US President Donald Trump accuses Cuba of despotism

Washington : The US President Donald Trump on Saturday accused Cuba's communist government of despotism but said it would never be able to extinguish its people's desire for freedom.

Trump's remarks were included in a White House statement congratulating Cuban-Americans and the Cuban people on the Caribbean island's independence day, which is celebrated on May 20, Efe reported.

"The Cuban people deserve a government that peacefully upholds democratic values, economic liberties, religious freedoms and human rights, and my administration is committed to achieving that vision," Trump said.

During the campaign, Trump was the only Republican candidate who supported then-President Barack Obama's decision to restore full diplomatic ties with Cuba, but he later adopted a harsher line toward the island as he pursued votes in the all-important state of Florida, home to a large Cuban exile population.

Shortly before his successor's inauguration, Obama said Trump and his team would realise that it made no sense to, among other things, bar US residents from traveling to Cuba and stop US companies from investing on the island while the rest of the world is able to do those things.