Cuba

Cuba Policy

Sen. Obama (D-IL) has broken with the status quo on U.S. policy toward Cuba, calling for travel and remittance restrictions on Cuban-Americans to be lifted. "There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans,"Obama said in a May 2008 speech in Miami, explaining why he would "immediately allow unlimited family travel and remittances to the island."
In February 2008, Obama called Fidel Castro's resignation "the end of a dark era in Cuba's history," and called for a democratic transition there. He urged the "prompt release of all political prisoners" in Cuba, and said the United States should prepare to "begin taking steps to normalize relations and to ease the embargo of the last five decades." Still, in May 2008 Obama said he would not lift the embargo until the Cuban government takes steps to "democratize the island."In an August 2007 op-ed in the Miami Herald, Obama also said he would engage in bilateral talks with Cuba to send the message that the United States is willing to normalize relations with Cuba upon evidence of a democratic opening. Obama has also said under his administration, the United States would hold a "series of meetings with low-level diplomats," (McClatchy) and that over time Obama himself would be "willing to meet and talk very directly about what we expect from the Cuban regime."