Cuba ponders next move after US policy shift

Cuba ponders next move after US policy shift
By Christopher SnyderPublished December 22, 2014 FoxNews.com

President Obama's major policy shift toward Cuba has regional experts
closely watching how the Castro regime will look to use this renewed
connection with Washington to its benefit.

Fox News National Security Analyst KT McFarland spoke to analysts Roger
Noriega and Ana Quintana about the White House's decision. Both are
concerned over the impact this political move will have on Cubans
themselves.

Cuba has been criticized numerous times in the past for its poor human
rights record. Political detentions in 2012 rose to historic levels when
the regime imprisoned 6,602 government opponents, compared to 2,074 in
2010, according to the Cuban Human Rights Commission.

Noriega, a fellow with American Enterprise Institute, predicts less
pressure will be put on the regime to address this issue. "My concern
for the Cuban people is that they will be forgotten, the cause for human
rights will be forgotten by the government of the United States."

"Legitimizing the leader of Cuba, Raul Castro … someone who was never
elected, the only reason why he is in charge because he is the brother
of Fidel Castro … what the president has done is essentially legitimize
the regime," said Quintana, a research associate with The Heritage
Foundation.

Some congressional leaders, though, have supported the White House's
decision. "Our policies, frozen in time, have disserved the nation and
have failed utterly and abysmally in achieving their original goals,"
said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

One suggestion for Cuba's willingness to work with the U.S. is the
country's faltering relationships with some of America's adversaries
like Venezuela.

"The Cuban regime depends on Venezuela for its survival and that regime
is tanking, too. It's collapsing under the weight of [their] policies
and falling oil prices," said Noriega, a former U.S. Ambassador to the
Organization of American States. He points to Caracas already cutting
nearly half of the oil subsidies given to Havana.

There is growing concern opening ties with Cuba will reduce the changes
of democracy taking hold.

Noriega believes "the cause of democracy in moving in that direction
hasn't been advanced at all." While Quintana added, "the chances for
democracy on the island have significantly diminished."

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