By: Trevor Loudon
New Zeal
From the Communist Party USA‘s Peoples World:
Jimmy Carter, welcomed by Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, right…
Former President Jimmy Carter began a three-day visit to Cuba yesterday, amidst a stormy background of seemingly constant escalation and de-escalation of tensions between the U.S. and the island nation…
Carter visited Cuba previously in 2002, the first and only U.S. president to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution. According to the Cuban press, the visit “was a demonstration of his interest in better bilateral relations…”
The ex-president’s trip takes place during uncertain times for the island nation and its relationship with the United States. In what some consider the beginning of a thaw, the Obama administration loosened restrictions that President Bush had imposed on exchanges with Cuba…
Carter’s visit comes just before the next congress of the Cuban Communist Party, set to take place next month…
The party congress is one of the main reasons for Carter’s visit. According to the Carter Center, he and former first lady Rosalynn Carter traveled to Cuba to “meet with President Raúl Castro and other Cuban officials and citizens to learn about new economic policies and the upcoming party congress, and to discuss ways to improve U.S.-Cuba relations…”
While Carter’s trip is technically a private venture, sponsored by his organization, analysts say some sort of policy announcement, either from the Cuban side, the U.S. or both, is possible.
