Washington, October 25 (RHC)--US Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of the State of Vermont says the White House and some members of the U.S. Congress have little concern about the impact of the punitive policies of the Donald Trump administration on the Cuban people.

In a statement released Thursday, the Vermont legislator said that every few weeks or months, this White House devises a new way to ratchet up pressure on the Cuban Government, and, in doing so, cause greater hardship for the Cuban people on whose behalf the White House professes to act.

Leahy recalled that as recently as last week when the Commerce Department said it was revoking licenses for aircraft leases to Cuban airlines and will deny future applications for aircraft leases.  It will also expand sanctions to cover more foreign goods containing as little as 10 percent U.S. content.

“Since this, like other sanctions against Cuba, will backfire, there is only one rational explanation:  the White House and their enablers in Congress care little about the impact of these punitive policies on the Cuban people.  They are motivated by personal and ideological animus.,' the senator said.

The Senator regretted that instead of encouraging Americans to travel to the neighboring nation to experience Cuban society and build relationships with its people, Trump had closed the door on those visits, and noted that driven by a handful of hardline Cuban Americans in the White House, State Department and Congress the President has adopted a bankrupt approach toward that country that is steeped in hypocrisy.

The Senator also criticized the limits imposed on family remittances sent to the Caribbean nation, the substantial reduction in staffing at both countries' embassies, and the slowdown in bilateral talks on a wide range of issues, from public health to climate change.

“This is what happens when national politics is subverted by local politics. When pledges from campaign contributions take precedence over national interest,” Senator Leahy said.