America’s Cuban Policy in 2022

Cuba has expressed their concerns about relaxation after shifts in American policy regarding travel to the island and caps on family remittances. The change in policy was the result of a change of government in the US that replaced Trump with Joe Biden. The Trump era policies were dismantled particularly towards Cuba.  Biden has intentions of developing good terms with Cuba to improve the bilateral ties that created a trust deficit between them. US-Cuban relations have experienced bitter relations due to restrictive policies of the US over human rights violations and illegal immigration to the US.  Cuba maintains close ties with Russia which was a major reason for the disconnect between US and Cuba due to close ideological affinities with Russia. 

Cuban leadership has reservations over the trade embargo that was imposed on them as a result of differences in their policies having an ideological basis. Cuban government pursued policies that widen the differences between both the countries. Cuba is included on the state-sponsored terrorism list for not taking the initiative to curb the illicit immigration of people that were involved in criminal activities in the US.  The sanctions were imposed on Cuba to limit their trade with the US over violations of terms and conditions and human rights abuses in Cuba. Cuba was included in the list of countries supporting terrorist activities in the US with the assistance of Cuban authorities. 

Deadlock remains there in their high level diplomatic talks over different regional and international forums over policies that became the bone contention in their relations. The trade embargo has created economic issues within Cuba and put pressure on its economic growth. Cuba has faced the economic cost of its strenuous relations with the US that became worse during a pandemic. The trade of Cuba had to face limitations that restricted its financial growth and increased the differences between the US and Cuba. The trade embargo has increased difficulties for Cuban leadership by choking their economy. Trump administration imposed strict trade restrictions on Cuba over their policy differences.  

The US has plans to exclude Havana from the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California. The blockage of Cuban leadership within America will not ease their relations with each other. The Cuban leadership has shown their disdain towards the US move to block Cuban leadership from attending the international Summit in the US. The question is whether the relaxation of restrictions of Cuba will end their animosities or further increase their differences over important issues that have wider repercussions on their bilateral ties?

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in a Twitter post, called the US announcement “a limited step in the right direction”. The Cuban leadership labeled it as a small step towards their relations with the US. The Biden administration has made changes in the policies of the Trump administration, particularly towards Cuba over immigrants. Cuba has expressed their grievances by adding them to the list of countries that are supporting terrorist activities. Cuban leadership criticized the Trump administration for alienating Cuba to pressurize them. The US has not completely changed its policy toward the Cuba government-backed companies to exclude them from trade sanctions.