MultiScience - XXXIII. microCAD International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference University of Miskolc, 23-24 May, 2019. ISBN 978-963-358-177-3
DOI: 10.26649/musci.2019.099
DONALD TRUMP’S CUBA POLICY
Emőke Horváth
University of Miskolc, Institute for History
ABSTRACT
President Trump issued a national security presidential memorandum on Cuba in June 2017 that introduced new sanctions. These sanctions include restrictions on transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban military and the elimination of people-to-people educational travel for individuals. In my paper I am analysing the different aspects of Trump's sanctions.
KEYWORDS
Cuba, United States, Raúl Castro, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Caribbean, castrismo, Cold War, Marco Rubio, Mario Díaz Balart
INTRODUCTION
Barack Obama made a spectacular turn in the transformation of U.S. Cuba policy, when he announced, at the same time as Raúl Castro, on 17 December 2014, that the two countries were reestablishing diplomatic relations. Obama acknowledged that the United States has failed its Cold War policy with its Caribbean neighbor, it was time to look for new ways to shape relationships. Obama also realized that increasing U.S.
activity in Cuba's economic life could be a more effective tool for breaking down
„castrismo” than the previous austerity method. The improvement of the relations reached its peak when the U.S. president visited Cuba in March 2016 and delivered a speech at the Grand Theater in Havana. The speech seemed to be the best start for the continuation of the relief process. Donald Trump, however, did not want to make use of this opportunity; he reversed the development of American-Cuban relations into the former Cold War frame, although the Obama government prepared to continue the normalization process by formulating the Presidential Policy Directive 43 which specifically focused on the issue of US-Cuba relations. The objectives of the Directive are summarized in the introduction as follows:
„…the United States expands and promotes authorized engagements with Cuba to advance cooperation on areas of mutual interest, and increase travel to, commerce with, and the free flow of information to Cuba. The objective of the new policy is to help the Cuban people to achieve a better future for themselves and to encourage the development of a partner in the region capable of working with the United States to confront regional challenges, such as climate change, disease, and illicit trafficking.”
[1]
PROLOGUE
It is advisable briefly review how did Donald Trump's opinion on Cuba develop from the 2016 presidential campaign. The review is done with the help of William Leogrande's summary.[2] During the campaign, when The Daily Caller reporter asked Donald Trump how to evaluate the opening toward Cuba, he replied: „I think it’s fine.
I think it’s fine, but we should have made a better deal. The concept of opening with Cuba— 50 years is enough —the concept of opening with Cuba is fine. I think we should have made a stronger deal.”[3] In other words, he agreed with the basic idea, and he seemed to continue the direction of Obama's politics. The turn in his opinion it was caused by an article of the Newsweek when it wrote in September 2016 that Trump’s company, the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts had secretly conducted business in Cuba without U.S. approval and thus in direct violation of the Cuba embargo. According to the report, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts’ executives, with Trump’s knowledge, paid for an American consulting firm called Seven Arrows Investment and Development Corp. to travel to Cuba to explore and develop business opportunities for the company there.[4] In his speech on September 16 2017, in Miami, in the presence of a large number of Cuban Americans, Trump spoke differently, compared to its earlier statement. Promised to revoke Obama’s concessions unless the Cuban government met US conditions: "Those demands will include religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners," —Trump said.”[5] Trump's comments, especially when he accused Obama of a bad deal, strongly reflect the opinion of Senator Marco Rubio, who also accused Obama of making a very bad deal with Raúl Castro ,because he gave too much and almost nothing in return.[6] Meanwhile, Havana watched and waited.
Raúl Castro congratulated Donald Trump on his victory who made a more conciliatory voice in his victory speech: „I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America's interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone, with everyone.
All people and all other nations. We will seek common ground, not hostility, partnership, not conflict," —he said.[7] This comment did not apply specifically for Cuba but at the same time expressed a general foreign policy approach and could therefore be concerned for Cuba.
PROVISIONS OF THE TUMP ADMINISTRATION
The year 2017 began with that the Obama administration interrupted the immigration policy of Cuban immigrants. According to this step speciall treatment of illegal immigrants from Cuba could not be continued. So far they have been allowed to stay in the United States under the ’wet foot / dry foot policy, despite not legally reaching the waters under U.S. jurisdiction. At the same time, the possibility of staying in the United States was not completely closed, as the Cuban government did not give any assurances about the situation of the returning Cubans; so „political asylum remains an option for those concerned about persecution if they return”.[8] The change of presidency took place on January 20 2017 and at the beginning of February, the new press secretary of the White House, Sean Spice, responded to a journalist question: „at the moment, the Trump administration is reviewing the US Cuba policy”. He also
explained that human rights issues would be the main focus of new policy development, but he had not been able to report any concrete details yet.[9] Finally, Donald Trump announced the major elements of his Cuba policy —in the theater named after the leader of the unsuccessful adventure in the Gulf of Pig— in Miami.
The two major advisers of Trump, Marco Rubio and Mario Díaz-Balart, and some veterans of Pig Gulf were present at the event. The new president seemed to intend to meet the will of the audience, wanted to thank their votes, therefore he used sharp rhetoric against Cuba —according to Havana, he recalled the period of open hostility—, when he claimed that the Cuban government had imprisoned innocents, supported trafficking, exploitation and forced labor worldwide. The essence of his new Cuba policy is summarized as follows:
„Our new policy begins with strictly enforcing U.S. law. (Applause.) We will not lift sanctions on the Cuban regime until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalized, and free and internationally supervised elections are scheduled. Elections. (Applause.)
We will very strongly restrict American dollars flowing to the military, security and intelligence services that are the core of Castro regime. They will be restricted. We will enforce the ban on tourism. We will enforce the embargo. We will take concrete steps to ensure that investments flow directly to the people, so they can open private businesses and begin to build their country’s great, great future — a country of great potential. (Applause.)
My action today bypasses the military and the government, to help the Cuban people themselves form businesses and pursue much better lives. We will keep in place the safeguards to prevent Cubans from risking their lives to unlawful travel to the United States. They are in such danger the way they have to come to this country, and we are going to be safeguarding those people. We have to. We have no choice. We have to. (Applause.)
And we will work for the day when a new generation of leaders brings this long reign of suffering to an end. And I do believe that end is in the very near future.”
Our embassy remains open in the hope that our countries can forge a much stronger and better path. America believes that free, independent, and sovereign nations are the best vehicle for human happiness, for health, for education, for safety, for everything. We all accept that all nations have the right to chart their own paths — and I’m certainly a very big believer in that — so we will respect Cuban sovereignty. But we will never turn our backs on the Cuban people. That will not happen. (Applause.)”[10]
Donald Trump signed the document in the presence of the Cuban community with former political prisoners at the Manuel Artime Theater in Miami on June 16 2017, in Miami,
Florida.[11]
Although Trump promised rigor in the economic sphere, rather, only at the level of rhetoric, and he was under pressure at least as strong by the financial world than that of the Cuban community.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
In the summer of 2017, mysterious illnesses[12] at the US Embassy in Havana provided an excuse for Donald Trump to pursue a harder policy toward Cuba. From then on, the United States returned to the Cold War approach, Trump's first steps included reducing the number of employees at the U.S. Embassy in Havana by 60%.
This year, a presidential national security memorandum was issued which required the imposition of new sanctions on Cuba. Sanctions affected the issue of trade with companies controlled by the Cuban army and the problem of private travel.
Earlier I have mentioned that Donald Trump is under great pressure from the Republican Florida Senator, Marco, and through his person, the elder members of the Cuban American community, who emigrated to the US in the 1960s. This age group has an emotional attitude to the issue of political relations between the two countries.
They are unable to overcome their hurt by the Cuban Revolution, to rationalize the situation, even if they cause many difficulties for their Cuban compatriots.[13] As early as 2017, Marco Rubio urged the President to withdraw Obama's liberalization measures, which led to a rapid development of tourism between both countries. In 2017, 619,000 US citizens visited the island, helping the development of the Cuban economy, because tourism is the second most important economic sector. Rubio's partner in strengthening domestic pressure on Trump is the Republican Congressman Mario Díaz Balart, representative of the 25th constituency of Florida.[14] They both think in the spirit of Cold War ideology; therefore, a new context came into the
limelight of the relations with Cuba, in connection with the definition of the new relationship. In 1996, on international waters, in the area between the Cuban and U.S.
coasts, Cuban authorities shot two civil aircraft of the Brothers to the Rescue humanitarian group,[15] causing the deaths of three Cuban American citizens.[16] At the time of the incident, Raúl Castro held the post of Minister of the Revotuionary Armed Forces, therefore Rubio and Díaz-Balart demanded the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether Raúl Castro was responsible for the incident.[17]
Map of Cuba[18]
There is no doubt that many political issues can be raised in relation to the case, but perhaps it would be better to look forward to shaping relations in advance and not backwards. Surprisingly, the US government led by Donald Trump is not excited about the displacement of the United States from the Cuban economy, in spite of maintaining an embargo policy is clearly unfavorable for the U.S. in terms of its share of the Cuban market. In 2016, As a major turning point, China became the biggest trading partner of the island in 2016. China's economic role began to gain weight after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Cuba’s need for raw materials, first and foremost the need for oil, and the provision of basic food and products became a major challenge for the government. During the 1990s, during the Período Especial (Special Period), several Chinese presidents (Jiang Zemin in 1993 and President Xi Jinping in 2014) visited Cuba, and Fidel Castro (2003), Raúl Castro (2012) and Miguel Díaz- Canel (2018) also traveled to China. China has never forgotten that the country could break out of isolation with the help of the island country in the Western Hemisphere, when Havana was the first to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1960. Xi Jinping, the host of Díaz-Canel, drew attention to this fact as well. Besides China, Venezuela, the European Union and Russia are also significant economic partners for Cuba. Under Hugo Chávez Venezuela became Cuba's first economic partner and supporter, especially cheap oil, was an indispensable help, it was a kind of breathing
machine for the Cuban economy Today, however, Venezuela itself is on the verge of economic collapse.
SUMMARY
Since the early 1960s, the focus of U.S. policy toward Cuba has consisted of economic sanctions aimed at isolating the Cuban government. In 2014, however, the Obama Administration initiated a major policy change, moving away from sanctions toward a policy of engagement. The policy change included the reestablishment of diplomatic relations (July 2015); the rescission of Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of international terrorism (May 2015); and an increase in travel, commerce, and the flow of information to Cuba implemented through regulatory changes.
The new policy leaves in place the Obama Administration’s action ending the so- called ’wet foot/dry foot’ policy toward Cuban migrants.[19] In June 2017, President Trump unveiled a new policy toward Cuba that increased sanctions and partially rolled back some of the Obama Administration’s efforts to normalize relations. The most significant changes include restrictions on transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban military and the elimination of individual people-to-people travel. In response to unexplained injuries among the members of the U.S. diplomatic community at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, the State Department reduced the staff of the U.S. Embassy by about two-thirds; the reduction has affected difficulties in the embassy operations, especially visa processing, and made the bilateral engagement more difficult.[20]
REFERENCES
[1] Presidential Policy Directive/PPD–43. Elérhető:
https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=797569 (downloaded: 2 April 2019). „…the United States expands and promotes authorized engagements with Cuba to
advance cooperation on areas of mutual interest, and increase travel to,
commerce with, and the free flow of information to Cuba. The objective of the new policy is to help the Cuban people to achieve a better future for themselves and to encourage the development of a partner in the region capable of working with the United States to confront regional challenges, such as climate change, disease, and illicit trafficking.”
[2] William M. Leogrande: Reversing the Irreversible: President Donald J. Trump’s Cuba Policy », IdeAs. 10 | Automne 2017 / Hiver 2018, mis en ligne le 19 décembre 2017, consulté le 21 février 2018. 3. URL:
http://journals.openedition.org/ideas/2258 ; DOI : 10.4000/ideas.2258 (downloaded: March 19, 2019)
[3] Donald Trump on His Nuclear Doctrine, Democracy Promotion And Why He Refuses To Use Term ‘Supreme Leader’, 9 July 2015.
https://dailycaller.com/2015/09/07/donald-trump-on-his-nuclear-doctrine- democracy-promotion-and-why-he-refuses-to-use-term-supreme-
leader/#ixzz3l9Obgeml (downloaded: March 19, 2019)
[4] Trump’s Conflicts of Interest in Cuba,
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/news/2017/06/14/433923/trum ps-conflicts-interest-cuba/
[5] Jeremy Diamond: Trump shifts on Cuba, says he would reverse Obama’s deal.
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/16/politics/donald-trump-cuba/index.html (downloaded: March 19, 2019)
[6] William LeoGrande: The Same Tired Arguments. The European Magazine, 2015.
február 19. http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/william-leogrande/9593- why-obama-is-right-about, April 8. 2015.
[7] Granma, “Raúl Sends Message of Congratulations to President-elect Trump,”
Granma, November 10, 2016. Quoted by William M. LeoGrande,5.
http://en.granma.cu/mundo/2016-11-10/raul-sends-message-of-congratulations- topresident-elect-trump, page consulted November 7, 2017. (downloaded: March 6, 2019.)
[8] Obama ends ’wet foot, dry foot’policy for Cuban immigrants. 12 January 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/12/obama-ends-cuba-immigration- policy-wet-foot-dry-foot(downloaded: March 5, 2019.)
[9] The question was raised by Jackie Nespral, NBC6 correspondent in South Florida, where lives the largest Cuban-American community in the United States. See:
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spice. February 3, 2017, see:https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-
secretary-sean-spicer-020317/ (downloaded: March 5, 2019.)
[10] Remarks by President Trump on the Policy of the United States Towards Cuba.
June 16, 2017. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks- president-trump-policy-united-states-towards-cuba/ (downloaded: March 18, 2019)
[11] See, Darlene Superville et al.: Trumo thrusts US, Cuba back toward hostile
relations. The Times of Israel, 17 June 2017,
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-thrusts-us-cuba-back-toward-hostile- relations/ (downloaded: March 5, 2019.)
[12] A ’Sonic Attack’ on Diplomats in Cuba? These Scientists Doubt It. The New York Time, Oct. 5, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/science/cuba-sonic- eapon.html?mtrref=www.google.com&module=inline (downloaded: March 5, 2019.)
[13] See, Emőke Horváth: Recent Changes in Cuban-U.S. Relations. Conclusions of an Opinion Poll. In: Horváth Emőke (szerk.): Conflicts and Cooperations. Inter- American Relations in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Budapest, L’Harmattan, 2018, 125-141.
[14] See the webpage of Mario Díaz-Balart: https://mariodiazbalart.org/about-mario/
(downloaded: 18 March 2019)
[15] Brothers to the Rescue was a humanitarian organization that operated rescue missions to search for Cubans who fled the island by sea.
[16] See: https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/05/22/rubio-diaz-balart- want-trump-to-charge-cubas-castro-for-96-shootdown-of-planes-433300
(downloaded: March 18, 2019)
[17] Sergio Bustos: Rubio, Diaz-Balart want Trump to charge Cuba’s Castro for ‘96 shootdown of planes. See:
https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/05/22/rubio-diaz-balart-want- trump-to-charge-cubas-castro-for-96-shootdown-of-planes-433300 (downloaded:
March 19, 2019)
[18] https://geology.com/world/cuba-satellite-image.shtml (downloaded: March 21, 2019)
[19] U.S. Department of State, Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba, 82 Federal Register 48875-48878, October 20, 2017
[20] This research was supported by the project nr. EFOP-3.6.2-16-2017-00007, titled Aspects on the development of intelligent, sustainable and inclusive society:
social, technological, innovation networks in employment and digital economy.
The project has been supported by the European Union, co-financed by the European Social Fund and the budget of Hungary.
