Donald Trump joined Cuba after he took office in 2017 tightening restrictions on U.S. travel and pay.
President Joe Biden’s administration will review U.S. policy on Cuba, the White House said Thursday, after former President Donald Trump brought back a historic Obama-era prediction by Havana to during his tenure.
“Our Cuban policy is governed by two principles. First, support for democracy and human rights – that will be at the heart of our efforts. The second Americans, especially Cuban Americans, are the best ambassadors for freedom in Cuba. So we will review the Trump administration’s policies, “White House press secretary Jen Psaki told a news conference.
Republican Trump has joined Cuba after taking office in 2017, tightening restrictions on U.S. travel and return to Cuba, and imposing sanctions on shipments of Venezuelan oil to the island.
US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shake hands during their first meeting on the second day of Obama’s trip to Cuba, in Havana on March 21, 2016 [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
The policy was popular among the large Cuban-American population in South Florida, helping Trump to win the state in November even though he lost the election to Democrat Biden.
Nine days before Trump left office, his administration announced on Jan. 11 that it was returning Cuba to the U.S. list of terrorist state supporters, a move that could pose a problem for Biden’s efforts to revive better relations with the Communist-run country.
A senior Cuban official told Reuters last week that the island nation is hopeful that Biden will soon reverse the hard work of his ancestors and resume the detente policy initiated by the former administration. President Barack Obama in 2015.
Removing Cuba from the blacklist was one of the main achievements of Obama’s foreign policy as he sought to develop relations with the island, an effort that Biden confirmed as his vice-president at the time. Ties were frozen after Fidel Castro took power in 1959.