have been publicly confident that Trump will bring back hardline policies against Cuba. The National Journal reported Wednesday that Diaz-Balart said he is “1,000 percent sure the president is going to deliver on his commitment.”
“I have no doubt that you’re going to see in short order a different policy,” the Cuban-American legislator added. Rubio tweeted in March that he is “quite confident” Trump will “treat [Cuba] like a dictatorship.”
The Florida senator also told El Nuevo Herald, “We’ve been walking through all these issues with the president and his team, figuring out the right steps to take and when.”
Sen. Menendez has not spoken on the topic since Trump became president, and a spokeswoman told TheDC she is unaware of these concessions from the Trump administration.
Diaz-Balart’s office did not respond to a media inquiry about behind-the-scenes work with the Trump administration, and a Rubio spokesman said he can’t provide TheDC with “anything at this time.”
The anti-embargo group told TheDC that Trump will announce these changes in a June speech in Miami. The White House also refused to confirm or deny this.
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.”
Starwood Hotels & Resorts International currently has a hotel under management that is owned by a company controlled by the FAR, according to Kavulich.
The move to enact stricter policies toward Cuba will likely land the president criticism from several of his Republican colleagues. A bill introduced by Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Thursday to remove all travel restrictions with Cuba has nine Republican cosponsors.
“Recognizing the inherent right of Americans to travel to Cuba isn’t a concession to dictators, it is an expression of freedom,” Sen. Flake said in a statement. “It is Americans who are penalized by our travel ban, not the Cuban government.”
Trump will make a deal.
What did we get from Obama’s largess to Cuba?
Nothing.
It may take a while, but it will eventually be as if obozo never existed.
It isn’t as though people have been falling all over themselves to go to Cuba, from what I hear.
The sooner that wart on the buttocks of the world is gone and forgotten the better off the world will be!
OMG, Trump’s a Communistophobe?
No Wi-Fi and no ATMs. The type of people who would vacation in Cuba expect these things.
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Castro turned Cuba into a giant brothel.
He openly bragged “We have the best educated Whores in the world.”
It is one of the ways Cuba earns foreign exchange.
A lot of tourists to Cuba are sex tourists, especially from Europe and Canada.
And get what?
And get what?
That is a good question. Cuba does not have much to offer.
What he should be trying to get is a easing up on the totalitarian state...
Hard to see how Raul Castro lasts if that is done.
What does Cuba have that we want? Reparations for the properties they stole from us after the revolution?
They cannot even feed their own people.
What really pisses me off being a resident of Florida.
The cruise ships are DYING to travel to Cuba and at the same time the cruise industry has SOLD OUT American to Cuban extortion.
Hear me ... no country or entity in the Caribbean basin requires a passport for entry by ship (except Cuba). Not only does Cuba require a traveler to possess a passport, Cuba is allowed to charge a $80 fee every time for a one-time use visa to even dock as a passenger on a ship at Cuba. No island or Caribbean port gets this type of money or fee, only Cuba. And who pays that, not the cruise ship industry, the consumer, the American.
In a balanced market, the cruise lines should have told Cuba, you want tourist dollars, no visa ... be like every other port, extortion is not going to be paid by our passengers.
I’m more concerned with what Trump will get out of Marco for doing this for the little guy. The Fan Dancer has been a pain in the ass, he needs to be thankful for having President Trump instead of Hillary.
Cuba is a nation of slaves. A nation that prevents its people from opting out and leaving is shameful and vile.
I have read a lot of different things about Cuba the country. I abhor communism, socialism but I don’t think an embargo is a good idea. I read in an investment newsletter some time ago that 20-30% of the property in Cuba is privately owned. I would hope that the Cuban government would realize that allowing small private businesses to exist is and would be in the interest of the people. I am not a fan of big corporate anything taking over anywhere. Anyone who wants to travel there for vacation or family should not be restricted. That said, we should reverse the policy where Cubans can come to the US as tourists and collect SS checks (a Rubio supported policy?). Get government out of the way, insist that the Cuban government allow some free enterprise, and see what happens. If Trump plays this in the right way, he could potentially do with Cuba what Nixon did with China.
Winning.
Bigly.
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