![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.capitalfm.co.ke\/news\/files\/2021\/07\/0a935f4723660c4a1cf17becfe3cf6c8bde2c6ae.jpg\")
A pro-government counter-demonstrator holds a signal that reads “The streets belong to the revolutionaries” amid demonstrations against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana on July 11, 2021 \u00a9 AFP \/ ADALBERTO ROQUE<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n
Berg expected Biden to expedite the policy review but said he would be hard-pressed to renew an opening if Cuba cracks down on protests.<\/p>\n
“This might force the Biden administration to back off but at the very least it forces them to pay attention,” he said.<\/p>\n
Biden has similarly shown little interest in shaking up policy on Venezuela, where Trump unsuccessfully tried to depose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.<\/p>\n
Biden was forced to confront another regional issue on the backburner last week as Haiti’s president was assassinated, although his administration declined a troop request from the troubled Caribbean nation.<\/p>\n
Democrats control Congress only by the narrowest of margins and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez — crucial for pushing through nominations — is a Cuban-American who breaks with much of the party by favoring a hard line against the government founded by Fidel Castro.<\/p>\n
– Political tussle –<\/p>\n
Another legacy likely on Biden’s mind — Iran. At nearly the same point in his presidency, Obama stayed cautious in remarks on a violent crackdown on protests, mindful that the clerical regime — like Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday — was eager to link protesters to the United States.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.capitalfm.co.ke\/news\/files\/2021\/07\/5e3f76798786b11c068d8df610882aac54d3dedd.jpg\")
Then US President Barack Obama speaks next to his counterpart Raul Castro during a Major League baseball exhibition game on a historic March 2016 trip to Cuba \u00a9 AFP\/File \/ NICHOLAS KAMM<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n
Obama in his post-presidential memoir wrote that he was deeply uncomfortable with the “passive approach” recommended by aides — which drew ferocious condemnation from the rival Republican Party.<\/p>\n
Republicans have already pounced on the Biden administration’s Cuba response, including an initial tweet by the career diplomat in charge of Latin America who tied the protests to rising Covid-19 cases.<\/p>\n
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and vociferous critic of Havana, called the comment “ridiculous” and warned that Cuban authorities would try to “blackmail” Biden by threatening an exodus of boat people if he does not restore Obama-era policies.<\/p>\n
John Kavulich, president of the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which advises US businesses about the island, said the protests would build pressure to complete the Cuba review — but he doubted Biden would ever restore Obama measures such as allowing cruise ships.<\/p>\n
“Each micron of United States policy impacting the Republic of Cuba is viewed by the Biden administration through one political microscope — getting legislation and nominations and budgets and debt ceiling and infrastructure and other measures through in 2021 and then preparing for the 2022 elections and the 2024 elections,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington (AFP), Jul 13– Historic mass protests in Cuba have thrust onto US President Joe Biden’s priority list an issue on which he was content to go slow and, experts say, will likely doom near-term prospects of a fresh opening. Biden issued a statement to voice solidarity with “the Cuban people and their clarion call […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12327,"featured_media":631501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[141],"class_list":["post-631504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n