President Barack Obama made a bold move last week when he made the surprise announcement that the United States was renewing diplomatic ties with Cuba.
On Wednesday, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro made the historic announcement that Washington and Havana will restore full diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors for the first time since January 1961, following the Cuban government’s nationalization of U.S. holdings on the island.
The announcement comes more than half a century after the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba and imposed an economic blockade on the Caribbean island nation and began efforts to overthrow the Cuban government.
The president also said the State Department would review Cuba’s designation as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
The economic embargo remains largely in effect and can only be changed by Congress.
Still Obama is using executive authority to ease restrictions on travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba and the amount of cash Cuban émigrés are allowed to send to Cuba is to be increased (from $500 every three months to $2,000). In addition, banking ties will be expanded, with U.S. travelers allowed for the first time to use credit cards issued by American banks.
The president’s new Cuba plan has unleashed criticism from Cuban-American lawmakers, praise from business groups and expectations of even more momentous changes on the small island nation.
Many Cubans are expressing hope that the restoration of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the U.S. will mean greater access to jobs and provide an economic lift to the struggling socialist economy.
Some critics warn the decision would be a blow to the U.S. tough-on-communism policy and reward Cuba after decades of human rights violations. Sens. Marco Rubio,R-Fla.,and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have strongly criticized Obama and backed the continued embargo on Cuba.
Their view is outdated and unrealistic.
Obama’s decision to reestablish diplomatic ties with Cuba for the first time in decades should open up the repressed country to market reforms and social improvement.
The fact is the 50-year embargo on Cuba has failed and should be reformed.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.)
