Months after the United States extended olive groves to Cuba, Washington and Havana say more must be done by others before progress can be made in repairing diplomatic ties.
In May, the Biden administration allowed Cuban officials to visit Miami International Airport and tour the airport’s security facilities, removing Cuba from a list of countries that are “not fully cooperating” with U.S. counterterrorism efforts. The Treasury Department also implemented a 2022 rule that gave Cuban entrepreneurs access to American banking services and financial platforms.
The moves were some of the most significant initiatives taken by Havana since the Obama administration – but the White House says it is not ready to go any further. A senior administration official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about U.S. policy, stressed that there remains a wide gap between Washington and Havana on the Cuban government’s human rights record that needs to be addressed before more happens.
“We have not seen the willingness of the Cuban government to make a larger gesture that would lead to a significant thawing of relations,” the official said.
Havana says the ball is in Washington’s court. Cuban diplomats in Washington argue that the Biden administration is relaxing real restrictions that affect only a limited segment of Cuban society. They have also expressed frustration that Washington is ignoring larger points in the bilateral relationship, namely the designation of Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
“Cuba has informed the United States government through public and private channels that we are ready to sit down and discuss bilateral issues of priority to both nations,” said Lianys Torres Rivera, charge d’affaires at the Cuban Embassy in Washington. in voiceover. “And what we ask for is respect and non-interference in our internal affairs.”
The impasse could miss one of the best windows to mend fences with Havana, as Democrats no longer seem concerned that improving relations with Havana will cost them politically in Florida.
Historically, Democratic administrations avoided offering olive branches to Havana in their first term, wary of alienating the more than one million Cuban refugees who live in the electoral juggernaut of Florida. But Cuban-American voters have seen their influence on national debates about the island’s politics diminish as Florida has increasingly backed Republican candidates and Democrats have prioritized routes to victory that run through Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
Democrats have admitted this. Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said in an interview with Puck in June that the campaign does not see Florida as a battleground state, though campaign officials quickly clarified that Florida was “in play for President Biden and the Democrats up and down the ballot” and that the campaign would “continue our presence and investment adding to the state”.
And while some polls suggest Florida could be in play for the Democrats, the Harris campaign dropped Florida from the list of battleground states.
“I don’t think Democrats believe that Florida is really in play in 2024,” said Fernand Amandi, a Cuban-American pollster and strategist who worked on Obama’s successful 2008 and 2012 campaigns in the state. “They can act on what they think is the best policy of the United States, as opposed to the political consequences of Florida or the political considerations of Florida.”
Cuba is also facing an unprecedented economic crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands of people to flee the island in recent years, exacerbating the White House’s immigration problem, as many Cuban migrants in recent years have chosen to enter via the US-Mexico border.
Institutional headwinds have subsided since the resignation of Sen. Bob Menendez (DN.J.) as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But any expansion of cooperation with Cuba is seen as a political minefield, and full mending of fences with Havana would draw sharp ire from Republicans, particularly Cuban-American lawmakers in South Florida, who argue that easing sanctions against Havana will allow it to continue its “destabilizing” activities in the region. .
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the son of Cuban immigrants and one of the Biden administration’s staunchest critics of the island’s policies, said the administration is “trying to lay the groundwork for them to come together in another term. It brings us closer to an administration that is desperate for any sign of a lifeline.” “
Progressives still want President Joe Biden to go further, because the current policy does not bring Cuba closer to a democracy that respects human rights.
“The status quo is not working,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass). “We’re locked into this old Cold War-type approach that didn’t work during the Cold War, and we’re still stuck there because nobody wants to just rip off the band aid and say, you know, let’s try something different here.”
Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.
A version of this article previously appeared in POLITICO’s National Security Daily newsletter. Do you like this content? Consider signing up!
