President Trump has voiced support for Cuba as the country undergoes a leadership change for the first time in decades.
Cuban President Raul Castro is expected to step down this week and hand his power over to 57-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, ending the Castro family’s 60-year rule of the island nation. Diaz-Canel has served as vice president of Cuba’s Council of State for the past five years and is well-respected within the country’s communist party.
Asked about the change of power during a visit to Key West, Fla., on Thursday, Trump told reporters his administration is “taking care of Cuba.”
“We love Cuba,” he exclaimed.
Trump took major steps last fall to unwind diplomatic reforms enacted by President Obama as part of his administration’s efforts to forge a new relationship with the Castro regime and end its isolation. Part of Trump’s plan included a ban on U.S. citizens doing business with various Cuban entities, in addition to tightening personal travel to the country.
“We’re, as you know, very tough on Cuba,” he said Monday during a tax reform event in the predominantly Cuban neighborhood of Hialeah, Fla. The president added that it’s “not fair” what has happened in the impoverished country.
