Mauricio Claver-Carone to leave Trump administration

The State Department’s special envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone told Bloomberg he is leaving the Trump administration later this month. The reason he gave was that his position has not been confirmed by the Senate. The announcement was unexpected and one media outlet – Buenos Aires-based La Política Online – has suggested that Claver-Carone’s departure was the result of “strong differences” with Secretary of State Marco, a fellow Cuban-American hardliner who has been considered a close ally.

This would be good news for Cuba. Claver-Carone was instrumental in Trump’s “maximum pressure” Cuba policy during his first term. In recent months, Claver-Carone has said the U.S. can be “very creative” in bringing about regime change, which he said was “imminent.”

State Department’s special envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone