Last week Donald Trump gave a speech in front of his electorate in Little Havana in Miami (Florida), where he proudly announced that the “Cuba policy” of the previous government will be cancelled, due to the lack of democracy and protection of Human Rights.
This worrying statement should be received very carefully. In fact, it is not a full “cancelation” of the policy, which Barak Obama was negotiating so long and was so proud of to achieve. Airplanes will keep on flying; cruise ships will be sailing, embassies are still open and Cubans will be sending their cigars and rum. The evil is in the details: people-to-people travel will not be allowed and any money flows which are directed to the Cuban military owned entities will be prohibited, people visiting the island will be asked to keep their transactions records for 5 years to prove that they did not contribute into the militarist regime of the current Cuban government. In the course of the last year, millions of US dollars were left & invested by Americans in this island and both sides do understand how big is the potential in this cooperation. For instance, about 400 new WI-FI spots were created by the Cuban regime in this period. This is an unprecedented number and the americans will be able to benefit from it as well, by “exploring” a new market (where almost all sectors are state controlled or owned), which is very close to its borders.

In essence, Donald Trump plays quite smart: keeps on his promises and does not cut economic & diplomatic ties with Cubans. Thus, he also keeps his other promise – more jobs for americans. Certainly, with the increasing level of trade Americans will benefit as well.
On the other side, there is a security aspect. Currently, Cubans together with the US forces monitor the territorial waters to cut the drug trafficking across the american border. The Cuban government has already responded by saying that such cooperation is in danger and in fact battling drug trafficking is more important for the US.
It shall be noted that Trump is quite selective when it comes to the foreign policy, since he supports the Chinese and Saudi governments (regimes with questionable Human Rights policies), but speaks out against the Cuban government. Is this an inconsistency in the foreign policy or Mr.President has a secret card to play?
Even though Amnesty international believes that opening (and not sanctioning) Cuba will lead to the improvements in the Human Rights sector, it seems that Donald Trump builds up a new level of trust among his electorate to start a new page in the foreign policy.
Such statement was well delivered on time, since at this stage two world powers (USA and China) are dividing their influence in the Latin American region. Just recently Puerto Ricans held a referendum to become the 51st state of the US and Panama cut its ties with Taiwan and officially accepted the One-China Policy of Beijing (more on this in our previous article).
Trump`s administration may seem too inconsistent or illogical in its Middle Eastern policy, but it keeps a good eye on the southern borders of the US.
Apricot-Lawyer.com
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