It's been widely reported that President Trump will come to Miami next Friday to officially announce his policy for Cuba. I haven't confirmed this rumor; but if it proves accurate Mr Trump will be yet another Commander in Chief with the uncomfortable matter called Cuba.
Whilst I did not agree with Obama's give all, or almost all in exchange for nothing and I believe the unconditional "surrendering" of his administration was a betrayal to the martyrdom of so many Cubans shot by firing squads, summarily jailed and pressed into exile, there are a few aspects of his so called new approach that help us more than harm us; namely: the authorization to American companies to start schedule flights and the lifting of caps on the amount of money to be remitted to relatives in the island. The former not only deprives the Havana Junta of its monopoly in the business, but drastically lowers the price of air fare which ultimately eases the economic burden on Cuban Americans; it is not a toxic transaction with risks of the regime not paying later since the airlines get the passenger's money and it is the American company that pays the Cuban government; a far cry from exporting goods on direct billing only to find that Raul dines and dashes and the American taxpayers pay for the rich men "adventures" with the enemy.
The latter makes it easier for Cuban Americans to help their relatives in the island; yes the money sooner or later ends up in the Junta's coffers, but rolling back on that could erode Mr Trump's thin advantage among Cuban Americans. That would have to be combined with a roll back on remittances to all Cubans, the ban on sending money to party members must be reinstated.
It is not the job of the president of the United States to tell the elitist regime what to do, but it would help him immensely to trade a few concessions for the elimination of entry permit for Cuban Americans, Trump would increase his popularity among us if he managed to pull out such a deal; given Venezuela's situation Raul
Castro may be willing to compromise.
A larger than ever segment of our society is pressing for more "cooperation" with the Cuban regime. Trump would make a wise decision if he allowed all those companies that are pushing the new agenda to export their goods to Cuba at their own peril; no government insured investments. That would rob them of the opportunistic narrative of helping the Cuban people; If you love the Cuban people so much prove it by investing at your own risk and don't force the taxpayers to subsidize your decisions. The public opinion would suddenly learn that those businessmen don't love the Cubans so much after all.
No access whatsoever should be granted to Cuban officials to any government installations; Cuban and American generals could easily meet in a secured location to coordinate ways to fight drug smuggling; provided that the Junta had abandoned its old habit of allowing its territory to be used as a launching pad to the traffic from South America or even Mexico. A hot line could be established and that would take care of cooperation without compromising our security.
Regardless of Mr Trump unique temperament, announcing his policy from Miami should mean that at least some executive orders will be rolled back; if he wanted to renege his promises to the Bay of Pigs' veterans he would have done it from the Oval Office; how pleased we will be after his speech remains to be seen. Despite Cuba's microscopic dimension as a country; it poses a Shakespearean dilemma to our Commander in Chief. Those of us who want a more realistic approach to our relations with the dictator must yet bear in mind that chances are the deadwood scaffolding collapses anytime and the question would be: is Mr Trump prepared to go all the way should that happen?
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