U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the president’s announced trip to Cuba.
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From Cuba, Obama will travel to Argentina, where he’ll meet with new President Mauricio Macri.
President Obama announced that he is making his historic trip to Cuba on March 21, and immediately triggered a predictable avalanche of scorn from those who claim he is “legitimizing a repressive regime”.
“When Michelle and I go to Havana next month, it will be the first visit of a USA president to Cuba in almost 90 years”.
“The president is again prioritizing short-term economic interests over long-term and enduring American values”, said Menendez, another Cuban-American.
She said President Obama would have a direct approach to the Cuban reality and all necessary changes that resulted from sovereign decisions aimed at improving the welfare of the people.
“Cuba is open to speaking to the government of the United States about any topic, including human rights”, Josefina Vidal, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s director-general for the United States. And we’re starting to see some progress.
“Our flag flies over our Embassy in Havana once again”.
Vidal said the visit marked a further step toward improvement in relations between Cuba and the United States. And in Cuba today, for the first time in a half century, there is hope for a different future, especially among Cuba’s young people who have such extraordinary talent and potential just waiting to be unleashed. There are moves towards normalisation but still many obstacles hinder trade and this explains why visits of thousands of Americans to Cuba including businessmen did not result in signing of concrete deals.
President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro are scheduled to meet during the trip. “I’ll reaffirm that the United States will continue to stand up for universal values like freedom of speech and assembly and religion”, said the US President. We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly. And I’ll speak directly to the Cuban people about the values we share and how I believe we can be partners as they work for the future they want. This transformation will take time.
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“President Obama’s travel to Havana will demonstrate that engagement represents the greatest opportunity to advance our national interests, the interests of the American people, and our support for Cuba’s citizens and their fundamental freedoms”.
