“Isolation hasn’t worked for the last 60 years,” says Jeffrey DeLaurentis

Juan Carlos Espinosa/EFE, Havana, 17 December 2024 — Diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy in Havana during the thaw in bilateral relations of the Obama era, maintains in an interview with EFE that the policy of rapprochement instead of the isolation of Cuba was a success and is still valid 10 years later.
“Despite the fact that this policy was reversed after two years, it was a success and resonates even today, despite the efforts of the (first) Trump administration to bring it down,” says DeLaurentis, who believes it is “totally false” that it failed.
Few know as well as this former US diplomat the meaning, on the ground, of the process of rapprochement between the United States and Cuba. It was announced on December 17, 2014, by Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, after months of secret negotiations involving the mediation of the Vatican and Canada.
In an exclusive interview with EFE conducted via Google Meet, the Chargé d’affaires of the US embassy during the thaw (2014-2017) highlights the legacy left by Obama’s policy (2009-2017) in the relations between the two countries after decades of Cold War.
In his opinion, not even the first term of Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), with the tightening of sanctions and the inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, has managed to erase that mark. continue reading
In his opinion, that approach is “the best way to advance the interests” of Washington by “encouraging” the opening of reforms on the Island
“The thaw,” he says, needed “more time” to be “sustainable.” In his opinion, that approach is “the best way to advance the interests” of Washington by “encouraging” the opening of reforms on the Island and “improving the life of the Cuban people,” in contrast to the hard-line policy of the Republicans.
“During my first mission in Cuba (in the nineties), I arrived thinking that the US approach was the right one. But, frankly, I left recognizing that isolation was not the right approach, and, honestly, it had not worked and has not worked in the last 60 years,” he says.
The retired ambassador, who previously worked in the US Interests Section (a category lower than that of an embassy) in Havana in the nineties and 2000s, highlights the rise of the private sector in Cuba after decades of prohibition and demonization.
“You could see how people’s mentality was changing. Young people were enthusiastic and focusing their energy on the Island’s future instead of leaving everything behind and emigrating,” he tells EFE.
After four years of serious economic crisis – with a shortage of basic goods and services, galloping inflation and daily power cuts – Cuba is once again experiencing a great migratory exodus. In the last three fiscal years, more than 600,000 Cubans have entered the United States, according to official figures.
Cuba is once again experiencing a great migratory exodus. In the last three fiscal years, more than 600,000 Cubans have entered the United States
The former diplomat – proposed by Barack Obama as ambassador, the first on the Island since 1960 – recalls the resistance encountered by the Democratic administration to achieve a total political turn towards Cuba.
“Given the long and tortuous history between the two countries, this process was never going to be linear. There were always ups and downs. My feeling was always that the Cuban authorities knew how to deal with the tough posture, but that they were a little more uncomfortable with the approach we were defending,” he recalls.
After Obama’s visit to the Island in 2016, the culminating moment of the thaw, former Cuban President Fidel Castro said, in an article published by state media, that the country did not need “the empire” to give it anything and strongly criticized Obama’s speech during his stay.
On the other hand, DeLaurentis points out that the Obama administration assumed that there would be resistance from hard-line sectors in Cuba and that “there were also people, I suppose mostly from South Florida, who were very much against” the rapprochement.
DeLaurentis highlights how the issue of Cuba awakens a different level of attention between those who believe in dialogue and those who advocate for a hard hand
In view of the next Trump government, which will take office in January and has proposed as Secretary of State the Cuban-American Marco Rubio, defender of increasing sanctions against Havana, DeLaurentis highlights how the issue of Cuba arouses a different level of attention between those who believe in dialogue and those who advocate for a hard hand.
“I think Obama’s approach was very popular at the national level, and, certainly, there are many people who think that this is the best way to proceed. But it is also true that those who defend a harder line, for many of them, that is possibly their main priority. Meanwhile, for those who support the approach, it is important, but they have many other priorities,” he adds.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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