Thursday, sailors from both the Unites States and Cuba competed in an annual regatta race from Miami to Havana. Friday, both sides worry if the recently revived battle will continue.
With President Donald Trump saying he is only willing to continue restoring relations with the island nation if a “better deal” is made, sailor from both sides wonder if 2017 may be the last edition.
"We're optimistic. We believe that at least in this first semester we will be able to develop all our events and that nothing should happen (regarding US and Cuban relations),” said Jose Miguel Diaz, an official with the Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club in Havana.
The event – organized with boating clubs from Key West and other areas – resumed in 2015 for the first time in over a decade as former President Barack Obama looked to thaw the previously cold relations that had been existing since the 1960’s.
Business is still restricted between the counties as the longstanding embargo still exist. The Trump administration and some Republican members of Congress have said they will continue working to keep those restrictions in place unless a new deal is worked out.
