Trump Announces Changes to Obama’s Cuba Pact, Toughens Stance
“Now that I am president, America will expose the crimes of the Castro regime.”
President Donald Trump announced a few changes to former President Barack Obama’s Cuba policy. These changes include different travel requirements and the enforcement of an embargo against the brutal Communist regime:
“You look at what happened and what communism has done,” he listed. “Believers persecuted for preaching the word of God, you watch the Women in White – bruised, bloodied, and captured on their way from Mass, you have heard the chilling cries of loved ones or the cracks of firing squads piercing through the ocean breeze — not a good sound.”
“This is the simple truth of the Castro regime: my administration will not hide from it, excuse it, or glamorize it, and we will never, ever be blind to it. We know what is going on and we remember what happened,” Trump promised.
“Last year, I promised to be a voice against repression. You went out and you voted, and here I am,” the president told the audience. “Now that I am president, America will expose the crimes of the Castro regime… now we hold the cards.”
Before he dived into details about his plan, Trump took time to acknowledge those who suffered under the Castros and have given a voice to those who cannot speak out. He brought up dissident Cary Roque and let her speak to the audience for a bit.
The travel requirements to Cuba demands that Americans must “only support private businesses and services.” This is a way to make sure that money goes directly to the people and not to the regime. From Fox News:
The Trump administration also says it will strictly enforce the 12 authorized categories allowing American citizens to travel to Cuba – banning one particular type of travel, known as individual “people-to-people” trips, seen as ripe for abuse by would-be tourists.
Most U.S. travelers to Cuba will again be required to visit the island as part of organized tour groups run by American companies. Obama eliminated the tour requirement, allowing tens of thousands of Americans to book solo trips and spend their money with individual bed-and-breakfast owners, restaurants and taxi drivers. The rules also require a daylong schedule of activities designed to expose the travelers to ordinary Cubans.
American airlines and cruise lines can still land on the island.
Tourists will not face more “restrictions on the types of goods that Americans can take out of Cuba, including the country’s popular rum and cigars.”
Trump has also decided to keep the U.S. Embassy in Havana operating “in the hope that our countries can forge a much stronger and better path.”
The “wet foot, dry foot” policy will not end, which allows “most Cuban migrants who made it onto U.S. soil to stay and eventually become legal permanent residents.”
Trump insisted sanctions against the regime will not go away until officials release “all political prisoners and schedules free and internationally supervised elections.” He demanded that those in charge return “Joanne Chesimard, a New York City native wanted in the 1973 killing of a New Jersey state trooper.”
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Comments
Overdue, great policy moves. Way to go, Mr. President!
But I worry that even now, before the ink is dry, the AGs of Washington and other wacko states are rushing to the federal courthouses in the 9th circuit to file lawsuits, asking their judicial pals to void these policies, too. Because TRUMP, and the mean things he said about Cuba.
Religious discrimination?
I love the twilight faith and its many selective/Pro-Choice principles.
Why, who does this “collectivist” think he is? Must be a fake report. Trump is a collectivist, no way he would diss a commie regime. /s
Best election ever – it never gets old saying it.
So when is Sessions going to expose the crimes of clinton? (It’s a much more pressing and relevant matter.)