In another use of executive power to implement his legacy apart from Congress, President Obama has announced that he is going to extend diplomatic recognition to Cuba. We will be re-opening our embassy in Havana, ease travel restrictions, and eliminate economic sanctions against the still-Communist regime. Good idea? Bad idea? What does it mean?
From Obama moves to normalize relations with Cuba as American is released by Havana – The Washington Post:
President Obama announced sweeping changes to U.S. policy with Cuba on Wednesday, moving to normalize relations with the island nation and tear down the last remaining pillar of the Cold War.
Under the new measures, the United States plans to reopen its embassy in Havana and significantly ease restrictions on travel and commerce within the next several weeks and months, Obama said. Speaking from the White House, he declared that a half-century of isolation of the Communist country “has not worked.”
“It’s time for a new approach,” he said.
The history-shaping overtures come after more than 18 months of secret negotiations with the Cuban government of President Raul Castro. The final touches appeared to be arrangements for a series of simultaneous prisoner releases. . . .
Although Obama has the power to establish diplomatic relations, the move was the latest in a series of steps he has taken to use executive powers to circumvent legislative opposition — and one that drew a sharp reaction from GOP lawmakers.
In a hard-edged appraisal of U.S. policies, Obama also noted that decades of embargoes and isolation against Cuba failed to topple its communist system and at times spilled back against U.S. interests in the region.
“We do not believe we can keep doing the same thing over five decades and expect a different result,” he said.
Earlier, a White House statement said the U.S. stance against Cuba alienated Washington from “regional and international partners.”
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