Cuba is the only one-party Communist-ruled nation in the Americas. Excluding dissidents would certainly provoke fierce criticism from opponents of Obama’s new policy, including Cuban-American Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.
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“One of the reasons that the U.S. has changed its approach to Cuba is the realization that government officials are going to shape what happens here next, while the dissidents will play only a marginal role”, he said.
Kerry is due in Havana for a ceremony to raise the US flag at its reopened embassy, a first since January 1961.
“Cuban dissidents are the legitimate representatives of the Cuban people and it is they who deserve America’s red-carpet treatment, not Castro regime officials”, he continued.
Garcia is building a second hotel around the corner to accommodate what he believes will be a surge in Americans visiting his town now that the U.S. has eased restrictions on travel to Cuba.
While in Washington, Rodriguez was crystal clear about what Cuba’s priorities are in the evolving relationship: lifting the blockade – the Cuban term for the embargo – the return of the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay; and reparations for economic and human damage caused by the embargo and terrorist acts against the island.
The flag-raising ceremony is part of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which are converting their diplomatic missions from interests sections to full-fledged embassies.
“They will deal with the obvious low-hanging fruit first”, said Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
A State Department official speaking on background Tuesday said that “Secretary Kerry plans to meet with a broad range of civil society during the day”. They say oh, we remain concerned.
For decades the US government has allocated millions of dollars a year for the “promotion of democracy in Cuba” – though much of that money goes to Cuban exile groups in the United States, particularly Radio and TV Marti, the Miami-based broadcaster that gets $27 million a year in federal funding.
The protesters were advocating that the U.S. should do more to curb ongoing human rights abuses.
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It was unclear exactly how many Cubans were arrested and for how long on Sunday – some reports said around 90 while others said it was more than 100. But as they’ve worked to restore relations, the focus moved to engaging a government that sees the dissidents as U.S. mercenaries. The pair might maintain a joint information convention, in what would certainly be a primary because the Cuban Revolution toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. “By doing some of these things, the U.S. will be meeting a lot of ordinary Cubans, both communist and dissidents, and that is great for all diplomats in a foreign land”.
