Clinton to call for lifting embargo with Cuba

July 29, 2015 at 1:14 p.m.

by The Associated Press

In this July 23, 2015, photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at a campaign event in Columbia, S.C. In her second pass at the presidency, Clinton has made discussing “systemic racism” a hallmark of her campaign as she looks to connect with the black voters who helped propel President Barack Obama to the White House. At multiple campaign stops, she bemoaned "mass incarceration," an uneven economy, increasingly segregated public schools, and poisoned relationships between police and the black community. She praised South Carolina leaders, including Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, for removing the Confederate battle from statehouse grounds after a white gunman’s June massacre of nine churchgoers at a historic black congregation in Charleston. But she warned that the act is symbolic.
In this July 23, 2015, photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at a campaign event in Columbia, S.C. In her second pass at the presidency, Clinton has made discussing “systemic racism” a hallmark of her campaign as she looks to connect with the black voters who helped propel President Barack Obama to the White House. At multiple campaign stops, she bemoaned "mass incarceration," an uneven economy, increasingly segregated public schools, and poisoned relationships between police and the black community. She praised South Carolina leaders, including Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, for removing the Confederate battle from statehouse grounds after a white gunman’s June massacre of nine churchgoers at a historic black congregation in Charleston. But she warned that the act is symbolic.

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign says she will call for lifting the embargo with Cuba in a Florida address on Friday.

In the speech, Clinton will side with President Barack Obama, who normalized relations with the island nation in December, and deride her Republican presidential opponents for pushing what her campaign calls the "failed policies of the past."

Clinton has previously advocated lifting the embargo, writing in her book "Hard Choices" that she recommended the president take another look at the trade prohibition.

Action by Congress is required to formally lift the sanctions.

GOP presidential candidates Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have criticized the Obama administration's push to normalize relations with Cuba. The issue is of particular importance to Cuban-Americans voters in Florida.

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