{"id":233642,"date":"2021-01-25T07:28:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T12:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=233642"},"modified":"2021-04-26T20:56:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T00:56:49","slug":"can-biden-resume-rapprochement-with-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/can-biden-resume-rapprochement-with-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Biden resume rapprochement with Cuba?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The arrival of Joe Biden to the White House opens a new scenario for relations between <\/span>Cuba and the United States<\/span><\/a>, marked by hostility and increased sanctions during Donald Trump\u2019s term in office. Will the Obama-era thaw return?<\/span><\/p>\n

The ephemeral rapprochement faded in four years at the same rate as more than 200 sanctions from Washington that have pushed an already exhausted Cuban economy to the brink, under the argument of Cuba\u2019s supposed support for Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, in Venezuela, and the lack of democracy on the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

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President Joe Biden signs his first executive orders, January 20, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington. Photo: Evan Vucci\/AP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trump punished transportation, tourism, and remittances; banned business with an extensive \u201cblack list\u201d of companies linked to the Cuban military; paralyzed consular services after mysterious health problems suffered by U.S. diplomats; and bid farewell by <\/span>returning Cuba to the list of sponsors of terrorism<\/span><\/a>, from which it had been taken out in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many, it was a strategy to win votes in Florida, the epicenter of Cuban exile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Biden lived through the \u201cthaw\u201d as Barack Obama\u2019s vice president and, during his campaign, he advanced that he would retake it, canceling, at least, the measures that hinder relations between families on both sides.<\/span><\/p>\n

ONE SIGNATURE WOULD BE ENOUGH<\/b><\/p>\n

The question is this: how much room for maneuver does he have and how far will he go? But also: how open to a new rapprochement is the Cuban government, which in addition to being the aggrieved party has a hard sector historically more comfortable in a trench scenario?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBiden can immediately reverse each of Trump\u2019s sanctions using his executive powers, because that is how they were imposed,\u201d William LeoGrande, professor at the American University of Washington and author of <\/span>Diplomacia encubierta con Cuba: Historia de las negociaciones secretas entre Washington y La Habana<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bureaucracy to remove Cuba from the list of sponsors \u201cmay take a few months,\u201d but it doesn\u2019t prevent the removal of the other sanctions, he clarified.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe elements to do so are available,\u201d said <\/span>Professor Arturo L\u00f3pez-Levy, from Holy Names University (California)<\/span><\/a>, citing aspects such as the return by Cuba of several fugitives from U.S. justice even during the Trump administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are already voices in the U.S. asking the new president to give priority to Cuba, such as <\/span>Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern<\/span><\/a> and weighty foreign policy organizations such as the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA) or the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA).<\/span><\/p>\n

They published a roadmap for Biden in which they recall that six decades of a hard line blocked issues of mutual interest, made life difficult for Cubans and paved the way for the influence of Russia and China.<\/span><\/p>\n

As reasons to accelerate the rapprochement, they cite the crisis in Venezuela\u2014Cuba\u2019s main ally\u2014and the celebration this year in the U.S. of the 9th Summit of the Americas, a good setting for the presidents of both countries to dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The bureaucracy to remove Cuba from the list of sponsors \u201cmay take a few months,\u201d but it doesn\u2019t prevent the removal of the other sanctions, William LeoGrande tells EFE. Photo: Alain L. Guti\u00e9rrez Almeida\/OnCuba\/Archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third reason is that doing so is, as LeoGrande explained, relatively easy: Biden can reverse Trump\u2019s orders with just a signature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Analyst and former Cuban ambassador to the European Union Carlos Alzugaray agrees on this. He believes that some sanctions \u201cwill quickly go if it isn\u2019t necessary to wait\u201d for the island to be taken off the list of sponsors, although he warned that the supporters of maintaining them, like Republican Senator Marco Rubio, will argue that the target was the military.<\/span><\/p>\n

IN FAVOR: INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT AND A SMOOTH PATH<\/b><\/p>\n

The most compelling factor for Biden to reach out is that this policy, according to LeoGrande, was not only more effective, but most <\/span>\u00a0Americans, businessmen\u2014especially the agri-food sector\u2014and Washington allies<\/span><\/a> support the understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also issues in which bilateral collaboration is essential, such as the fight against drugs, migration and the Venezuelan crisis, he listed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alzugaray agrees and believes that the decision \u201cwould be welcomed by the majority of key allies and countries in the region such as Argentina and Mexico.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also recalls that Obama tread the path when he reestablished diplomatic relations, signed 22 agreements still in force and sealed his legacy with a directive that can be restored.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a clear sign with little political cost that the U.S. is returning to the \u2018soft power\u2019 policies and leaving behind Trump\u2019s coercions,\u201d said the former diplomat.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Health cooperation to face COVID-19 would also be a factor in favor, with the antecedent of joint work in Africa against Ebola, recalls Carlos Alzugaray. Photo: Milena Recio\/OnCuba\/Archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For L\u00f3pez-Levy, Washington would also achieve \u201cgreater influence in the (economic) reform processes taking place in Cuba.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another argument, supported by Cuban Americans, is the need to normalize consular services to unblock immigration agreements, visas, and family reunification programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Health cooperation to face COVID-19 would also be a factor in favor, with the antecedent of joint work in Africa against Ebola, recalls Carlos Alzugaray.<\/span><\/p>\n

AGAINST: HUMAN RIGHTS AND VOTES IN FLORIDA<\/b><\/p>\n

The factors against are summarized in the figures\u2014some powerful\u2014that systematically oppose a rapprochement as long as the island does not advance in democracy and human rights, conditions that \u201cthey know perfectly well Cuba is going to reject,\u201d said LeoGrande.<\/span><\/p>\n

He recalled that some Democrats also fear the electoral cost in Florida, where Trump garnered more Cuban-American votes in 2020 than in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democrats will never outperform the Republicans when it comes to a hard line with Cuba. Instead, they should appeal to the growing Cuban-American segment that supports reconciliation,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bfPuede Biden terminar lo que Obama comenz\u00f3?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n