|
 At least five Republicans, all known for favoring normal trade
relations with Cuba, will make the trip, congressional sources and
lawmakers told Reuters.
Republican congressional leaders have made opposition to President
Barack Obama's easing of the Cuban trade embargo a hallmark of their
foreign policy. But an increasing number of party members, drawn by
the economic benefits of scrapping the cold war-era embargo, are
lining up to back the White House.
"This is the right policy. He's done the right thing," said
Republican Senator Jeff Flake, an outspoken proponent of closer ties
with Cuba who is going to Havana.
Besides Flake, Republicans making the trip include House of
Representatives members Mark Sanford, Tom Emmer and Reid Ribble, as
well as Senator Mark Heller, congressional sources and lawmakers
said. All of the representatives confirmed their participation,
except for Heller, whose office declined requests for comment. But
other lawmakers confirmed his travel.
Republicans backing Obama's policy cut against the grain of the
party's establishment thinking that seeks to avoid giving Obama any
kind of policy win, either domestically or internationally.
Normalizing relations with Cuba would be a significant foreign
policy legacy for Obama.
Many Republicans see the embargo as contrary to their party's
pro-business tenets and believe the government should not tell
citizens where they can travel.
"It's about Americans' freedom and embracing engagement rather than
isolation as a way of changing other governments," Sanford said in a
Facebook post explaining his decision to make the trip.
At least 15 of the 54 Republicans in the Senate, mostly members from
states like Kansas where agriculture is a significant industry, have
publicly backed increased Cuban trade or fewer restrictions on
travel.
Supporters of Obama's policy say the total number of Republican
supporters in the House and Senate reaches several dozen. Some
members say they want to see how the election plays out before
speaking publicly.
The U.S. embargo on Cuba, first imposed in 1960, can be lifted only
via a majority vote in Congress, which is now controlled by
Republicans.
[to top of second column] |
COLD WAR RIVALS
Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shocked the world in December
2014 by abruptly announcing the Cold War adversaries would move to
normalize relations after more than a half-century's estrangement.
The news drew immediate condemnation in Congress, where a bloc of
mostly Republican Cuban-American lawmakers has worked to keep tight
restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba for years.
Although polls show 72 percent of Americans want to abandon the
embargo, the Republican party line has firmly supported the
restrictions. Critics of Obama's policy say Cuba's government is
still too repressive for the United States to ease restrictions.
But this week businessman Donald Trump, who has questioned the
embargo, easily won the Republican primary in Florida, defeating
leading embargo advocate Senator Marco Rubio. Trump's victory
countered the long-standing assumption that the state's Cuban exiles
would defeat any anti-embargo candidate.
A young generation of Cuban-Americans has warmed to Obama's
engagement policy, with many excited about the chance to open
businesses in their homeland.
Ribble, a founder of the House Cuba Working Group who is going on
the trip, represents Wisconsin, one of several states where farmers
want the chance to sell to an island just 90 miles from the U.S.
coast.
"American producers are missing out on a market that imports the
vast majority of its agricultural products, and Cubans are missing
out on exposure to the freedom and democracy that lies just 90 miles
from their shore," Ribble said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; editing by Don Durfee and
Chizu Nomiyama)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
