The White House said today that the change of policy towards Cuba announced by President Donald Trump on Friday is being “widely praised as a step in the right direction” and that it will help the Cuban people achieve “greater economic and political freedom “.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer defended the changes during a press conference, and assured that “they are being widely praised as a step in the right direction to empower the Cuban people.”
Asked if Trump intends to impose more sanctions on Cuba to press for issues such as human rights or the surrender of fugitives sought by US Justice, Spicer said that it is necessary to “give time” to the policy just announced by the president, and not To advance events.
“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,” said the spokesman.
Spicer recalled that changing Cuba’s policy “was a campaign promise” by Trump before the 2016 presidential election, when he sought votes in Florida.
“Instead of empowering the Cuban army through its ability to control the incoming money, which was not reaching people, the actions the president took on Friday will help empower the people and ensure that they not only maintain their Promise that the American people follow the law, but that there is a greater result, to empower the Cuban people, “he added.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez today criticized Trump’s policy change and in particular his decision not to make further progress in the normalization process if Cuba does not take concrete steps toward “free elections.”
The Cuban internal opposition has been divided between the “rejoicing” expressed by the leader of the Damas de Blanco, Berta Soler, and the disappointment of other dissidents, such as Manuel Cuesta Morua.
Most countries in Latin America have kept silent about the turnaround announced by Trump, beyond the open criticism of Cuban government allies like Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Asked today in an interview with Efe, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said that Cuba’s “enormous tenacity” will serve to protect him from Trump’s decision and called for “dialogue, agreement and agreement” between the two countries .
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South America, Michael Fitzpatrick, said today that it is about to see how the countries of the continent receive the changes to Cuba announced by Trump but defended that Washington’s objectives on the island remain the same as before.
“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), I think people will recognize that the goals have not changed so dramatically,” Fitzpatrick said at a conference Of the telephone press.
These goals remain “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,” the official said.
