“At the very least, we were expecting to see the start of investment in Cuba, as well as greater political opening of the Cuban government and the diversification of the island’s economy”, said Torrico.
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To get the new restrictions lifted, the Cuban government would have to hold “free and fair” elections, release political prisoners and allow workers to be paid directly, officials said. They cheered when relations were restored with the U.S. and Obama visited the island in 2016, the first United States president to do so in almost 90 years. “Our view is we are”, Tillerson said.
Americans who go to Cuba, who beyond hotels can stay at privately owned inns, could face problems when they return if they are found to have patronized the GAES.
Trump will also direct the secretaries of treasury and commerce to provide regulations that prohibit direct financial transactions with Cuban military intelligence and security services. The theater is named for an exile leader of the Bay of Pigs veterans’ association that endorsed Trump last October.
The new policy will ban most U.S. business deals with the Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group (GAESA), a sprawling conglomerate involved in all sectors of the economy, but make exceptions related to air and sea travel, the officials said.
Trump’s critics have also questioned why his administration is now singling out Cuba for its human rights record while downplaying the issue in other parts of the world.
While on the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump criticized President Obama’s Cuba policy. Under the Trump administration’s future regulations, only educational groups will be able to facilitate these people-to-people interactions. Senior officials warned that travelers, however, may be “subject to audit”. However, the policy changes appear to allow Marriott, Starwood’s parent company, to continue operating the hotel. While the 12 categories of authorized travel to Cuba will still remain, a subcategory – individual people-to-people travel – is on the chopping block.
Commercial flights, which resumed for the first time in 50 years last summer, will still continue between the US and Cuba.
Restoring ties led to spectacular photo opportunities, such as the reopening of the respective embassies in Havana and Washington, but to few concrete advances. These visitors will be allowed to pay bank fees at the military-run bank and rent private properties such as those offered by Airbnb.
The moves to be announced by Trump are only a partial reversal of Obama’s policies, however.
“The policy isn’t going to do anything new”, a source from the office of one Cuban American lawmaker complained.
Former president Barack Obama implemented his Cuba normalization measures through executive actions that bypassed Congress, giving Trump the power to undo much of it with the stroke of a pen. Obama also relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba, though the five-decade trade embargo remains in place.
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Earlier this week, Patrick Clarke covered the coming announcement with news that the majority of Americans actually support more open travel to Cuba-including 44 percent of Trump voters.
