Trump Threatens Cuba with Hardline Policy
HAVANA TIMES – US President-elect Donald Trump warned the Cuban government today that he will reverse the policy of opening applied by President Barack Obama, if there are no political changes on the island, reported dpa news.
“If Cuba is reluctant to reach a better agreement for the Cuban people, for the Cuban-American people and for the United States as a whole, I will put an end to the agreement,” he wrote on Twitter.
This warning from Trump, who went from supporting Obama’s approach at the beginning of his campaign to threatening to reverse it in the run-up to the election, came the day in Havana that seven days of funeral honors began for Fidel Castro before his ashes are buried next Sunday in Santiago de Cuba.
The US president-elect is being pressured by anti-Castro sectors in Miami, which contributed to his victory in Florida, one of the most important of the battleground states in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Cuban-American Republican Party lawmakers are leading the charge for a return to the Bush era approach to Cuba.
Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both rivals of Trump in the Republican primary election, have urged Trump since his election to reverse Obama’s policy toward Cuba when he enters the White House on January 20th.
The Economist magazine in its annual review forecast of the death of Fidel in 2011. In their annual review of 2013 they drew attention to their error and wrote:
“We now accept that he will live for ever.”
Yes, N.J., Obama opened the door on March 21 at the Alicia Alonso Theatre and Raul Castro closed it on March 28 and 29.
But as a Dictator, Raul will never express regret for any of his actions and as demonstrated at the Press Conference in Havana on March 20th, he does not expect his actions to be questioned.
Raul still has that which matters most to him. Absolute power and control.
So far Trump’s comments are posturing directed more to the US audience than they are to Cuba. Once he assume office, Trump can see how well his tough guy approach works.
This is not to say that what Trump has said is incorrect: his description of the brutal Castro regime is honest and accurate. Not that I believe for a minute that Trump wrote those words.
I suspect the Castro regime will walk away from negotiations with the US if Trump is too belligerent, because that’s what they have always done, For 57 years they have taken what they can get, and gave nothing in return. This is may not be the wisest policy for Cuba in the long run, but it’s true to form for the Castro regime.
Is that why Latin Americans flee their own countries in droves often risking their lives to enter the land of Yankee??? Not indicative of such anti-Yankee climate is it?? !!!!
Trump plays a much different game. His hard opening gambit is just show. He is far more pragmatic than his rhetoric. The USA won’t risk losing strategic advantage by fully disengaging. Neither will Trump be doing any favors.
Raul does not appear to be a man that suffers regrets, but he should regret not being more thankful to Obama.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Yes, Trump is an idiot but what did he say that you don’t agree with about Cuba?
Obviously you don’t live in Cuba. By the way, those socialists Presidents elected in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Paraguay and soon to be Venezuela? All gone. Socialism doesn’t work in the real world. I am as anti-Trump as they come but I am pro-democracy and definitely anti-Castro. If Trump can get a better deal for the Cuban people than Obama, why not?
Fifty years is more then enough to show the people that socialism doesn’t work!!
Heavy-handed threats and bullying will not work with the Cuban government. We’ll get a chance now to see if this is just bluster by Mr. Trump or whether he really means what he says. I am afraid that we may be entering a new era of “Ugly Americanism” with Trump as President. As usual, it is the Cuban people who will (continue to) suffer.