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After the opposition protests in Cuba, the Biden administration is evaluating the possibility of reauthorizing the sending of remittances and enlarging its team of diplomats in that country. However, Cubans in exile and on the island reproach the “simplicity” of the Democratic administration.
The package of measures highlights the formation of a “working group on remittances” that will aim to “identify the most effective way” for the money to “get directly into the hands of the Cuban people.”
In addition to remittances and diplomatic personnel, Biden also ordered his government to work with the private sector and Congress to make the Internet “more accessible” in Cuba, something that the president had already anticipated last week.
He also announced that his government will continue with its policy of imposing economic sanctions against Cuban officials.
“Cubans do not expect anything from Biden”
To get the opinion of Cubans, El American contacted independent journalist Miriam Celaya, who pointed out that there is a “dichotomy” between what Cubans in Miami are asking for and what protesters on the island are asking for.
“What the Cuban emigrants there are asking for is one thing, and the Cubans here are not asking Biden for anything. I have not heard in any demonstration that they want remittances or more diplomats, I think it is a rather self-conscious mentality,” she said.
The journalist affirmed that talking about remittances is “disrespectful” because that money ends up in the coffers of the island’s regime.
“I find it disrespectful to talk about remittances when Cubans here do not receive that money. Cubans who receive remittances are a portion of the population. Furthermore, those remittances that arrive, go into the pockets of the dictatorship,” she added.
“I don’t know what policies we are talking about, Cubans are hungry for freedom and I believe that we are capable of carving our own path. I do not believe that remittances are the solution, that is to vulgarize the Cubans’ yearning for freedom,” she said.
On Wednesday, July 21, more than 140 Republican legislators asked Biden, governments of the region and the European Union to set up an international criminal tribunal to investigate the human rights violations implemented by the communist regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel after the massive protests staged by Cubans on the island.
The legislators agree that Cubans only want freedom. “It is inconceivable that at this time when the Cuban people are being massacred, Biden convenes a remittance task force to weaken sanctions, as requested by the dictatorship. The majority of the Cuban people, especially Afro-Cubans, do not have access to remittances,” said Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL).
The congressman assured that the only thing the Cuban people need is for Biden to “lead the international community for their immediate freedom and provide Internet access that cannot be blocked by the dictatorship.”
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo