Jacobson grilled on Cuba while U.S. public wants closer ties with the island

Roberta Jacobson, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, told a hostile House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington, DC, on Wednesday that the Obama administration had ruled out turning over Guantánamo Bay back to the Cubans. The U.S. established the Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba in 1903 and its return was demanded last week by Cuban President Raul Castro as a key factor in normalizing relations between the two countries.

While Jacobson was being grilled by the congressional committee a new Associated Press/GFK poll was released which shows wide support in the United States to establish better relations with Cuba. An Associated Press report stated that “Forty-five percent of those surveyed supported full diplomatic relations between the Cold War foes, with only 15 percent opposing. Sixty percent backed the end of the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba, with 35 percent for its continuation.”

“The issue of Guantánamo is not on the table in these conversations,” Jacobson told lawmakers. Cuba has raised the issue, she said, but “we are not interested in discussing that.”

The AP report stated that “Jacobson, who testified Tuesday before a Senate panel, traveled last month to Havana for two days of talks. It was the highest-level trip to the island by a U.S. official in 35 years. She plans to resume talks with the Cubans in Washington this month.

“The most immediate goal is embassies. The U.S. says Cuba must first end restrictions on American diplomats, shipments to the current U.S. Interests Section in Havana and entrance by Cubans to that building.

“Cuba’s most pressing demand is an end to banking restrictions, many of which are linked to its U.S. designation as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism.’ The Obama administration is likely to lift Cuba from that list in the next months.

“The AP-GfK poll found self-identified Democrats overwhelmingly in favor of restoring embassies and eliminating the U.S. embargo, which Obama has eased but only Congress can revoke.

“Among Republicans, the blocs are closer. Thirty-four percent want diplomatic relations, with 30 percent opposed. Forty-nine percent want the embargo lifted, with 50 percent believing it should stay.

“The AP-GfK Poll of 1,045 adults was conducted online Jan. 29-Feb. 2, using a sample drawn from GfK’s probability-based KnowledgePanel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

For a quick look at the top-line results of the poll, click here.