Trump's financial form released
begin quote from:
Changes to Cuba deals could block Trump's hotel competitors
Changes in Cuba policy could adversely impact Trump's hotel competitors
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
Local
teens play soccer in the city after school. Cubans enjoy free
education, as well as free health care. With a vast network of family
doctors, they have lower infant mortality than Americans, and, according
to some statistics, longer lifespans.
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Photos: Scenes from Cuba
It's
common to find abandoned construction sites around Havana, some
overgrown with vegetation, giving each site a form and character of its
own.
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Photos: Scenes from Cuba
Viñales,
Cuba, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to some of the world's
most fertile soil, perfect for producing the tobacco used to make the
country's prized cigars.
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Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A farmer drives his oxen through the small-town streets of Viñales. Visitors to the countryside see another side of Cuba.
Hide Caption
9 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
The
southernmost point in the United States, Key West sits just 90 miles
from the Cuban shoreline. Cuba gets 3 million tourists a year; the state
of Florida receives 92 million.
Hide Caption
10 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A
1955 Chevy Bel Air is one of thousands of old American cars that still
fill the streets of Havana. Cubans lucky enough to keep the cars running
now ferry tourists around town for about $40 an hour -- twice what the
average Cuban earns in a month.
Hide Caption
1 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
The
sun sets on the rooftops of the Old City. Eighty percent of the
buildings in Havana were constructed between 1900 and 1958, before the
American embargo took effect. Many are now in urgent need of repair.
Hide Caption
2 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A
city of over 2 million people, Havana may be the world's sexiest ruin.
Many Cubans are worried about the social and environmental effects of an
influx of tourists.
Hide Caption
3 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A
band and a group of stilt dancers whip around the streets of Old
Havana, attracting crowds of visitors. Though Americans are finally
normalizing relations with Cuba, tourists from South America, Canada and
Europe have been visiting for generations.
Hide Caption
4 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
The
streets of Old Havana are full of texture and color, and Cubans are
fiercely proud of their island's soul. "Freedom, for me, goes beyond
material things," said one translator.
Hide Caption
5 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
Local
teens play soccer in the city after school. Cubans enjoy free
education, as well as free health care. With a vast network of family
doctors, they have lower infant mortality than Americans, and, according
to some statistics, longer lifespans.
Hide Caption
6 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
It's
common to find abandoned construction sites around Havana, some
overgrown with vegetation, giving each site a form and character of its
own.
Hide Caption
7 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
Viñales,
Cuba, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to some of the world's
most fertile soil, perfect for producing the tobacco used to make the
country's prized cigars.
Hide Caption
8 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A farmer drives his oxen through the small-town streets of Viñales. Visitors to the countryside see another side of Cuba.
Hide Caption
9 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
The
southernmost point in the United States, Key West sits just 90 miles
from the Cuban shoreline. Cuba gets 3 million tourists a year; the state
of Florida receives 92 million.
Hide Caption
10 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A
1955 Chevy Bel Air is one of thousands of old American cars that still
fill the streets of Havana. Cubans lucky enough to keep the cars running
now ferry tourists around town for about $40 an hour -- twice what the
average Cuban earns in a month.
Hide Caption
1 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
The
sun sets on the rooftops of the Old City. Eighty percent of the
buildings in Havana were constructed between 1900 and 1958, before the
American embargo took effect. Many are now in urgent need of repair.
Hide Caption
2 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A
city of over 2 million people, Havana may be the world's sexiest ruin.
Many Cubans are worried about the social and environmental effects of an
influx of tourists.
Hide Caption
3 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
A
band and a group of stilt dancers whip around the streets of Old
Havana, attracting crowds of visitors. Though Americans are finally
normalizing relations with Cuba, tourists from South America, Canada and
Europe have been visiting for generations.
Hide Caption
4 of 10
Photos: Scenes from Cuba
The
streets of Old Havana are full of texture and color, and Cubans are
fiercely proud of their island's soul. "Freedom, for me, goes beyond
material things," said one translator.
Hide Caption
5 of 10
Story highlights
- Trump's company pledged before his presidency that they would not pursue any foreign deals
- But the decision is an example of Trump's ability to impact his business' competitors while President
Miami (CNN)The
proposed changes in US-Cuba relations that President Donald Trump will
unveil Friday in Miami could adversely impact hotel brands that directly
compete with Trump's business empire, making it more difficult for them
expand their foothold in Cuba.
Trump's
changes in Cuba policy include prohibiting "financial transactions,
including transactions incidental to travel with GAESA and its
affiliates, subsidiaries, and successors," according to documents
reviewed by CNN. Gaviota, the tourism arm of the government-run GAESA,
currently operates the Four Points by Sheraton Havana, a hotel that,
when it opened, was the first US hotel to open in Cuba in nearly 60 years.
GAESA,
the company directly targeted by Trump's plan, controls large swathes
of the Cuban economy and is run by Gen. Luis Alberto Rodríguez
López-Callejas, Raul Castro's son-in-law.
Even
Americans traveling legally to Cuba, according to the new Trump policy,
would not be able to stay in any hotel connected to the Cuban military,
including the Four Points by Sheraton in Havana.
The
Trump proposal would include exemptions to this policy, but none appear
to include hotels like the Sheraton or future projects.
Trump
told CNN in 2016 that he was interested in opening a hotel in Cuba
"when we're allowed to do it." But Trump's company pledged before his
presidency that they would not pursue any foreign deals while he was in
the White House, putting off any possible entry into the Cuban market.
But
the decision to prohibit business with GAESA to direct tourists to
private companies and AirBnB is an example of Trump's ability to impact
his business' competitors while in the White House. Trump's prohibition,
in effect, puts other hotel companies on equal footing with his
personal company -- not allowed to pursue future business in Cuba.
Starwood,
which merged with Marriott last year, manages the Sheraton Hotel brand.
Marriott President Arne Sorenson told reporters that the Trump
administration should "recognize and utilize travel as a strategic tool
in its efforts to improve relations with Cuba, allowing us to be part of
a promising future, as opposed to reverting to the policies of the
past."
He noted that the hotel
company has "invested significant resources establishing a presence in
Cuba, and with one hotel open and another in the pipeline, we have just
begun our work creating opportunity and a more vibrant tourism sector on
the island."
Sorenson added that
it would be "exceedingly disappointing to see the progress that has been
made in the last two years halted and reversed by the administration."
White
House officials told reporters on Thursday that the new regulations
would not affect current licenses for hotels and was not meant to
"disrupt existing transactions that have (already) occurred." The
detailed regulations are slated to rewritten by the Treasury Department.
The
goal of this policy proposal, according to a fact sheet on the plan, is
to push the "Cuban government to expand the development and
availability of more lodging, transportation and entertainment options
for US travelers by allowing the Cuban private sector space to grow and
flourish."
The policy has been
embraced by anti-Castro Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio, who has
long pushed for tougher relations with Cuba and decried former
President Barack Obama's 2014 thawing of relations with the Castro
regime.
"(Trump's)
objective is to support the Cuban people by driving US visitors to
small business they own so they can become independent of regime," the
Florida Republican tweeted Friday. "That is why no direct transactions
will be allowed with the businesses owned & operated by the military
monopoly or its affiliates."
He
added, "Individual Americans can travel to #Cuba under Support for the
Cuban people category but must use privately owned lodging like AirBnB."
Rubio will attend Friday's speech by Trump on Cuba.
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