Cuban Leader’s Mexico Trip Highlights Challenges for Biden's Foreign Policy in the Region

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel’s presence as guest of honor in Mexico’s independence day celebrations Thursday showcases the challenges that the U.S. faces in gaining regional support for its policy toward Cuba.

Sitting next to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Díaz-Canel participated in a military parade on Thursday and gave a speech in which he blasted the U.S. embargo and denounced an alleged disinformation campaign against his government…

The prominent role given to Díaz-Canel has raised eyebrows in Washington, “because it appears to be an effort to confer legitimacy on a leader from whom others are intentionally keeping their distance”, said former U.S. diplomat Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas…

The political climate is much different now, and López Obrador, who represents a left-wing party group, has used his support for Cuba to emphasize sovereignty as a key message of his government. Farnsworth believes the invitation to Díaz-Canel is “probably less a ‘message’ to Washington than an expression of the president’s own personal proclivities and also a way to offer something to Mexico’s political left that will maintain the government’s freedom of action in domestic economic affairs.”…

Read the full article.