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Three years ago today, President Trump flew to Miami to announce he was "cancelling" Obama's #Cuba policy. He said he'd "seek a much better deal for the Cuban people" and help them "form businesses and pursue much better lives." How well has that worked out for Cubans so far? 1/
Are Cuban entrepreneurs better off today than they were three years ago? Far from it. Trump's travel restrictions have dealt a fatal blow to a burgeoning private sector largely dependent on the purchasing power of U.S. visitors. 2/ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-entrepreneurs-see-steep-decline-business-trump-policies-n1026026
Are Cuban families better off today than they were three years ago? The U.S. eliminated donative remittances, limited family remittances to $1,000 per member every 3 months, and formal cash transmitters are now at risk of being eliminated altogether. 3/ https://www.wlrn.org/post/will-new-us-restrictions-make-it-significantly-harder-send-remittances-cuba#stream/0
Are Cuban democracy activists better off than when they met with Obama in '16? As dissident Marta Beatriz Roque said in Dec “I think that we, opponents, are not having our best moment” w long-term incarcerations back on the rise. 4/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/world/americas/cuban-activist-ferrer-diaz-canel.html https://cpj.org/2019/08/cuba-sentences-journalist-roberto-quinones-to-one/
Are Cuban independent journalists better off? Accused by Cuban officials of being U.S. government "mercenaries", island reporters are now under the Damoclean sword of the new Decree 370 and many are often barred from leaving their homes. 5/ https://cpj.org/2019/12/cuban-journalist-luz-escobar-repeatedly-barred-fro/
Are Cubans seeking asylum in the United States better off?
Cubans asylum seekers are now subjected to rising human rights abuses under "Return to Mexico" policy. 6/ https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/hrf-reports-escalating-human-rights-abuses-against-asylum-seekers-returned-mexico?mc_cid=1f88780b58&mc_eid=cd9cdabb0f
Cubans asylum seekers are now subjected to rising human rights abuses under "Return to Mexico" policy. 6/ https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/hrf-reports-escalating-human-rights-abuses-against-asylum-seekers-returned-mexico?mc_cid=1f88780b58&mc_eid=cd9cdabb0f
And Cuban asylum seekers who do make it into the U.S. are often held in detentions centers "without a court date or a chance to request their release even after passing an initial screening to determine whether they have a viable asylum claim.” 7/ https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/cuban-asylum-seeker-remains-detained-by-ice-without-parole/2307893/
The U.S. Embassy has been stripped down to skeleton staff & consular services suspended, including the issuance of 5-year visas for Cubans seeking to visit the U.S., which entrepreneurs counted on to procure supplies, and reduced pressure to migrate. 8/ https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba-usa/cuban-embassy-in-united-states-suspends-person-to-person-consular-services/
Are Americans with relatives in #Cuba better off? This administration has scrapped U.S. flights to 9 of the island's 10 airport destinations, making it difficult for Cuban-Americans and other Americans to visit loved ones who live outside of Havana. 9/ https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cuba-flights-trump-intl/index.html
Have U.S. sanctions undercut Venezuelan-Cuban cooperation? Quite the contrary, Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign has pushed them into greater codependence. Cooperation between the two governments is now as tight as ever. 10/ https://twitter.com/reuterssarah/status/1205894998253801472?s=20
In fact, "maximum pressure" sanctions have prompted energy lifelines to Maduro from both U.S. adversary Iran and soon possibly ally Mexico. 11/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/29/trumps-sanctions-are-failing-venezuela-iran-just-proved-it/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-gasoline-venezuela/mexican-president-says-he-would-sell-gasoline-to-venezuela-if-asked-idUSKBN23M1ZD
And despite dozens of oil tankers under U.S. sanctions, Maduro is not just shipping Venezuelan crude but also Iranian oil(!) to #Cuba. Double trouble. 12/ https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2020/05/27/maduro-iranian-oil-to-cuba/?cn-reloaded=1
Meanwhile, relations between #Cuba and Russia are now warmer than at any point since the demise of the Soviet Union. 13/ https://www.ft.com/content/cbc7cc88-1c0a-11ea-9186-7348c2f183af
As for the Cuban Communist Party leadership, Trump is helping them Make the Revolution Great Again. Hardliners have frozen reforms, and the government recently had a smooth generational leadership transition (its second peaceful leadership transition in a decade). 14/
Other than the PCC, winners in the past 3 years include FL Gov DeSantis, Senators Scott & Rubio, and a gaggle of Miami media "influencers", all of whom through tough talk & empty posturing have boosted their "likes" but have in no way improved conditions for the Cuban people. 15/
And this last point is the sad and undeniable legacy of this administration's three-year old #Cuba policy: plenty of personal gain for its leading champions in Florida, nothing but pain and broken promises for the Cuban people.
I’ll let my late brother-from-another-mother Patrick Hidalgo, who was outside protesting the event three years ago, have the final word.
P.S. - It was announced today that Trump Senior Advisor, and co-architect of all this destructive policy, Mauricio Claver-Carone has been nominated to preside over the @the_IDB.
Also today, news about how he leaves Venezuela.
In shambles. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-16/maduro-orders-court-takeover-of-opposition-parties-ahead-of-vote
Also today, news about how he leaves Venezuela.
In shambles. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-16/maduro-orders-court-takeover-of-opposition-parties-ahead-of-vote
