US President Obama and Congressmen Visit Cuba

March 21st, 2016

Awake Goy

Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : US President Barack Obama and a delegation that includes about 40 members of Congress arrived for a historic visit in the Cuban capital Havana on Sunday. Obama’s three-day-visit is the first visit of an US president since 1928. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez received the President and his delegation upon arrival at Havana’s José Martí International Airport.

Obama and the presidential plane “Air Force One” touched down at 16:20 local time after departing from Andrews Air Force Base. The first to step out of the plane were President Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle Obama. The President is also accompanied by his two daughters Malia and Sasha, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, a delegation of about 40 members of Congress and the U.S.’ Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzkeras.

Also visiting Cuba are several other officials and businessmen. Barack Obama could, potentially, become the first U.S. President since the late President John F. Kennedy to legally smoke a Cuban cigar. Close associates to J.F. Kennedy went on the record and said that J.F.K. had a large batch of cigars imported from Cuba before the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was enforced.

Bilateral relations began to improve on December 17, 2014 when Presidents Obama and Raul Castro announced the decision to restore diplomatic relations after more than 50 years of tensions. The two also had official meetings during the 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama and the United Nations headquarters, in April and September 2015 respectively. Diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States were restored on July 20, 2015 and turned into embassies the sections of interest operating in their respective capitals.

Among the members of Congress that accompany Obama are the leader of the Democrat minority at the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and her fellow Democrats from the Senate Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy, apart from Republican senator Jeff Flake. Republican senators Amy Klobuchard and Mark Sanford, and Democrat representatives Charles Rangel and Rosa DeLauro, travelled on a separate flight that arrived at Jose Marti international airport shortly before Air Force One touched down at 16:20.

Obama has repeatedly asked the Congress to approve the lifting of unilateral sanctions against Cuba. Cuban authorities consider the 50-year-old US economic, commercial, and financial blockade of Cuba as the main obstacle to fully normalize relations between he two countries.

Obama visited the historical center of Havana that was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. One of the main attractions is the Plaza de Armas (Arms Square) , the location where the city was founded in 1519. Obama entered in one of the ancient buildings, The Palace of the General Captains, once the military government headquarters when Cuba was colony of Spain and now the Museum of the City. It is considered the most important architectonic building of the Baroque development in Cuba.

Obama stopped to view the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. It was during the presidency of Lincoln and the U.S.’s civil war that lasted from 1861 – 1865, that slavery was abolished in the United States.; A point in history that has special importance for Obama, the first non-Caucasian U.S. President and maybe too, because police violence against African-Americans is still the order of the day in the USA.

The Obama administration has since it began to normalize bilateral relations taken several initiatives that include the loosening of travel restrictions to allow U.S. citizens to visit Cuba independently on educational and people-to-people visits instead of having to visit the country in organized groups. The formal ban on tourism remains in place even though this would be expected to change over time. Indicators are that the administration approved the first ferry service between the U.S. and Cuba and that agreements to restore commercial flights were reached.

Another initiative was the lifting of the ban on Cuban financial transactions through U.S. banks. The ban effectively cut Cuba off from large segments of global banking systems. Cuban nationals in the USA, for example, can now use the U.S. banking system to transfer money home to Cuba. The Obama administration also removed Cuba from the list of countries with inadequate port security; A step that makes bilateral trade and shipping more easy.

Another initiative that was taken by the Obama administration was to approve general licenses for U.S. travel to Cuba so U.S. citizens no longer have to apply for permission in advance and “explain or justify” why they want to visit the Caribbean island. Direct mail services were also restored as part of a “pilot project”.

Improvements were also made in trade and industrial cooperation. The U.S. approved of the export of a large number of goods including construction materials, tractor parts and of the establishment of the first U.S. factory since the Cuban revolution in 1959. The factory will, when completed, build small tractors. Cuban citizens have been granted permission to start working and earning salaries in the United States without having to go through the immigration process first. It was this ban that prompted many of those who ventured to the USA for economic reasons to seek U.S. citizenship while having to leave Cuba and the prospect of contact with their families and loved ones behind.

Embassies were formally reopened in Havana and Washington D.C. last year. The United States officially removed Cuba from its list of “State sponsors of terrorism”, although many analysts could not other than smirk about this considering the United States’ track record of supporting “rebels and freedom fighters” and Cuba’s support of “revolutionary and liberation movements”. Cuba has since 2012 hosted peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) and a final peace agreement is expected to be signed in 2016.

CH/L – nsnbc 21.03.2016 – Additional reporting for nsnbc by Sabrina Escamilla.