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Obama may set new policy on Cuba's aging revolution
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 29 - 12 - 2008


Five decades after Fidel
Castro toppled a U.S.-backed dictator to take power in Cuba,
the Cold War rivalry with Washington could be thawing as
President-elect Barack Obama looks to ease sanctions against
the communist-run island, according to Reuters.
Obama has made clear he favors relaxing restrictions on
family travel and cash remittances by Cuban Americans to Cuba,
which this week marks the 50th anniversary of Castro's
revolution.
Obama could also reverse other steps taken by outgoing
President George W. Bush to tighten sanctions on Cuba, such as
the prepayment of food imports from the United States, and he
is expected to restore migration talks broken off by Bush.
Experts on Cuba believe modest changes in policy will come
quickly, but stop short of lifting the trade embargo first
imposed in 1962 or allowing all Americans to travel to the
island 90 miles (145 km) off the coast of Florida.
Obama, who takes office on Jan. 20, will be the 11th U.S.
president to deal with the Cuban revolution in a dispute that
has outlived the Cold War and took the world to the brink of
nuclear war during the 1962 Soviet missile crisis.
On the campaign trail, Obama said the embargo should stay
in place to press for democratic reforms in Cuba, but he said
he was open to dialogue with the Cuban leadership.
Cuba has welcomed Obama's proposals as a good first step
and President Raul Castro, who took over from his older brother
Fidel Castro early this year, has offered to free political
dissidents in exchange for the release of five convicted Cuban
spies in U.S. prisons as "gestures" to help set up a meeting
with Obama.
While such an exchange is unlikely and Obama will not end
the embargo without major concessions from Castro, his arrival
is seen by some as opening a window of opportunity for improved
relations at a time of political transition in Cuba.
"The potential for change is more real than ever," said
Katrin Hansing, associate director at the Florida International
University's Cuban Research Institute.


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