Trump has just initiated a major crackdown on Cuba that is going over very well in South Florida today.
And he’s not just cracking down on Cuba, but also Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Here’s more from Fox News:
The Trump administration on Wednesday rescinded several Obama-era policies toward Cuba, while imposing tough sanctions against Venezuela and Nicaragua – as part of a new crackdown on what National Security Adviser John Bolton dubbed the “three stooges of socialism.”
Bolton outlined the steps during an event in Coral Gables, Fla., honoring veterans of the United States’ failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Among the moves being taken against Cuba, the Trump administration is restricting non-family travel to the island and limiting the amount of remittances a person in the U.S. can send to family in Cuba to $1,000 per quarter.
It’s this restriction of non-family travel to Cuba that got Bolton massive applause – even a standing ovation – today in Florida:
This crowd is RABID for restricting travel to Cuba pic.twitter.com/aZDtSidEY6
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 17, 2019
Wow. That went on much longer than I expected. They really do love this new crackdown!
Bolton also announced additions to the Cuba Restrict List, which prohibits direct financial transactions with entities tied to the communist nation’s military, intelligence, and security services.
“While the last administration wanted to improve relations with the tyrants in Havana, and to convince the world that they posed no threat, the Cuban regime tightened its grip and extended its tentacles,” Bolton said in reference to the Obama administration’s thaw in the icy relationship with Cuba.
“These new measures will help steer American dollars away from the Cuban regime, or its military and security services,” Bolton said.
The announcement aligns with the hardline stance President Trump has taken toward Cuba since taking office, especially when it comes to the country’s close ties with the government of disputed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Bolton’s speech came just hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the Trump administration will allow Cubans who fled Fidel Castro’s regime to sue companies that have used their former property on the island.
Besides the new policies regarding Cuba, the Trump administration took action against the other two countries in Bolton’s so-called “troika of tyranny”: Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The U.S. is imposing sanctions on the Central Bank of Venezuela, arguing that the bank has been instrumental in propping up the Maduro regime. The move, which is aimed at restricting U.S. transactions with the bank and cutting off the bank’s access to U.S. currency, is meant to be a warning to others, including Russia, against deploying military assets to Venezuela to help Maduro stay in power, Bolton said.
“The United States will use its economic tools to the maximum capacity to constrict Maduro and ensure that his cronies no longer pilfer what rightfully belongs to the people of Venezuela,” Bolton said.
What this is about really is fighting communism. Cuba is at the center of this fight the sanctions are designed to try and force them to end their support for Venezuela’s Maduro.
This is what Obama should have been doing instead of trying to play footsies with the commies.