The U.S. is keen to assist Cubans struggling against the country’s long-standing, oppressive regime, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton answered to an inquiry on whether the State is implementing a permanent freeze on development work in the Caribbean country.
“We are not in any way taking a position against travel or against the kind of actions that we think will produce positive results,” Clinton said in the Feb. 23 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Clinton added that the U.S. is “engaged in a very intense review” of its positions on Cuba. Clinton also noted that the Obama administration is trying to determine the best ways to help support prisoners of conscience in Cuba as well as secure those who will be travelling to the country on missions to advocate freedom and provide services and supplies.
In December 2009, a U.S. contractor of the U.S. Agency for International Development was arrested and detained by Cuban authorities under unclear circumstances.
