That if “we’re seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans, I’d love to use a visit as a way of highlighting that progress…” Opponents argue that repealing those sanctions would reward a government still engaging in human rights abuses and stifling of democratic aspirations.
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The president officially announced his trip via Twitter on Thursday morning. He joined the court in 1986 and was its longest-serving justice.
President Barack Obama talks to media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016.
Obama’s visit will mark the first time a sitting president has been to Cuba since President Calvin Coolidge traveled there in January 1928.
The presidents of the United States and Cuba earlier a year ago met in Panama City, with Obama announcing a thaw in relations by saying “the Cold War is over”.
Last year, the US introduced more travel opportunities between the two nations, and by August 2015 had reopened an embassy in Havana for the first time in 54 years. “Most importantly, our policy was not making life better for the Cuban people and in many ways, it was making it worse”. The U.S. Department of Transportation will open bidding by American air carriers for as many as 110 flights per day.
Washington and Havana restored diplomatic ties in July but commerce remains limited by the USA trade embargo, which includes a ban on American tourism to the island.
“In addition to holding a bilateral meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro, President Obama will engage with members of civil society, entrepreneurs and Cubans from different walks of life”, he said.
Rubio said if he was the president, he would not visit the island nation unless it were a “free Cuba”.
Leading up to the announcement of Obama’s trip, White House officials said Cuba would need to demonstrate human rights reforms before the President would travel there.
Norberto Calderin is hopeful the trip moves Cuba in a promising direction.
Obama will want to prod Havana into opening up politically, but the White House is betting that opening Cuba to American tourists and American business is the fastest way to bring change. In December he told of his wish to meet political dissidents in Cuba – to help “nudge its government in a new direction”.
President Obama will travel to Cuba in March, becoming the first sitting USA president to set foot on the island nation in almost 90 years.
Obama’s Cuba visit attracted criticism even before it was announced with Republican presidential aspirant Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, slamming Obama for his planned trip.
Cruz, a US senator from Texas, said he also would not visit Cuba “as long as the Castros are in power”, first with revolutionary Fidel Castro, and now with his brother, President Raul Castro.
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By going to Cuba now, Obama will “essentially act as an apologist”, Cruz added.
