Trump is rewarding his right-wing Cuban backers by making it harder for Biden to reopen relations.
Regions / Cuba
The foreign policy team Biden appoints matters less than the world they inherit, policies they pursue, and the pressure they get from progressives.
Biden can immediately reverse some of Trump's most disastrous decisions. And each one can set the stage for broader progressive foreign policy initiatives.
Progressive groups are pushing a potential Biden administration to base its policies toward the region on non-intervention, cooperation, and mutual respect.
Bolton's broadsides against Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela hint at ambitions for much more dangerous geopolitical conflict — and nothing short of a new Cold War.
Between the new restrictions and the travel warning, Cuba’s burgeoning private sector has already felt what Cubans call "the Trump effect."
It's unlikely the administration has either the will or the means to roll back the full suite of Obama-era reforms.
The U.S.-Cuba deal proved the value of discreet, informal diplomacy. No shortage of other peace processes could begin the same way.
Club Med playground for the rich or isolated Communist backwater: can Cuba find a third path?
In one fell swoop, President Obama could erase the stain of Guantanamo and make major headway on normalization with Cuba.