Jacobson - U.S. Not Giving in to Cuba

Jacobson: U.S. Not Giving in to Cuba
The assistant secretary of state charged with spearheading renewed
U.S.-Cuba relations says the countries still have sharp differences.
By Teresa Welsh Feb. 4, 2015 | 12:20 p.m. EST + More

The top U.S. diplomat for Latin America continued her tour of Capitol
Hill Wednesday, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on
the Obama administration's new Cuba policy and defending the United
States' new dialogue with the Cuban government, saying it shouldn't be
considered a concession but the opening of a channel for greater
influence on the island.

"There's nothing in what we decided … that we believe is a concession to
the Cuban government. It is true that we have begun to talk about
diplomatic relations," said Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of
state for Western Hemisphere affairs. "They may tout this as support for
their government, but we have diplomatic relations with lots of
governments around the world with which we sharply disagree."

President Barack Obama announced an opening of diplomatic relations with
Cuba in December, and members of Congress in both parties have expressed
dismay that the administration did not inform lawmakers that talks with
Cubans already were being conducted in secret. The new policy entails
relaxing restrictions on travel to the island, establishing a U.S.
Embassy in Cuba, reviewing Cuba's place on the list of state terrorism
sponsors and promoting increased economic and telecommunications ties
between the countries.

During Wednesday's hearing, lawmakers expressed concern regarding human
rights violations by the Cuban regime, with Cuban-American Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, R.-Fla., calling the Cuban government a "sadistic
dictatorship." Lawmakers also stressed that Congress alone has the
authority to remove a decades-old trade embargo on Cuba.

Jacobson traveled to Havana in January for the first round of talks with
Cuban diplomats to discuss logistical details of establishing full
diplomatic ties. She also met with human rights leaders.


"This administration is under no illusions about the continued barriers
to internationally recognized freedoms that remain for the Cuban people,
nor are we under illusions about the nature of the Cuban government,"
Jacobson said. "When we sat down with our counterparts in Havana, we
were clear that our governments have both shared interests and sharp
differences."

Committee Chairman Ed Royce, D-Calif., was unhappy that the White House
declined to provide two National Security Council officials directly
involved in the talks for testimony before the panel. Jacobson appeared
along with John Smith, deputy director of the Treasury Department's
Office of Foreign Assets Control, and Matthew Borman, the Commerce
Department's deputy assistant secretary for export administration.

"I appreciate your meeting with dissidents while you were in Havana last
month," Royce told Jacobson. "But I am very concerned that your Cuban
counterparts are attempting to link your discussions to a commitment
that the U.S. cease all democracy programs."

In a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday at which Jacobson testified,
Sen. Marco Rubio, R.-Fla., also expressed concern about the
administration's policy shift. Rubio, a Cuban-American, has been a vocal
opponent of establishing diplomatic ties with Cuba, contending that the
policy rewards the Castro regime despite its human rights violations.

"Let me be as clear on this issue as I have been since December," he
said. "Eighteen months of secret negotiations produced a bad deal – bad
for the Cuban people. While it may have been done with the best of
intentions, in my view, we've compromised bedrock principles for minimal
concessions."

The Obama administration says the United States' previous isolationist
policy toward Cuba failed for over 50 years, and that it's time for the
U.S. to try something else.

Source: U.S. Not Giving in to Cuba, Top Diplomat Says - US News -
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/04/us-not-giving-in-to-cuba-top-diplomat-says