Donald Trump has reversed some of Barack Obama’s terrible Cuba policy of normalizing relations with the oppressive regime.
Recall the celebration of those on the left when Obama announced he was lifting sanctions on Cuba back in 2015. Of course, the people of Cuba got nothing in return. Obama’s policy only helped to prop up the Communist regime, which was no longer getting support from Venezuela and had turned to Russia for help.
The day before Obama announced he was lifting the sanctions, Raul Castro announced a new tax policy on Cubans who work for any foreign companies:
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The day before Obama’s surprise announcement about ‘normalizing’ relations with Cuba, the Castro Regime announced new rules on the salaries of workers who are employed by foreign entities. Coincidence? Hardly.
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The Castro Regime had to be sure they set the rules in place so they could take as much money as possible from the people. So much for the freedom of Capitalism that so many seem to think will lift the Cuban people out of oppression. The Cuban government is going to take 92% of workers’ salaries in dollars and then give them a mere 8% to keep but they will have to be in pesos; the currency reserved for the oppressed. Castro has to be sure Cubans barely earn a living wage.
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On top of that, political prisoners were never released as promised. It was a lie — a lie told by both Obama and Castro:
In the ‘normalization deal’ between the United States and Cuba, Obama claimed that as part of the deal Cuba said they would release 53 political prisoners. The problem with believing oppressive regimes is they lie to get what they want. The State Department has no idea if any of the political prisoners have even been released and no one in Cuba seems to know anything about it either.
The Cuban people got absolutely nothing from Obama normalizing relations. Not. One. Thing. Trump has now reversed some of Obama’s policies and is taking a stronger stance on the Castro regime while making an attempt to help bolster the Cuban people. From the Miami Herald:
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In an overhaul of one of his predecessor’s signature legacies, President Donald Trump will redraw U.S. policy toward Cuba on Friday, tightening travel restrictions for Americans that had been loosened under President Barack Obama and banning U.S. business transactions with Cuba’s vast military conglomerate.
Trump’s changes are intended to sharply curtail cash flow to the Cuban government and pressure its communist leaders to let the island’s fledgling private sector grow. Diplomatic relations reestablished by Obama, including reopened embassies in Washington and Havana, will remain. Travel and money sent by Cuban Americans will be unaffected, but Americans will be unable to spend money in state-run hotels or restaurants tied to the military, a significant prohibition.
Of course, the left is doing their usual routine and wailing about the policy because they are clueless about the reality that is Cuba. The left doesn’t want the oppressive regime to fail; it’s the exact type of government they’d like to see in the United States.
