Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Clinton Campaign Statement on Bush and Rubio Opposition to Normalizing Relations with Cuba
In response to Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio criticizing Hillary Clinton's planned speech on Cuba policy on Friday, National Political Director Amanda Renteria released the following statement:
"Tomorrow, Hillary Clinton will make a strong argument for why Congress must lift the Cuban embargo and the benefits of normalizing relations with Cuba. She will lay out a clear contrast between her forward-looking vision of engagement, and the Republican vision of returning to five decades of failed Cold War-era policies. While a majority of Americans, including Republicans, understand that we must move forward, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio refuse to learn from the lessons of the past that are in favor of failed isolationism. This is why we must chart a different path forward in Cuba, betting on American influence to lift up the Cuban people."
Republican presidential candidates continue to support the failed policies of yesterday. Check out how their backwards rhetoric squares with reality:
| GOP Rhetoric | Reality |
|---|---|
| Marco Rubio: "Mr. Obama's new Cuba policy is a victory for oppressive governments the world over and will have real, negative consequences for the American people." | Moving past the inflammatory rhetoric, Marco Rubio has simply got this dead wrong. Normalizing relations with Cuba isn't a victory for Castro – it's a threat. The victory for the Castro regime has been five decades of isolationism and embargo that have strengthened their grip of power while giving them a scapegoat for all the island's woes. Growing and modernizing the Cuban economy will empower its people. And engagement with Cuba benefits Americans as well, through increased trade and opportunities to visit family. |
| Jeb Bush: "We're not a step closer to freedom in Cuba because of the actions the president's taking." | Starting in 2009, the United States set out to make it easier for Cuban Americans to visit Cuba, support private businesses, and send money to family members. Since then, the number of annual visits by Cuban Americans has doubled and the number of Cubans employed by small businesses has surpassed 400,000, demonstrating the benefits and power of engagement. And lifting the embargo fully and ensuring access to 21st century technology would further empower the Cuban people to assert their independence from the Castro regime. |
| Scott Walker: "There's a reason why we had the policy in the first place. I haven't seen solid enough evidence to make me believe there's been a noticeable change to change the policy this country's had through administrations in both parties." | Believe it or not, Scott Walker's assessment of the situation is dead-on – there hasn't been a noticeable change in Cuba's policy. That's exactly the point. There was in fact "a reason we had the policy in the first place" and the reason was because we hoped it would cripple the Castro regime. It has not. It defies logic to continue a policy that's hurt the Cuban people and been at best, futile, and at worst, counterproductive in respect to its intended goals. |
| Rick Perry: "'This is a regime that has been incredibly onerous to the people of Cuba […] I'm not sure you're ever going to change the culture of Cuba until Castro is dead and gone." | Like Walker (and the majority of the GOP field), Perry wants to continue a policy that he admits has failed – and in his case, he seems to concede that there is no hope for success in the future. The isolation of Cuba has long placed burden on the Cuban people, without anything to show for it. It's time to lift the embargo, take away the Castro's excuse for its failures, and engage the people of Cuba with American leadership. |
| Jeb Bush: "Obama's rush to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba is wrong." | Rush? We've been pursuing the same failed strategy of isolationism toward Cuba for fifty-four years. It's high time to acknowledge that it hasn't worked, and move forward. |
Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Clinton Campaign Statement on Bush and Rubio Opposition to Normalizing Relations with Cuba Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/318738