Ben Rodhes, one of the architects of Barack Obama’s thaw policy towards Cuba, reiterated this week that the cancellation of that policy by Donald Trump and its partial continuation by Joe Biden constitutes a way of harming Cubans.
On his Twitter account, Obama’s former deputy director of Homeland Security said that the accusations that Cuba would be behind the so-called Havana Syndrome were “an elephant in the room” with their “murky” charge. And he wondered if the Trump administration used it “to reverse the opening knowing that there was no evidence that the Cuban government was responsible.”
One elephant in the room here given how murky this has always been is whether the Trump Administration used “Havana syndrome” to rollback the opening to Cuba knowing that there wasn’t evidence of the Cuban government being responsible. https://t.co/F7FaIcgHq3
—Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 1, 2023
Without mentioning it directly, Rhodes criticized the current Democratic administration, which has changed little in Trump’s policy by appealing to the argument of human rights.
“In any case, for the United States to cling to the last vestiges of a failed hardline Cuba policy, which has fueled a humanitarian and migration crisis, has done nothing to advance human rights, while alienating us in Latin America and in the global south it seems even more absurd today.”
In addition, he noted, “a failed hardline policy doesn’t help Democrats win Florida either, so there’s no justification for it. There is a tremendous opportunity to help Cubans improve their lives and grow their private sector.”
Spoiler alert: a failed hardline policy doesn’t help Democrats win in Florida either, so there’s no political or policy rationale for it. There’s a huge opportunity to help Cubans by improving their lives and growing their private sector.
—Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 1, 2023
He spoke out for “lifting sanctions, allowing Americans to travel (it’s crazy that Americans can’t travel 90 miles to Cuba, but they can go pretty much anywhere else).” Also for “removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism”, from which Obama removed it and Trump put it back.
Cuba, he maintained, “is not a state sponsor of terrorism. Trump/Pompeo put her on that list as they walked out the door [de la Casa Blanca]despite the fact that Cuba does not sponsor terrorism in any way (other nations that do so are not on that list, by the way).”
Taking a hardline has made life worse – not better – for Cubans, including activists and entrepreneurs. The humanitarian crisis in Cuba has fueled massive migration as well. It is time for this policy to go back to the opening that was making things better in 2015-16.
—Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 1, 2023
In conclusion, “taking a hard line has made life worse, not better, for Cubans, including activists and businessmen. The humanitarian crisis in Cuba has also fueled mass migration. Time for this policy to return to the opening that was making things better in 2015-16,” Rhodes wrote.
