Biden is facing pressure from mixed signals over Cuba

The newspaper reported today that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, is facing pressure from mixed signals to define his policy towards Cuba. The hill.

The White House provides few clues as to how it will handle its policy with the Caribbean state, in a scenario in which conflicting political considerations are consistent, including those of three Republican senators who seek Biden’s inability to remove Cuba from the state sponsor list. Terror.

Although he promised during his presidential campaign to mend ties with the largest of the Antilles, the president has not yet finalized how he will deal with the issue despite the fact that many Democrats favor a more open policy, highlighting the potential benefits of Antilles’ former opponents. . The Cold War Review The hill.

Some, such as Jeff Thali, the head of the Washington office for Latin America, believe that in convergence, Americans can be the best ambassadors for all of those values ​​that Republicans use to maintain the blockade.

White House press secretary Jane Psaki said in a press briefing earlier this month that changing policy toward Cuba is not currently among President Biden’s priorities.

Yet for many lawmakers, time is of the essence, including Rep. Jim McGovern (Democrat, Massachusetts), who is calling for a return to the measures begun during the Obama administration.

Let’s not make the mistake of moving slowly and gradually. “We have to act now,” the legislator said.

On the other hand, Republican Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marcus Rubio (Florida) joined the opposition, Robert Mendes (Democrat from New Jersey), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who had been against him for a long time. To any change in Washington’s hard-line stance towards Cuba.

🔷 Cuba, the United States and the Path to Coexistence

Fulton Armstrong, a professor at American University and former director of inter-American affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), believes that the position of these lawmakers is the reason why the Biden government cannot wait to establish its policy toward Cuba. .

The White House and its State Department should take the lead and not leave policy toward Cuba in the hands of this sector. “If there’s one thing political junk dogs know, it’s filling the leadership gaps,” he said.

“Unilateral sanctions never work, and they have failed miserably in Cuba,” Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat from Vermont) said in a recent statement, blaming the Trump administration for rolling back Obama’s policies “to benefit the Florida electorate.”

Leahy cautioned that the United States could actively participate or see our competitors fill the gap, as they already do.