President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday weighed in on the death of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, tweeting simply “Fidel Castro is dead!“
Castro died on Friday night aged 90 after defying the United States during a half-century of iron-fisted rule. Trump’s shock victory this month has cast uncertainty over two years of moves by President Barack Obama to end more than 50 years of Cold War enmity with the communist island.
Blocked from ending the US embargo on the island by a Republican-controlled Congress, Obama pushed smaller reforms using executive authority.
That means Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, will be able to change course just as easily, potentially reinstating trade and financial restrictions and reversing developments like the resumption of air and cruise-ship travel, and postal service.
“All of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands,” the Republican real estate billionaire said in September.
“Those demands will include religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners.”
The White House has not yet reacted to Castro’s death, although a statement is expected later today.
The United States restored diplomatic ties with Cuba in July 2015 and a month later re-opened its embassy in Havana. Obama made a landmark visit to the communist-ruled island in March.
The moves were criticized by many of the politically influential Cuban exiles and their families living in the United States.
Trump’s closest rival in the Republican presidential primary race, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, whose father is Cuban, said on Facebook that Castro’s death “cannot bring back his thousands of victims, nor can it bring comfort to their families.”
“Today we remember them and honor the brave souls who fought the lonely fight against the brutal Communist dictatorship he imposed on Cuba,” Cruz said.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, another conservative Cuban-American who represents southern Florida’s 27th district where many Cuban exiles live, also hailed Castro’s death.
“A tyrant is dead and a new beginning can dawn on the last remaining communist bastion of the Western hemisphere,” she wrote on her website. “We must seize the moment and help write a new chapter in the history of Cuba; that of a Cuba that is free, democratic, and prosperous.”
Sopurce: Arab News
GMT 10:08 2017 Friday ,21 July
Google, EU dig in for long warGMT 21:00 2017 Wednesday ,10 May
Trump team deletes ‘Muslim ban’ statement from websiteGMT 11:23 2017 Monday ,08 May
Far-right activists, WikiLeaks ‘helped amplify Macron leaks’GMT 04:31 2017 Thursday ,04 May
Watch out Ellen! Kylie’s Met Gala selfie is breaking the InternetGMT 04:15 2017 Sunday ,30 April
‘The Simpsons’ skewers Trump in ‘100 days’ episodeGMT 20:20 2017 Monday ,24 April
Google doodle celebrates Rajkumar’s birthdayGMT 18:44 2017 Thursday ,20 April
Cyber attack hits 1,200 InterContinental hotels in United StatesGMT 14:24 2017 Tuesday ,11 April
Symantec attributes 40 cyberattacks to CIA-linked hacking toolsMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor