The Miami Herald quotes Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Director Peter Schechter on how US politics could affect the future of US-Cuba relations on everything from an ambassador to trade relations:
“Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., “has a conundrum,” said Peter Schechter, director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center. Obama could make a recess appointment when Congress isn’t in session, “but the question is would he make a recess appointment without even giving it a try in Congress,” he said.
To ensure his Cuba legacy, however, Obama will need to go beyond opening an embassy and renewing diplomatic relations, said Muse. “He needs to build enduring trade relations with Cuba, get U.S. companies in there,” he said.
While legislation to both lift the embargo and allow all Americans to travel freely to Cuba has been introduced in Congress, “it’s going to be very tough to move on difficult votes during the presidential cycle,” said Schechter. There are Republican business executives who are very interested in seeing a further commercial opening with Cuba or an end to the embargo, he said, but their top corporate interest might not be Cuba. “These companies are not one-issue voters,” Schechter said.”