{"id":95839,"date":"2017-06-14T17:32:10","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T21:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oncubamagazine.com\/?p=95839"},"modified":"2017-06-15T16:20:17","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T20:20:17","slug":"wave-of-reactions-prior-to-trumps-announcements-about-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/wave-of-reactions-prior-to-trumps-announcements-about-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"Wave of reactions prior to Trump\u2019s announcements about Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reactions have not stopped in the United States ever since it was known that on Friday, June 16 Donald Trump will announce in Miami the changes to the Cuba policy. Political authorities or from the business sector, as well as different representatives of the Cuban American community and civil society in general are calling attention to the inconvenience, from every point of view, of a rollback of the rapprochement between the two countries.<\/p>\n

Everything essentially points to the changes that will toughen the commerce and travel to the island conditions for U.S. citizens. It is probable that the announcement will take place in a \u201ccampaign rally style\u201d speech in Miami, as a sign for the anti-Castro sector that has most pressured him about the subject, according to what two sources close to the process said in late May to EFE.<\/p>\n

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THE NEW YORK TIMES: TRUMP\u2019S IMMINENT CUBA PROBLEM<\/h3>\n

\u201cBefore heading to Miami, President Trump will need to weigh his options carefully,\u201d Christopher Sabatin pointed out in a commentary published by The New York Times<\/strong> referring to the possible changes in the Cuba policy, which it is expected the president will announce this Friday.<\/p>\n

However, Sabatin points to \u201chow the United States Congress, businesses and other interested groups react to Mr. Trump\u2019s reversal of policies that, according to Pew Research Center, 75 percent of Americans support\u201d as something more important than the actual content of the changes.<\/p>\n

The social and economic changes generated in both countries have been important since the Obama administration relaxed the restrictions on travel to the island, according to the daily.<\/p>\n

In the face of a drastic change by Trump with respect to the Obama measures, the universities that have enjoyed the freedom of academic exchange, businesses and their workers, and the millions of citizens who have traveled to the island and have had contacts with the Cuban communities, should raise their voice, said the professor of the School of International and Public Relations of Columbia University and director of Global Americans.<\/p>\n

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LESS COOPERATION AND MORE NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING<\/h3>\n

Two officials from the Cuban Ministry of the Interior interviewed by CNN said that in recent months they have seen an increase in drug trafficking in the region. The fact coincides with the elimination of the \u201cwet foot \/dry foot\u201d policy by the Obama administration and the revision ordered by President Trump of U.S. ties with the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a readjustment,\u201d commented Colonel H\u00e9ctor Gonz\u00e1lez Hern\u00e1ndez, head of the Struggle against Drugs Department. \u201cWe have proof that the criminal networks are passing from human trafficking to drug trafficking or both at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the television chain, up to date in 2017 the Cuban authorities have confiscated or recovered close to three tons of marijuana and cocaine: more than triple the drug confiscated during the first six months of last year.<\/p>\n

The Cuban officials explained that two meetings with their U.S. counterparts programmed for this year to deal with the confrontation of drug trafficking were canceled or postponed while the Trump administration was analyzing the possible changes in his Cuba policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are waiting to see what happens,\u201d said Colonel V\u00edctor L\u00f3pez Bravo, of the Cuban Border Patrol. \u201cIt is the United States that has to announce and invite us to the next meeting. Let\u2019s hope it takes place because it really benefits the two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

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TO NOT RETURN TO THE COLD WAR POLICY<\/h3>\n

The CubaOne Foundation, devoted to connecting Cuban and Cuban-American youths, on Tuesday asked President Donald Trump in an open letter to not return to \u201cthe Cold War\u201d policy with Cuba and to use the \u201cNorth Star\u201d of his policy toward the island in advancing \u201cU.S. interests and the well-being of the Cuban people.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the text, the young people of CubaOne make a series of recommendations to the president for him to pursue his campaign promise of \u201ca better deal\u201d with Cuba than that of his predecessor Barack Obama, who brought about together with President Ra\u00fal Castro the thawing in Cuban-U.S. relations starting late 2014. CubaOne points out that without the changes introduced by Obama they wouldn\u2019t have been able to travel to the island, allowing 2,000 young Cuban Americans to connect with their roots.<\/p>\n