Prince Charles Visits Cuba, Despite U.S. Criticism About Venezuelan Involvement
Though Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, seem to be having a blast on their official trip to the Caribbean, complications have arisen in regard to their planned visit to Cuba Sunday. The couple will be making their first visit ever to the island nation, which has a relationship in a fragile balance with the United States.
Brits have been free to travel to Cuba for some time, though the royal family has not taken advantage of that ability for over 50 years, due to the rule of Fidel Castro. CNN says that after President Obama and Raul Castro made inroads to a better relationship between the countries, things seemed to be normalizing, but the Trump administration has sought to reinstate travel and trade restrictions. One of the main concerns for the United States and its allies is the involvement of the Cuban military and their role with President Nicolas Maduro and the upheaval in Venezuela.
Trump has stated that Maduro is not serving the interests of his country, but rather Cuban concerns.
“For decades, the socialist dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela have propped each other up in a very corrupt bargain. Maduro is not a Venezuelan patriot; he is a Cuban puppet.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo clearly stated that Cuba was a large contributor to the “misery” of the Venezuelan people.
“No nation has done more to sustain the death and daily misery of ordinary Venezuelans, including Venezuela’s military and their families, than the communists in Havana.”
This is the underlying tone of the backdrop that Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla are walking into when they spend four days as guests of the Cuban government at the request of the British government. A royal spokesman stated that the royal couple is there to highlight “the growing bilateral relationship with the UK and showcasing some of the cultural links between the two countries.”
Andrew Lewer, a member of the UK Parliament for the governing Conservative Party says that the royal family is not to blame, as they don’t make these decisions. Lewer lays blame at the feet of the foreign office.
“Our friends in the United States, the many Cubans in Florida, will rightly be perplexed at the sight of the British royal family making a visit, going on tour, looking around the place, at a time when these despicable acts are taking place.”
British Supreme Court president Baroness Hale stated that this trip is significant because Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla are not just visiting the Anglo Caribbean, says The Inquisitr.
