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The president announced his decision at the White House after honoring 23 American and Cuban-American veterans who participated in a 1961 Cuban landing attempt at Pig Bay.
Trump said that tobacco and alcohol products are not allowed to be imported from the Caribbean island, and that Americans traveling to Cuba cannot use hotels or other residences owned by the Cuban state.
“These decisions will guarantee that US dollars do not finance the Cuban regime,” he said. He noted that the decisions were part of the “ongoing struggle of the United States government against communist repression.”
The US Department of State will publish a list of hotels that US citizens cannot stay at in a few days.
“My government defends all citizens who fight for their freedom in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and we are working every day so that part of the world is completely free,” Trump emphasized. He added that various things are happening in the background, but, as he himself said, “I can’t talk about this right now, they’ll see you soon anyway.
The Trump administration has taken several measures since January 2017 that have chilled the friendly relationship between Washington and Havana established by the previous administration led by Barack Obama. In June 2019, for example, it introduced widespread travel restrictions, slowing down the United States from entering Cuba. Washington later justified the decision, among other things, saying it wanted to pressure Havana to cover aid from Venezuela. In early 2020, the United States government ordered the Marriott hotel chain to close its hotels in Cuba.
Analysts say the new sanctions are not independent of the November 3 US presidential election. The Cuban and Venezuelan communities in South Florida have so far welcomed Donald Trump’s sanctions decisions, and Trump must win in Florida if he is to win the presidential election. No Republican politician has won a presidential election without a victory in Florida since President Calvin Coolidge’s victory in 1923.
Of Florida’s nearly 14 million voters, one in five has Cuban roots, according to a Pew Research Institute poll. Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday.
Cover image: Getty Images
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