WASHINGTON - President Obama has extended the US trade embargo on Cuba for one year, the White House said yesterday.
The extension was expected and has been the practice of all US presidents dating back to the 1970s under a section of the so-called Trading With the Enemy Act.
Obama extended the embargo even though he has made reaching out to old US foes a key plank in his foreign policy.
There have been signs of a possible thaw in US-Cuban ties since Raul Castro early last year took over as president from his ailing brother Fidel. Fidel Castro had held the post since heading the revolution that ousted the US-backed Batista regime on Jan. 1, 1959.
Obama has sought to reach out to Cuba by easing travel and financial restrictions on Americans with family there. The two countries have said they will hold talks on resuming direct mail links.
However, Obama has also said he will not lift the embargo until Cuba undertakes democratic and economic reforms.
In signing the extension, Obama was taking a symbolic step because existing law, the Helms-Burton Act, requires Congress to take action specifically ending the embargo.
But Obama also bypassed an opportunity to suggest a willingness for easing US-Cuban animosity.
The White House statement renewing the provisions was dated Sept. 11 but was released only yesterday, when the last extension, issued by President George W. Bush, was to expire.
“I hereby determine that the continuation for one year of the exercise of those authorities with respect to Cuba is in the national interest of the United States,’’ Obama said in a memorandum addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
