美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Expected To Restrict Trade, Travel With Cuba

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

President Trump¹ is preparing to announce changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba, possibly tightening³ restrictions⁴ on travel and trade that were loosened under former President Obama. President Trump is expected to announce the changes in Miami on Friday. A congressional source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed Trump's decision to NPR's Geoff Bennett. He joins us now from the capital. And, Geoff, the president is expected, as we said, to announce a reversal of several policies, the first of which is American travel to Cuba. What more have you learned?

GEOFF BENNETT, BYLINE⁵: Well, I'm told President Trump will tighten² the categories under which Americans are authorized⁶ to travel to Cuba. There are 12 such categories. The most popular is the one allowing educational trips, the so-called people-to-people exchanges. The rules for those were really liberalized or, you know, loosened under President Obama to the point now where people essentially⁷ self-certify that they have a good reason to be in Cuba.

So the White House in changing the rule could require that people have documentation for their intended trips. People might have to get a permit before they go. There are a few ways within the existing law for the White House to sort of step up the enforcement. We understand that in the planning stages of this the White House considered and could still be considering limiting all travel to Cuba by Americans to one visit per year. That's including Cuban-Americans, Audie.

CORNISH: So that's travel. What about trade? What are the White House plans there?

BENNETT: Well, the White House wants to restrict U.S. businesses from dealing⁸ with companies owned by the Cuban military. And this is an aspect of the policy reversal that is complicated in terms of its application and really enforcement because as it stands, it's pretty difficult - nearly impossible, really - for a company to know if a company in Cuba that it's dealing with has, you know, zero benefit to the Cuban military. And so supporters of sort of U.S.-Cuba engagement, at least the ones I talked to today, see this as a de facto way of blocking a larger swath of trade between the two countries even more than people, you know, even realize.

CORNISH: What have you learned about how the president arrived at this policy decision?

BENNETT: Well, the White House has been formally reviewing its Cuba policy for quite a while now. But Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Congressman¹⁰ Mario Diaz-Balart have been advising the White House and the National Security Council on these policy changes. Rubio, you'll remember, has been opposed to normalizing relations with Cuba from the very start, back when President Obama introduced the very notion of it. But, you know, they stand in contrast to lawmakers from rural agricultural states who are eager to sell goods and grain to Cuba.

And then last month, some 55 U.S. senators, led by senators Jeff Flake¹¹, the Republican from Arizona, and Patrick Leahy, the Democrat¹² from Vermont, they reintroduced a bill to eliminate the current restrictions on traveling to Cuba for tourism purposes. So there's that political dimension to this, too. I should say my colleague Scott Horsley, who covers the White House, he's been reporting this story. And he talked with a guy named James Williams. He's president of an advocacy group called Engage Cuba. And Williams makes the point that Trump's decision to roll back the Obama-era policies regarding Cuba just really isn't all that popular.

JAMES WILLIAMS: It's rare in Washington to find an issue where Republicans, Democrats¹³ and independents all broadly support it. We have a new poll that we just released today that shows that two-thirds of Republican voters don't want him to do this. And the support is even higher among independents and Democrats. So the question is, who are we doing this for?

BENNETT: And to quickly answer that rhetorical question, the president is doing it for southern Florida voters. He's giving this speech in Miami, home to a large and politically influential¹⁴ Cuban-American community. And older Cuban-American voters who largely oppose normalizing relations with Cuba are a reliable Republican voting bloc⁹.

CORNISH: NPR's Geoff Bennett on Capitol Hill. Geoff, thanks so much.

BENNETT: You're welcome.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

3 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。

12 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。