US Cuba policy has been an utter failure: Analyst

The American foreign policy on Cuba has not altered over the years and US President Barack Obama’s approaches to the socialist state are sheer tactical moves towards the ultimate goal of converting Cuba into a capitalist nation, says an analyst.

“The US policy of overthrowing the government [of Cuba] for the past 50 years was a dismal failure,” said James Petras, Bartle Professor (emeritus) of Sociology, in a Sunday interview with Press TV.

His comments come during Obama’s visit to the Caribbean island nation - the first such trip by a US president in nearly 90 years.

Petras noted that the United States has over the decades sought to subvert Cuba, but to no avail.

The Obama administration hopes, the analyst said, to open Cuba to American private sector and thus make its mark on the socialist country in the long run.

“I think the tactics have changed, but the ultimate goal of subverting Cuba remains,” added Petras.

On Sunday, Obama traveled to Cuba along with his family for fresh ‘opportunities’ between the two former arch foes.

The US president described his trip as a historic opportunity to build new ties between Washington and Havana.

Obama made the remarks at the US embassy in the Cuban capital upon arrival in Havana on Sunday.

He will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday to discuss trade and political reform. The two governments restored diplomatic relations in December last year despite unresolved disputes about the Guantanamo prison and the US funding of Cuban dissidents as well as Washington’s decades-long embargoes against Havana.

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