Washington D.C. - As the Executive Branch prepares to issue regulations implementing the President’s National Security Memorandum on Cuba, the Cuba Study Group published a White Paper that assesses the projected impact of the Trump administration’s policy and makes recommendations about how to productively tailor its impact.

These include:

• Continue core bilateral agreements pertaining to national security cooperation.

• Appoint a career diplomatic professional as Ambassador to Cuba.

• Continue welcoming Cuban visitors to the United States for people-to-people

  exchanges.

• Define the ban on “engagement with the Cuban military” in transparent, clearly

  delimited terms to avoid regulatory ambiguity and needlessly petty effects.

• Exclude common citizens from the newly expanded list of “prohibited officials of

  the Cuban government” barred from receiving remittances.

• Honor and do not create obstacles for existing U.S.-Cuba commercial agreements.

• Propose to Canada and Cuba the creation of a joint investigation into recently

  revealed incidents regarding U.S. and Canadian diplomats on Cuban soil.

• Do not dedicate excess resources to Cuba sanctions enforcement.

• Explore options to assist the Cuban people in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

The White Paper provides a historical overview of U.S.-Cuba relations; delineates the gains from engagement; debunks objections to rapprochement; describes President Trump’s policy pivot; makes recommendations for how government agencies should write their forthcoming regulations; and envisions how the 2018 political transition in Cuba could affect policy.