Trump Reverses Obama’s Cuba Policy

cuba
cuba

Trump Reverses Obama’s Cuba Policy

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

President Donald Trump issued a new directive on Cuba policy Friday. He announced at a Miami rally that he will rollback former President Barack Obama’s accord with Cuba, restricting tourist travel and trade with the island.

The Obama administration relieved the State and Treasury Department’s mandates to isolate of Cuba, in hopes that more engagement could lead to reforms in the country. He did not end the embargo, however, which is up to the Congress. To the administration and Republican lawmakers who have supported a more restrictive Cuba policy, Obama’s thaw has not worked. They critiqued the Cuban government’s poor human rights record, claiming the ease in relations has only benefited the regime and its elites, not the Cuban people. 

Worldview discusses what President Trump’s decision on Cuba may mean with Alberto Coll. He is professor of law and director of global engagement at DePaul University.