I am so sick about this policy. This will do nothing for the Cuban people, it will, in fact, hurt many of them.
It is so short-sighted, but what should I expect from the Cheetoh-in-Chief? He has no foresight on foreign policy, and no coherent thoughts on developing a working foreign policy. By forcing US citizens to travel with a group on a curated trip will not allow Americans to get to know real Cubans.
I know that a curated trip to Cuba would not be as lopsided as our curated trip to North Korea, but in no way did we interact with every day Koreans. During our 3 weeks visiting this spring, we met so many wonderful people, who were looking forward to the rush of curious Americans who wanted to see for themselves the beauty and wonder that is Cuba. It was precisely because we went and traveled on our own without a group that we were able to meet such wonderful people and see the sights for ourselves.
Now, Cubans will have fewer visitors and less hard currency. I do understand that the new old ban is geared up to prevent people from staying in the hotels run by the Cuban military, but the small entrepreneurs will be hurt as well. I can't help but feel bad for our Havana and Camaguey hosts as they were happily making plans during our visit to expand their casas and build in a few more amenities. This ban will make it more financially difficult for both of them to improve their standard of living.
I can't help but think that our Cheetoh made this decision in order to gain a few hardline older Cubans in Miami in his Russian Rumba. Ahhh, I am just sick about this, it is so stupid!
