Cuban dissident Antonio Rodiles reacts to Cuba policy change

By Hatzel Vela in Miami Local 10 News:

Cuban dissident reacts to Trump, ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy ending

Dissident believes Donald Trump needs to re-evaluate Cuban policy

HAVANA – The “wet foot, dry foot” policy remains the topic of conversation in Cuban households throughout the island.

Antonio Rodiles, who heads Estado Sats, a group highly critical of the Cuban government, is no exception. In fact, this is one of the rare cases when Rodiles and the Castro government are in agreement.

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“Well, I think for sure that law need to change,” he said. “We have seen a lot of abuse about the law.”

Rodiles remains surprised about the way outgoing President Barack Obama went about getting rid of the U.S. policy last week in a surprise announcement.

He is critical of Obama for not consulting with the exile community or dissidents on the communist Caribbean island.

“The Obama administration was taking as the only official counterpart — the Cuban regime and I think that this is really a bad signal for what it happening in Cuba right now,” he said.

He feels President-elect Donald Trump needs to re-evaluate American policies toward Cuba.

“The situation with the respect of the human rights, also the economic aspect needs to be changed, in order that some companies can come here to make real business in Cuba,” he said.

Rodiles hopes Trump does not forget about human rights and the opposition, which has been criticized for being fractured.

But when it comes to Cuba, it’s not bad to have differences in opinions and approach, according to Rodiles, who believes Cuba is at a crossroads since the Cuban government has been vocal about looming economic woes.

Trump, who is consulting hard-line exiles on Cuba, could play a major factor.

For now, everything is on the sidelines until Trump takes office Friday.