EspañolThe US government is claiming the partial reversal of relations with Cuba have been widely praised.
According to White House Spokesman Sean Spicer, policy changes toward Cuba are being widely lauded as a step in the right direction for empowering the people there.
“The main piece of what the president did was to pave the way to empower the Cuban people to develop greater economic and political freedom,” Spicer said, who asked the media not to make assumptions about the success of the policy until giving it more time.
- Read More: Russia Sides with Cuban Dictatorship, Calls Trump’s Policy Reversal “Cold War Rhetoric”
- Read More: Trump Partially Reverses Obama-Castro Deal, Demands Free Elections in Cuba
Spicer said policy changes with Cuba were a campaign promise President Trump made early on while seeking votes in Florida, but not everyone is happy about it. In anticipation of Donald Trump’s announcement, Human Rights Watch said tourism had boomed on the island, and that no dialogue for improving human rights standards can be carried out without a more open relationship.
But US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South America Michael Fitzpatrick said US objectives remain the same as they always have.
“I think in the end, when people look at the details of what the new regulations will contain (which will still take months to complete), people will recognize that the targets have not changed so drastically,” he said at a press conference.
According to Fitzpatrick, the objectives are “to make the regime accountable for its oppression and violations of human rights, and to promote the national security interests of the United States and the Cuban people.”
Source: Cubanet.