On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said that there is currently “a moment of significant leverage regarding Cuba,” but he thinks “Obama was on the right track when we opened trade relations.”
Merkley said, “Well, there is a moment of significant leverage regarding Cuba, because after the oil was cut off to the island, their power grid has now collapsed completely. So, it’s a moment where America has some leverage as to whether we let more oil in. And, in that regard, I really think his team has been considering the Venezuela model, that is having Miguel Díaz-Canel step aside and have somebody who might be more inclined towards reforms that the Trump administration would like to see enacted. This is not a discussion that’s happened in the Foreign Relations Committee. We’ve had virtually no oversight. We should be holding conversations about that, as we should on many other things.”
Merkley added that he can’t say he supports using leverage to get a new leader in Cuba without more information, and stated that “Obama was on the right track when we opened trade relations. I think the positive influence that would have occurred with ongoing interactions with the United States would have been far more productive in reforming the island than this strategy of, essentially, starving them of energy until their economy collapsed, and then just saying, well, we’ll just trade one leader for a next-up leader. It’s not clear that that will actually serve our interests at all. And it certainly — people in Cuba are certainly struggling right now.”
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