The new policy directive on Cuba, issued today by President Donald Trump, represents a blow against the will of large sectors in the United States that are in favor of the continuity of the process towards the normalization of relations between both countries, Cubasí publishes.

The Rev. Joel Ortega Dopico, president of the Council of Churches of Cuba, said that the document signed by the White House tenant does not respond to the wishes of the Americans, whose visits to the Caribbean nation increased in 2016 and so far in the current calendar, due to measures of the former president, Barack Obama.

Cubans and Americans can do much for this humanity, it is not logical that there are laws that prevent the rapprochement and that will of the people, the religious leader said.

It indicates a lack of information and knowledge about the Cuban reality, the sovereignty and the right of this people, he said referring to Trump's speech, while calling it "a monologue that leads nowhere in the 21st century, when humanity calls for dialogue and the search for civilized solutions ".

During his speech from the southern state of Florida, the president confirmed that he repeals the policy directive for the normalization of relations with Cuba, issued by Obama in October 2016, and reinforces the application of the extraterritorial economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by that Government for more than half a century.

Trump also ordered his administration to suspend "people-to-people" exchanges on an individual basis, allowing US citizens to travel to Cuba under 12 general categories, without the auspices of an organization.

Raúl Rodríguez Rodríguez, director of the Center for Hemispheric Studies and the United States (CEHSEU), reflected that the new position could, in the long term, increase divisions within that northern community, most of which are in favor of normalizing links.

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, which provides information on issues, attitudes and trends in the United States and in the world, 75 percent of Americans support relations between Havana and Washington.

He considered that the anti-Cuban right, which exerts influence on Trump through Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart - both Republicans - will continue to be dysfunctional to the interests of US foreign policy towards Cuba.

This supposed community now shows its great division, where people like Rubio and Diaz-Balart represent less and less the aspirations of the majority of Cubans settled in the USA, the researcher said.

According to Luis Fernández Tabío, professor at CEHSEU, there are positive interests regarding Cuba within American society, such as congressmen, retired military personnel, businessmen and other groups that claim their space and disagree with was established today by Trump.

The expert warned that, although the presentation of the US president was "very sound, with a high media coverage, with strong phrases and harsh and hurtful expressions," in the medium and long term, there are "bureaucratic and structural elements that should gravitate in favor of positions, a trend that should be dominant."

In other important cases, Trump has made strong statements and then adapted them to reality, Fernández Tabío added.

He pointed out that the structural elements of the policy outlined by Obama "have their relative weight", as there are growing economic interests, to which it can be added what was agreed on national security and migratory aspects that were not touched by the new policy directive of Trump .

Historian Ernesto Limia Diaz said that it is pitiful to lose what has been advanced in bilateral ties and that Trump has not been able to listen to the voices of the broader sectors that advocate an improvement in bilateral relations.

What has happened shows that our people and the best of the American will have to continue fighting for a better future, he said.

He stressed that it is inconceivable to maintain a relationship of enemies because certain belligerent sectors within the United States do not just understand that Cuba has every right to be sovereign and independent

With the instrument signed today, USA opposes to the calls in the United Nations and other international forums that support Cuba and call for an end to the blockade, it limits economic activities with companies linked to the armed forces and restricts business opportunities with public companies in Cuba, where most of the citizens of the Island, work.

It maintains, however, that US entities may develop links with the Caribbean's self-employed sector, and that Cubans resident in that country may continue to visit Cuba and send remittances. The document directs the Treasury and Commerce Departments to initiate the process of issuance of new regulations within 30 days, while the changes will not take effect until both instances have settled their new regulations, a process that may take several months.

Compartir / Share