President Donald Trump is planning to make good on his campaign promise and travels to Miami Friday to announce his intentions to reverse the changes to Barack Obama's Cuba policy, by setting guidelines for business, severely handicapping their trading endeavors.
The number of arbitrary - and often violent - arrests of dissidents in Cuba for their political beliefs skyrocketed following the 2014 announcement from President Obama that he was willing to cooperate with the Castro regime.
"Cuba is an important political topic at the regional level, but it carries little economic weight compared to other issues of interest to Trump", added Torrico, who also coordinates the master's program in public policy at Flacso. An expert on Cuban travel told Politico that roughly 60 percent of all businesses in Cuba and 80 percent of all hotels on the island are run by the business arm of the country's military, meaning that even if you can find an exemption for traveling to Cuba, you might not be able to find anywhere to stay.
Yet Trump is unlikely to undo all U.S.
A White House official said that Trump will not reinstate the "wet foot, dry foot" policy and that diplomatic relations will remain.
There are divisions within the Trump administration however concerning the extant of the diplomatic rollbacks, especially given that Obama's opening to Washington's former Cold War foe has created opportunities for American companies ranging from telecommunications to airlines. Although the US government does not technically prohibit Cuban travel, Treasury regulations under the embargo prohibit the expenditure of USA dollars without a special license.
But on Friday, Trump, citing human rights violations, will sign an executive order in Miami on the new policy.
[Newsmaker] Trump decries being target of Russian Federation probe
McCabe was referring to the agency's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. During the meeting, the president brought up Flynn and told Comey "I hope you can let this go", according to the memo.
The stated goal of the new policy is to cut down on human rights abuses.
In addition, the US President is also expected to restrict permission for Americans to visit the island, The Guardian says. Although Trump lost the Miami area to Hillary Clinton by double digits, he credits support from Cuban-Americans for helping him eke out a narrow victory statewide.
Those rollbacks may include the reinstatement of some travel restrictions for US citizens following a review by the National Security Council, multiple media outlets are reporting. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) played a "central" role in helping the administration recast the policy, one official said, while other members of Congress were instrumental as well.
American travellers hoping to take a trip to Cuba are going to have a hard time doing so going forward, roughly a year after airlines opened up commercial flight routes to Havana.
In a statement, Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson said a reversal of "progress" in Cuba would be "exceedingly disappointing".
"While the news comes as a step back for travel to Cuba, it is business as usual for Intrepid Travel", said Leigh Barnes, director of Intrepid Group North America.
Trump's new policy will eliminate such visits by individuals while still allowing them to be done as group tours, and also retaining individual travel under other authorized categories such as religious, artistic and journalistic activities, the official said.
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