The Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States,Joe Biden, said toCyberCuba that empowering the Cuban people will be the pillar of his policy towards Cuba, and assured that if he reaches the White House he will immediately eliminate restrictions on remittances and trips to the island.
"Empowering the Cuban people to determine their own future is fundamental to the national security of the United States (...) and will be the centerpiece of my approach," Biden declared in an exclusive interview withCyberCuba"I will pursue policies that recognize today's environment, starting with the elimination of Trump's restrictions on remittances and travel, which harm the Cuban people and keep families separated."
Sending remittances to Cuba has become an issue in electoral campaigns after a recent sanction by the Trump administration to prevent financial transactions from being processed by entities linked to the Cuban military apparatus.
The former vice president stated that President Donald Trump is the worst champion for achieving democracy in Cuba, and assured that a Biden-Harris administration will restore the Cuban Family Reunification Program (CFRP), favor asylum for refugees, and limit deportations to island as soon as possible.
"Trump's policies towards Cuba have been a total failure"Biden said.
Both the interview with Biden and the one conductedto President Trump inCyberCuba, were planned since the beginning of September as part of our publication's coverage of the historic elections on November 3 in the United States. Both political contenders simultaneously received their respective 12-question questionnaires on various topics of policy towards Cuba and the Cuban-American community.
Biden agreed to answer five questions in the questionnaire sent byCyberCuba. Questions about the Cuban Adjustment Act, the possibility of lifting the embargo, federal aid programs for civil society and the political opposition in Cuba, and the option of deactivating titles III and IV of the Helms-Burton Act, remained pending. for a next dialogue.
Interview with Democratic candidate Joe Biden in CiberCuba
CyberCuba:What will be your first step regarding the current policy towards Cuba if you become president of the United States?
Joe Biden:Trump's policies towards Cuba have been a total failure. Repressions by the regime have only increased under his rule. As president, my policy will be governed by two principles: first, that Americans, Cuban Americans in particular, are the best ambassadors for freedom in Cuba. Second, empowering the Cuban people to determine their own future is critical to U.S. national security. The situation in Cuba today is not the same as the situation four years ago and I will pursue policies that recognize today's environment, starting with the elimination of Trump's restrictions on remittances and travel, which harm the Cuban people and maintain to separated families. I will also address the backlog of more than 20,000 visas that has increased under the Trump administration, demand the release of political prisoners, and defend human rights in Cuba, just as I did when I was vice president.
CyberCuba:One of the most severe sanctions decreed by Trump have been the bans on regular and chartered flights, and the limitation on remittance shipments to Cuba. What is your plan to reverse both measures?
Joe Biden:In the midst of a global pandemic, when so many families are deeply impacted, President Trump is denying Cuban Americans the right to support their families on the island. Once again, he makes it clear that his supposed "support" for the Cuban people is nothing more than empty political rhetoric.
The Trump administration is deporting hundreds of Cubans back to the dictatorship. There are nearly 10,000 Cubans languishing in tent camps along the border with Mexico because of Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. And it is separating Cuban families through increasingly severe restrictions on family visits and remittances. None of this helps the Cuban people. None of this has advanced democracy in Cuba.
Donald Trump is the worst possible standard-bearer for achieving democracy in Cuba, because he has acquiesced to autocrats around the world, such as Vladimir Putin in Russia. Throughout my career I have defended democracy and human rights, freedom of the press, assembly and religion, and I have fought against dictators from both the left and the right.
Limitations on remittances in particular only harm Cuban families, especially the elderly and most vulnerable, both on the island and in our country. Both Americans and Cubans cannot afford four more years of weak leadership, empty words and broken promises from Trump.
CyberCuba:Changes in immigration policy have led to a concentration of Cubans awaiting an asylum hearing in Mexico, while dozens of others remain detained in US immigration jails under questionable treatment and threat of deportation. What would you do in this situation?
Joe Biden:What the Trump Administration is doing is inconceivable: deporting hundreds of Cubans to a dictatorship and forcing nearly 10,000 Cubans to languish in tent camps along the Mexican border, all to advance this anti-immigrant crusade. administration. The United States can defend both the security of our border and our values as a nation of immigrants. We must restore our historic commitment to asylum seekers and refugees. My immigration plan will end Trump's harmful asylum policies, starting with Trump's Migrant Protection Protocols [MPP], and restore our asylum laws to do what they should do: protect people fleeing persecution and cannot return home safely. We will end prolonged detention and for-profit detention centers and reinvest in case management programs, which allow migrants to live with dignity and safety while they wait for their court hearings, and which are the best way to ensure that asylum seekers attend all required immigration hearings. Additionally, we will restore sensible enforcement priorities so that hard-working people who have never committed a serious crime will not be subject to deportation.
CyberCuba:One of the fundamental complaints of the Cuban community in the United States is the paralysis of the Family Reunification Program for three years. What can you say to the families who are demanding the reactivation of this immigration benefit?
Joe Biden: A Biden-Harris administration will reopen avenues for safe and legal migration from the island, including the Cuban Family Reunification Permit Program (CFRP) and the Cuban refugee program as soon as possible. The oppressive Cuban regime should not prevent Americans – and Cuban Americans especially – from helping their families and friends in Cuba.
CyberCuba:The current administration has justified its sanctions against Cuba with the criterion of punishing the military spheres that control tourism and business in the country and limiting its support for the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela. What do you think about these sanctions? Would you raise them or negotiate them?
Joe Biden:Trump's policies have not been successful. Dictators remain entrenched in power in both Cuba and Venezuela. Sanctions are an important tool, but they are not our only tool and must be part of a broader strategy to achieve the results we want. The goal is more freedom for people living under oppressive regimes. If sanctions help advance that goal, I will use them. And unlike Trump, I will protect people fleeing the oppression of these dictatorships. Trump has made it nearly impossible for asylum seekers to even make the legal claim to which they are entitled. President Trump and Senate Republicans have repeatedly refused to grant temporary protected status [TPS] to Venezuelans fleeing the Maduro regime. I will grant them to you. In Cuba, empowering the Cuban people will be the centerpiece of my approach. And I will ensure that all asylum seekers, including those from Cuba and Nicaragua, receive fair consideration.
What do you think?
SEE COMMENTS (97)Filed in: