Sputnik spoke with Alberto Posso, Associate Professor of Economics at RMIT University In Melbourne Australia for more insight on the issue.
Sputnik: Is Trump going to take a harder stance politically on Cuba this year and would this undercut the work of Obama?
Alberto Posso: Since the start of his presidency Trump has been taking a hard line not just on Cuba, but on Latin America as a whole. During his campaign he made some pretty derogatory comments against Mexican migrants and this started a negative feeling across the Latin American region.
So this is just another step towards taking a more isolated role in Latin America. Another example is the attempt to redraft the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was more or less a direct attack on Mexico.
Sputnik: Will Cuba change under new leader Diez-Canel?
If you see his speech, he will continue the status quo as far as the revolution is concerned. He grew up during the revolution and has been in the communist party his whole career and Raul Castro is still the head of the communist party.
Although Diez-Canel is the new president, in communist regimes it’s really the head of the party who is the main decision maker and the fact that Raul is not president means that a lot of the day to day, superficial management of the country will be done by Diez Canal, but the core decisions will still be made by Raul, until he steps down as head of the party in the next five years or so.
The views and opinions expressed by Alberto Posso are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
