Jeb Bush on Cuba: U.S. Shouldn't Negotiate With 'Repressive Regime'

Potential GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush has pushed back on President Barack Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba, saying the U.S. shouldn't be negotiating with the communist nation until it changed its own human rights record, USA Today reported.

Bush, speaking at an event in Florida as Obama made a surprise announcement to end 50 years of sanctions with Cuba, praised the return of American prisoner Alan Gross, but said he believed the president was misguided.

"I don't think we should be negotiating with a repressive regime to make changes in our relationship [until Cuba changes]," Bush said.

His remarks came as Obama made a historic move to reopen diplomatic relations with Cuba with an eye on setting up an embassy in Havana and other exchanges that would benefit both nations.

Other presidential hopefuls are expected to issue their own statements as details emerge on the new accord, The Hill noted.

Bush, a former Florida governor who moved to the Sunshine State in the '80s, has bonded with the Cuban exile community there, the Sun-Sentinel reported. He had previously argued for strengthening the U.S.'s long-standing embargo with the communist nation.

"I would argue that instead of lifting the embargo we should consider strengthening it again to put pressure on the Cuban regime," Bush said earlier this month to cheers as he spoke at a meeting of the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC, the Sun-Sentinel said.

"Literally, hundreds of thousands of people travel to Cuba from the United States, spending billions of dollars," Bush told the group. "Would lifting the embargo change the fact that the government receives almost all of the money that comes from these well-intended people that travel to the island?"

One academic expert said Bush's position tracks with most that of many conservatives within his party, the Sun-Sentinel added.

"[Bush's] political base has always been the most conservative wing of the Cuban-American community," Cuban policy expert William LeoGrande, a professor of government at American University, told the Sun-Sentinel.