The American of Colombian origin Juan González, director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere, has ruled out Joe Biden taking up Obama’s policy towards Cuba in a interview granted to Marti News in which he also does not consider it feasible for the current US president to visit the island.
“I think a lot has to happen in Cuba before that happens,” he argued. González admits that a head of the White House is forced to speak with the governments of many dictatorial or authoritarian countries to negotiate changes and gives Vladimir Putin as an example. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to visit Vladimir,” he argues.
González was part of the Obama Administration that designed the “thaw” and is now Biden’s main adviser for Cuba and the entire region, which is why he has not only spoken about the decisions announced this week, but has also advanced some of the movements that are anticipated.
Among future commitments, the official adds that labor rights will be a priority within human rights and that work is being done to expand electronic remittances
Among the future commitments, the official adds that labor rights will be a priority within human rights and that work is being done to expand electronic remittances, so that it also has repercussions on the private sector, which may increase imports. In this sense, he affirms that the number of products that can be exported from the US to the Island will be expanded and regulations will be created that facilitate training so that entrepreneurs can trade. That is key and is central to this policy.
González emphasizes the differences between the “thaw” that began in December 2014 and this period, in which the July 11 protests and the repressive reaction of the Cuban regime seem to have weighed on decisions.
The official says that the Secretary of National Security, the Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkas, and he was entrusted with several instructions after 11J, the first of which was to identify Cuban officers and repressors to sanction them individually and, later, to support the Cuban people, to families of opponents and offering vaccines and other aid channeled through humanitarian organizations.
After that moment of emergency, what has been done now, González indicates, “is not a return to Obama’s policy, they are practical steps” so that there are planes that land outside the capital or facilitate the sending of remittances. One of the differences with respect to the measures of the previous Democratic president, he points out, is that with him individual trips were authorized, while Biden establishes group trips through educational or religious organizations.
Immigration occupies an important section in the interview and focuses the concerns of the United States, which has seen the arrival of Cubans multiply at its borders this year at a vertiginous rate, especially since Nicaragua stopped requiring a visa for travelers from the island to facilitate emigration encouraged from Havana. According to the Customs and Border Protection Office, in the last seven months more than 114,916 Cubans have arrived in US territory.
“Today it is cheaper to go with a ‘coyote’, with a trafficker, than to go to Guyana and that is what many people are choosing to do and are putting their lives at risk”
González affirms that Cubans do not want to emigrate, but their desire to be free and have food or food pushes them to leave because they cannot find a solution on the island, which is why changes have been adopted, increasing the number of visas processed in Havana and reestablishing the family reunification program. “Nowadays it is cheaper to go with a coyote, with a smuggler, to go to Guyana and that is what many people are choosing to do and they are putting their lives at risk. So we want to establish the regular travel channels,” she defends.
The official explains that at the meeting held with a Cuban delegation at the end of April only the migration issue was addressed and that he personally, together with Undersecretary of State Brian Nichols, spoke with the head of the Cuban human rights delegation. “President Biden’s commitment, everything we do regarding Cuba and all of Latin America is going to be transparent, with open doors and in consultation with the United States Congress and also with the community,” he defends.
Asked about the discrepancies that Republican politicians and Cuban exile leaders in Miami have shown with the changes, González indicates that he understands that there are differences and they do not agree on everything, but that there is a common goal, which is to push for a democratic change. in Cuba. In addition, he categorically denies that they have not consulted and had conversations with the Chambers, which have lasted the entire year that they spent reviewing the policy towards the Island.
“Some will see it as a prize for the regime, we see it as an opportunity to advocate for the interests of the United States”
Aware of the criticism that may come because they will have to increase the consular presence in Cuba, González puts forward the Government’s vision. “Some will see it as a prize for the regime, we see it as an opportunity to advocate for the interests of the United States, have direct exchanges with Cubans and highlight the issue of human rights because for us having diplomatic relations is not a prize. It’s an opportunity.”
The official also defends himself against the criticism received for announcing the changes just when a very repressive Penal Code is being approved in Cuba and points out that sometimes it is impossible to get the timing right, but that the intention is still to dismantle the theory that the United States has blame for the bad things that happen to the Island.
“We, seeking to build bridges and support the Cuban people, have a way to remove that excuse,” he alleges. Furthermore, he adds that 11J has shown that the population is losing fear and that the regime has dwindling popular support. “It is time for Cubans to determine the future they want (…) not for us to say what they have to do, but to give them that empowerment and that support so that they are the leaders of the conversation.”
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