Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy called new sanctions imposed by the White House on Cuba, which restrict travel by Americans to the Caribbean country, a step back towards the Cold War.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Leahy, who has worked for decades to mend the frayed relations between the two countries, said President Donald Trump’s decision to punish Cuba for its support of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, is “dumb” and an “embarrassment.”
“This administration has reinstituted the Cold War restrictions on the right of every American citizen to travel to Cuba, even though an overwhelming majority of Americans opposes such restrictions,” he said.
The new policy would prohibit cruise ships from sailing to Cuba, as well as banning educational and cultural exchanges. Leahy said trade missions between the two countries will also stop, putting the already fractured relationship needlessly in deeper peril.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement Tuesday that Cuba’s government is not an ally of the U.S. and that sanctions will keep money “out of the hands of Cuban military, intelligence, and security services.”
“Cuba continues to play a destabilizing role in the Western Hemisphere, providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up U.S. adversaries in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua by fomenting instability, undermining the rule of law, and suppressing democratic processes,” Mnuchin said.
In response to to the Trump administration, Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on Twitter that he “strongly rejects new sanctions” and said they will harm the “living standards of Cubans in order to forcefully obtain political concessions.”
The Trump administration’s attempt to pressure Cuba into opposing the embattled leader of Venezuela is the latest in a series of policies that have rolled back a thaw in relations between the U.S. and Cuba, spearheaded by Leahy.
Leahy has been traveling to Cuba, working to open up dialogue between the two countries since the 1990s. He was also integral in negotiating the release of U.S. government contractor Alan Gross from Cuba in 2015.
The decision by the Cuban government to release Gross led former President Barack Obama to open up diplomatic relations and ease the 50-year trade embargo with Cuba.
But under the Trump administration, the inroads Leahy worked for, have slipped away.
“The Trump administration has been systematically and cynically dismantling what Sen. Leahy and President Obama put in place,” Tim Rieser, Leahy’s longtime foreign policy aide, said.
Before Trump, Leahy had been closely consulted on U.S.- Cuban relations by the last three presidential administrations—dating back to former president Bill Clinton.
However the current president has foregone consulting with Leahy on Cuba, and has instead relied on his inner circle and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida., to decide how to conduct business with the small island nation.
“I don’t believe he has talked to President Trump about Cuba, and the people in the White House who are directing the policy are not amenable to rational discourse,” Rieser said. “Trying to have an intelligent conversation about Cuba with them is fruitless—a complete waste of time.”
Though Leahy has not met with the president to discuss Cuba, he said he is planning to introduce legislation to allow U.S. citizens to freely travel to Cuba without restriction.
In February, Leahy co-sponsored legislation to end the Trump trade embargo on Cuba. This bill, the ‘Freedom to Export to Cuba Act’ holds bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate with Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming joining Leahy in co-sponsoring the measure.
“I would urge all Senators to not let the same old, worn out, Cold War, isolationist, fear mongering, failed arguments about Cuba stand in the way of common sense,” Leahy said Wednesday.
