U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened to end the U.S. thaw with Cuba unless Havana makes key concessions, a move that would upend the historic rapprochement engineered under his predecessor Barack Obama. “If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The hard line came just a day after his senior advisers promised to strike a “better deal” with the Communist-ruled island after former leader Fidel Castro’s death on Friday, without stating how this might affect the improving ties between the Cold War foes.
To the White House’s likely dismay, Castro’s death has pressed Mr. Trump to respond to an issue that almost certainly would have remained further down on his agenda.
Mr. Trump’s tweet appeared to ratchet up the pressure on an arrangement that his fellow Republicans have long criticised as ceding too much to Havana without significant gains in return.
Prominent Republicans have blasted Castro as a murderous tyrant since his death. Mr. Trump himself called Castro a “brutal dictator.”
But no one close to Mr. Trump had directly threatened to end the political opening announced in 2014 by Mr. Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro — until Mr. Trump's Monday morning tweet.
The President-elect’s transition team elaborated, with communications director Jason Miller telling reporters on a call that Mr. Trump is “aware of the nuances and complexities” of the challenges faced by Cuba’s people, and that he will address the issue “once he becomes President.”
“To be clear, the President-elect wants to see freedom in Cuba for the Cubans, and a good deal for Americans where we aren't played for fools,” he added. — AFP
