Cuba plans to lift penalty on U.S. dollar, demands embargo end
WASHINGTON – Cuba’s government said Thursday it plans to do away with a penalty on converting U.S. dollars, but it warned the Obama administration not to expect more changes until the U.S. trade embargo is lifted.
Three days before President Barack Obama visits the island, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez dismissed Obama’s lofty rhetoric about using his visit to speak directly to the Cuban people about their future. In a stern and lengthy speech in Havana, he put Obama on notice that any attempt to circumvent the Cuban government by lobbying Cubans directly would not be warmly received.
“Various U.S. officials have declared in recent hours that the objective of Obama’s measures is empowering the Cuban people. The Cuban people empowered themselves decades ago,” Rodriguez said, referring to the 1959 revolution that put the current Cuban government in power.
Of Obama’s talk about engaging directly with Cubans, he added, “It’s a nonsense approach.”
Still, Rodriguez laid out a scenario under which the 10 percent penalty on dollars exchanged at banks and money-changers in Cuba would soon be lifted, making it easier and cheaper for Americans to spend time in Cuba.
Earlier this week the U.S. lifted a ban on Cuban access to the international banking system, a long-standing Cuban demand. Rodriguez told reporters in the Cuban capital that Cuba will attempt a series of international transactions in coming days. If they work, Cuba will eliminate the 10 percent penalty.
The tough talk from the Cuban government came as Obama prepared for a history-making trip to Havana aimed at cementing the normalization in relations that he and Cuban President Raul Castro began. Though Cuba’s government is hungry for more U.S. investment, it is also wary of increased U.S. influence and frustrated that Obama has been unable to get Congress to lift long-standing U.S. sanctions.
Rodriguez lamented the remaining limits imposed by U.S. sanctions, as he downplayed Obama’s efforts to unilaterally ease economic restrictions.
The Obama administration’s latest attempt to ease restrictions on Cuba despite the embargo came earlier Thursday when the U.S. removed Cuba from its list of countries deemed to have insufficient security in their ports, eliminating a major impediment to the free flow of ships in the Florida Straits.
The shift clears the way for U.S. cruise ships, cargo vessels and even ferries to travel back and forth with much less hassle. No longer will all ships have to wait to be boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard for inspections, though the Coast Guard still can conduct random inspections.