On the 11th of April of 2015 a historical meeting took place between Raul Castro, the
president of Cuba, and Barack Obama.
It was celebrated in Panama and it was the first bilateral meeting of the US and Cuba
President's in 50 years.
Four months earlier, both leaders had announced they would remake relations between the two
governments.
And as they said they would do, so it was done.
In just a short period of time, the first changes were made, and relations between both
countries started to return to normal.
Now, it does seem like we say this a lot on this channel, but the arrival of Donald Trump
to the White House, well, it changed everything... again.
The new president of the United States has ordered that the US steps back from most of
the changes that Obama had initiated with Cuba.
So, the question might be: Why is he doing this?
What does he expect?
And what are the consequences of this new policy?
We're going to look at all of these questions in this video, but before we do, let's have
a look at this history of relations between these two countries...
(THE EMBARGO) After the so-called 'Cuban Revolution'
had taken place against Batista's dictatorship, the new government in the island led by Fidel
Castro soon started to nationalize every kind of capital good and company: land, hotels,
factories... everything was up for grab by the government.
So the Cuban Revolution ended on the 1st of January 1959, and already by May, the government
had begun huge expropriations all across the country.
Now, as you can probably imagine, this is something that the US did not take very well.
There were thousands of lawsuits filed in the U.S., which had close relations with Cuba
at the time.
Further, if this wasn't enough to upset the U.S., the Soviet Union was already getting
on well with Fidel Castro.
(It was in this situation when, as a penalty, Washington passed the first trade embargo
against the island, an embargo that slowly grew stronger as the relations of these countries
got worse).
In fact, after the missile crisis of 1962, Kennedy even limited US travel to Cuba.
Since then, and with the exception of a short period of better relations under the governments
of Ford and Carter, the various governments of the United States have kept the embargo
and the policy of isolating Cuba economically in place.
Ronald Reagan labelled the island as a sponsor of terrorism and later Bill Clinton made restrictions
even more severe and the embargo became law.
Since then, travelling to Cuba, investing in Cuba, or doing business with the Cuban
government has been very limited for Americans.
Well, that is, until Barack Obama came to office.
(On February 2008, Fidel passed the power to his brother Raul Castro.
The same year the elections took place and Obama said it was time to use a different
approach with Cuba, it was time to repair diplomatic relations between both countries).
Obama didn't want to wait and, shortly after he arrived in the White House, he softened
some of the restrictions in place on Cuba...
For example, he allowed Cubans in the US to send money to the island and he started to
allow US citizens to travel to Cuba.
Many more things followed these first gestures.
During the years Obama was in office, many restrictions against Cuba were reduced.
In 2014, both countries announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations and, in December of
that same year, Raul Castro and Obama met in Panama.
Significant progress was being made.
And that is how two great moments took place, in 2015
the embassies reopened in both countries and, in March of 2016, Air Force One landed in
Havana for the first time in history - Cuba hadn't hosted a sitting American president
since 1928.
'A policy of isolation designed for the Cold War made little sense in the 21st Century.'
The embargo was only hurting the Cuban people, instead of helping them.
It's time to lift the embargo.
It is time now for us to leave the past behind.
It is time for us to look forward to the future together'.
Obama's Speech to the Cuban People
Obama's new policies towards Cuba were taking over... and even though the embargo laws were
technically still in force, the Obama administration managed to find legal loopholes to allow the
relations between these two countries to be something close to normal.
When Obama left the White House, Americans could travel freely to Cuba, immigrants could
sent unlimited money back to the country, American companies could invest in Cuba, and
even planes of American companies frequently landed in Jose Marti International
Airport... The new relationship was working.
But, then Donald Trump became president of the United States, and as we already mentioned�
everything changed.
(TRUMP AND CUBA) On the 16th June 2017, Trump decided to take
this new policy back... and he did so in a neighbourhood of Miami called Little Havana:
(Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration.s completely one-sided
deal with Cuba), 16th June 2017.
As soon as he finished his speech, Trump signed guidelines for his so called 'new policy'
with Cuba...
But, after a 50 year embargo with the country it could hardly be described as 'new'...
(Trump won't completely reverse it, many of Obama's policies will be maintained,
like the opening of embassies and the commercial flights between the two countries).
However, from now on, trips of Americans to Cuba will be limited, they won't be able
to go individually, and any relationship with GAESA, a holding group directed by the government
(which controls more than 50% of Cuban economy), will be forbidden.
But don't think that Trump has always had a hard-line attitude towards Cuba... quite
the opposite in fact!
In 1998, he tried to build a hotel in the island contradicting the embargo and at the
beginning of 2016 he supported Obama new policies towards the country...
But we think that Trump's attitude towards Cuba could be a mistake... so let's have
a look at why... (TRUMP'S MISTAKE)
Let's make one thing really clear: the embargo against Cuba has been a total failure...
(The U.S. embargo, blocking all trade and investment with Cuba for the past 55 years,
has not worked.
It has failed to isolate the Cuban government, failed to regain any nationalized property
and succeeded in giving an excuse to the Castro government for its abuses and economic mismanagement.
PAUL D. EATON y DAVID L. MCGINNIS) For more than 50 years, the embargo has been
completely useless, it hasn't accomplished anything and, on top of that, the Cuban government
has used it as an excuse to justify their poor economic situation...
But, wait just a second, because this is not the end of it, not even close.
Reversing Obama's policies is a mistake for several reasons:
Importantly: Improved relations with the US have meant better security for the United
States!
Obama signed several co-operation agreements and, since 2015, Cuban authorities have given
information on drug and human trafficking to the U.S..
But, on the other hand, Russia and China have set their eyes on the island again:
(Russia says it may reopen Soviet-era military bases in Cuba - The Telegraph).
You can probably imagine what a blow this would be for the national security of the
United States...
This is why making relations more difficult means nothing more than forcing the Cuban
government to seek better relations with Moscow or Beijing.
Not exactly a brilliant option for the US.
And, oh, there is so much more... Trump's new policy will only damage the interests
of many American companies, as well as put at risk the major changes that are taking
place on the island''... (HOW IS CUBA CHANGING?)
Since Raul Castro came to power, he has admitted that Cuba needs a change of direction, and
that the Cuban model simply is not working.
As some people say, he wants to emulate China: be open to the world but maintain control.
The truth is that, up until now, changes have been scarce and slow'... but even so these
changes could be felt, and now that Venezuela can no longer help the island, these changes
have become more and more urgent.
Let's have a look at what has happened since 2011 when reforms took place and freelance
entrepreneurship was made a lot easier:
(Since 2011, the number of self-employed workers in Cuba is four times bigger and today the
number exceeds half a million workers; the government has also allowed private farming
for small farmers; and restaurants and small tourism businesses are growing and spreading
across the country).
And Obama's openness has certainly helped this process.
For example, almost all private businesses in Cuba are working off money coming in from
abroad: AirBnb already has 22,000 apartments, houses, or rooms, available in Cuba.
Further, we shouldn't forget about less tangible things like the exchange of ideas, mutual
knowledge, and the strengthening of the private sector.
'Every dollar left in the hands of cab drivers, hotel workers, waitresses, and valets is a
show of what awaits Cubans if they reject socialism.'- Rand Paul
Take a look at China, and compare the country as it is today to the country it was during
Mao's time.
Since the country opened itself up to the world, hundreds of million of people have
left poverty behind.
Yes, China, like Cuba, is still a terrible dictatorship, but thanks to their open policy,
the Chinese have today more freedom and a better standard of living than they have ever
had before...
The short of it is that the embargo policy has failed, and Trump's insistence in going
back to it is not going to achieve anything but the weakening of the security of the United
States, lead to further poverty in Cuba, and prevent the changes that are happening on
the island.
In February 2018, Castro is going to leave power and this is not the moment for the US
to take a step back.
In order to justify his decision, Trump says he wants to defend Human Rights, which is
nice but, don't you think it is a bit hypocritical to defend Cuba's embargo while, at the same
time, he hugs the leaders of Saudi Arabia?
Are Human rights not important there?
Importantly: 10 Republican politicians have already criticized this course-change with
Cuba.
'Any policy change that diminishes the ability of Americans to travel freely to Cuba is not
in the best interests of the United States or the Cuban people."
- U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) But now we'd love to know what you think!
Please leaves your comments below and also feel free to answer the survey: Should Donald
Trump reverse Obama's policies towards Cuba?
So I really hope you enjoyed this video, please hit like if you did, and don't forget to
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And don't forget to check out the Reconsider Media podcasts - they provided the vocals
in this episode that aren't mine.
And as always, I'll see you in the next video.