Trump will clamp down on Cuban travel, trade

Credit: Pool

Credit: Pool

President Donald Trump on Friday is expected to announce plans to tighten restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and clamp down on U.S. business dealings with the military, fulfilling a campaign pledge.

Trump will speak in Miami and will issue a presidential directive to reverse some of the regulations in 2014 by President Barack Obama, Reuters reported.

"My administration's policy will be guided by key U.S. national security interests and solidarity of the Cuban people," according to a draft of the five-point, eight-page presidential policy directive obtained by Politico. "I will seek to promote a stable, prosperous, and free country for the Cuban people. To that end, we must ensure that U.S. funds are not channeled to a regime that has failed to meet the most basic requirements of a free and just society."

Trump’s new policy will ban most U.S. business transactions with Cuba’s Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group but will make some exceptions for air and sea travel, Reuters reported. Trump will not close embassies or break the diplomatic relations that were restored with the island in 2015.

Trump will speak at a Miami theater in the Little Havana neighborhood named for Manuel Artime, a leader of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs operation against Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

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