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The death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro has put U.S. policy toward Cuba back in the spotlight, and is highlighting stark differences in the world view of President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump.
Obama considers opening up U.S. ties to Cuba after more than 50 years of bitter estrangement one of his signature foreign policy achievements. He visited the Caribbean island nation in March – the first sitting U.S. president to do so since 1928.
“I have come here to bury the last remnants of the Cold War in the Americas,” he told the Cuban people.
Over the past two years, the two countries have re-opened their embassies after more than 50 years. U.S. cruise ships are now docking in Cuba, and there are regular flights by U.S. airlines to the island.
Reacting to Fidel Castro’s death, Obama issued a diplomatically worded written statement, offering condolences to the Castro family. It said: “History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and the world around him.”
President Barack Obama (L) and Cuban President Raul Castro hold a joint press conference after meeting at the Revolution Palace in Havana, March 21, 2016. In Havana last year, Obama told the Cuban people that he came “to bury the last remnants of the Cold War in the Americas.”
Trump issued a toughly worded statement calling Fidel Castro “a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades.” Trump pledged that his incoming administration will “do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.”
Fidel Castro’s 85-year-old brother Raul is Cuba’s current president. He helped to draw up the opening to the U.S. but has not introduced any major political or economic reforms to the communist system. Raul Castro appears to be in good health and firmly in control. He has pledged to step down in 2018.
“But we remain very firm that when you open up diplomatic relations, as President Obama has, with Cuba and Fidel Castro in the last several years, that to get nothing in return, including political prisoners and assurances that people on the island of Cuba will be free politically and economically – I mean, I’ve personally met, and I’m sure you have, victims of Fidel Castro’s oppression and his torture and his imprisonment.”
Conway said the release of political prisoners held in Cuba would be a key factor in future relations.
Obama’s Cuban policies also have been criticized by a number of lawmakers from both major parties. Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida called Obama’s statement on Fidel Castro’s death “pathetic,” saying there is no mention of the thousands he killed and imprisoned.
