United States and Cuban relationship changes again
Last June President Trump gave a speech in Little Havana. The purpose of this speech was to outline a plan ending the Obama administrations trade agreement with Cuba. Four months later the restrictions have been outlined and released. This brings a swift end to what was a very short-lived economic unity.
Early Wednesday morning the new Cuban crackdown was put into action.
Americans will now be banned from conducting business with almost two hundred Cuban entities that are connected to the Cuban government. In this previous speech, trump claims “the regime takes the money and owns the industry.”
Which 'entities' are a part of the latest crackdown? How will this affect Americans?
The list is available on the U.S. State Department's website already. Some of the barred entities are fairly obvious. Ministries, Holding companies, military entities, and security sectors are all listed. The majority of entities restricted will affect Americans via tourism. This list includes over 80 hotels, several travel agencies, stores, shopping malls, rum companies, and even soda manufacturers.
What will this do to Cuba's economy?
Economically this could put a lot of pressure on Cuba. American companies will no longer be able to invest in the booming Mariel region, which has 115,000 acres. Much of Cuba’s future economic growth is gearing toward developing this region. This could be Cuba’s best chance at an industrial revolution. At least 27 companies from across the world are ready to do develop this sprawling area. With these new restrictions, United States companies are not allowed to participate in this development.
This is another victory for Trump supporters who want to see the end of the Obama era legislation. Although, even former President Obama would “play the game” with Cuba economically.
If you look back to Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy; you can see how this is nothing new. This executive order was created by Obama inviting Cuban refugees to America. The Cuban government highly opposed this order. One of Obama’s last major actions in office was to repeal his own order. This was after he came to the economic agreement with the Island nation.
This will surely not be the end of economic negotiations between the nations. Maybe this is just all par for the course. In Trump’s America, It is just not going to be a golf course in Cuba.