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U.S. NEWS A3
Monday 14 March 2016
Obama to chop down more Cuba barriers, but is Havana ready?
JOSH LEDERMAN Treasury Department’s Of- In this Aug. 14, 2015 file photo, a worker wipes a representation of the The Great Seal of the United
Associated Press fice of Foreign Assets Con-
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN trol, which would allow it to States at the newly opened U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Associated Press
Associated Press operate in Cuba despite
WASHINGTON (AP) — On congressional sanctions.
his history-making trip to The Connecticut-based
Cuba, President Barack chain has explored numer-
Obama plans to chop ous possibilities that include
down another set of bar- the famed Hotel Saratoga
riers that for generations in central Havana, said the
kept Americans and their individuals, who weren’t
money out of the island authorized to discuss the
they once dominated. plans and requested ano-
Getting Cuba to reopen to nymity. Yet Cuba’s resis-
America is proving harder. tance to letting foreign
Hungry for dollars but wary companies build or own
of U.S. influence, Cuban property makes it more
President Raul Castro’s likely Starwood would man-
government has taken age existing hotels, not
only a few cautious steps build them. Another hurdle:
to allow U.S. commerce Foreign business can’t hire
and tourism to return. Even workers directly. Employ-
as Obama’s administra- ees work for a Cuban hiring
tion prepares to let more agency that keeps much
Americans travel and busi- of their salaries, one factor
nesses operate in ways un- blamed for Cuban hotels’
imaginable just two years infamously sub-standard
ago, it’s unclear how far food and service. The U.S.
Cuba’s labyrinthine bu- hasn’t yet managed to
reaucracy and socialist get Cuba to announce
ideals will bend. It’s a cri- it will ease that policy. For
tique of Obama’s peace- Cuba, any American foot-
making with Cuba that has print carries uncomfortable
gained fresh relevance echoes of the decades
ahead of his trip, which before its 1959 revolu-
opponents say rewards a tion, when American busi-
government unwilling to ness and organized crime
significantly open its econ- worked hand-in-hand with
omy, let alone abandon U.S.-backed strongmen
single-party government. to dominate the island’s
When it comes to human economy and politics, of-
rights and democracy, Re- ten with brutal force. For
publican presidential can- old-school Cuban officials,
didate Marco Rubio says U.S. hotels, flights and cruise
that since relations were re- ships are not just new busi-
stored, “things are worse.” ness, but a direct ideologi-
None of that is stopping cal challenge to a system
Obama from using his trip that sees resistance to U.S.
starting next weekend — dominance in the region
the first such visit in nearly as part of its national mis-
90 years — to try to push sion. “In Congress, there’s a
the diplomatic relaunch lot of criticism from my Re-
past the point of no return publican colleagues about
before he leaves office. In getting this or that before
a bid to show growing mo- going down there,” said
mentum, his administration Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.,
is preparing to further ease one of dozens of lawmak-
restrictions and green-light ers joining Obama’s trip.
projects by U.S. companies “But the big decision is, do
in connection with the trip, you want to be engaged
according to a half-dozen or not?”
individuals familiar with A Marriott spokesman said
the administration’s plans. that chain was also hoping
Starwood, the hotel chain for approval soon, and its
whose brands include Sher- CEO, Arne Sorenson, was
aton and Westin, is expect- traveling in Obama’s del-
ed to get formal U.S. ap- egation. Carnival Cruise
proval in the coming days, Line, which already has U.S.
following extensive conver- approval, said it expects
sations with Cuban and U.S. Cuban approval soon after
officials. The company has months after waiting and
applied for a license from plans to sail starting May 1.
