Washington: US President Joe Biden will resume family remittances and trips to Cuba, Prensa Latina publishes.
However, according to the Los Angeles Times newspaper today, other approaches reached by both countries during the Barack Obama administration will take time to arrive and will not be restored immediately.
The Los Angeles newspaper notes that Obama took historic steps to unfreeze the hostile relationship of the Cold War era with the island, but his successor, Donald Trump, did everything possible to re-freeze everything.
Now, he says, the Biden administration says it will lift some of the restrictions imposed by Trump on business and travel between the United States and Cuba, and resume diplomatic talks.
But, he argues, Biden’s initial actions will disappoint advocates who long for the stronger relationship that was emerging in the Obama years.
The president faces strong resistance in Congress from members who oppose detente with Cuba and Trump left numerous obstacles, such as formally declaring the island as a state sponsor of terrorism, which takes time and a lot of bureaucratic red tape to reverse, the newspaper says.
The administration will also restore some of the wire services, including Western Union, which are used to transmit money and which the previous government blocked.
Biden’s team, the newspaper maintains, also intends to allow more travel between the countries, people familiar with the plans said.
Biden’s first steps will be taken as initial gestures, while more difficult issues are debated, the newspaper said.
Since Biden took office, his aides have become more circumspect about plans for Cuba, publicly repeating that the policy is “under review.”