Will Biden bailout Cuba?

CUBA HAS BEEN A DEPENDENT NATION FOR 60 YEARS

WILL THE U.S. LEFT ASSUME MAMA ROLE 

Since the communist revolution in Cuba in 1960 the country has been supported by its bigger communist allies. When the Soviet Union dissolved in the 1989 and with the elimination of the Brezhnev doctrine Cuba lost its main benefactor.  The responsibility was then assumed by then oil rich Venezuela. With the collapse of the Venezuelan economy in 2013, Cuba was again without a benefactor. In 2015 Barack Obama restored relations and some limited trade with Cuba. It was another lifeline to keep the island communist country from collapse.

Cuba supplied Venezuela with medical support and security forces that kept both the Chavez and Madura administrations in power. In exchange Venezuela supplied under priced oil and other financial support to keep Cuba afloat. As the economic health of both countries deteriorated, Cuba again is at a crossroads. While they may look to China as a new lifeline, there will be pressure exerted on the Biden administration by the ideological left to support Cuba. 

With a  primarily agricultural based economy based mostly on sugar and tobacco, which are both now becoming increasingly suspect for their negative effects on health, Cuba has no real exports that cannot be secured elsewhere. Only 10 % of their economy is based on manufacturing. 

While the Obama administration had allowed increased trade and tourism which would have been an easy source of revenue. Obama also allowed educational and cultural exchange which would have been another opportunity for Cuba to tout the benefits of socialism to young Americans. The Trump administration reversed those policies, especially after embassy workers complained about possible adverse physical symptoms while in Cuba.

With the recent protests in Cuba, it has placed the Biden administration in a tough spot. While he has promised to relax sanctions and increase trade with Cuba, the Cuban American population will not approve of that policy. At the same time the marxist faction of the democrat party will want a bailout to keep Cuba afloat.

It will likely result in some kind of assistance to Cuba that will be described as some type of improved relations and compromises by the Cuban government. It is likely the communist government will be given another lifeline.