Isolating Cuba is not helpful: US

The aim is to make the policy change irreversible, gain momentum in business and other engagement between the countries

Asserting that there has been a sea change in US-Cuba relationship, the White House said Friday Barack Obama's historic visit to Havana next month will help in concretizing the progress made in bilateral ties.
 
"In our judgment, engagement is a far more effective means of addressing those issues than isolation," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters.

The aim is to make the policy change irreversible, the link between Cubans and Americans in business and other engagmenet to gain such momentum that there's an inevitability to the opening that is taking place, and to the increase in activity between our countries.

He said that during his two-day trip, Obama is unlikely to meet the ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"We will be in a better position to support human rights, and to support a better life for the Cuban people by engaging them and raising these issues directly," Rhodes said.

Rhodes said they would have a process of normalising relations as announced on December 17,2014; increased commercial activity, but importantly for Cubans to benefit from that activity and to be able to access more resources