Grenell: Obama Threw 'Lifeline' to Cuban Regime 'On the Brink'

Richard Grenell, who served as an adviser to four different UN Ambassadors during the George W. Bush administration, declared that the prisoner swap between the US and Cuba was a “lifeline” that the Obama administration threw to a regime that was “on the brink” on Wednesday’s “Happening Now” on the Fox News Channel.

“I know they say that Alan Gross wasn’t part of this prisoner swap…however, the president said in his remarks, where he didn’t take questions from the press, he said specifically that he called Castro to finalize the last deal and the details for the Alan Gross swap, so we have clearly seen that this is a swap and that is a bad precedent…that sends the message to other regimes ‘take American prisoners because you might get an embassy'” he stated.

Grenell continued, “right now, Eric, is not the time. Because with, over the last several weeks, we’ve seen [oil] prices totally imploding, going from like $100 a barrel, to around $50 a barrel. Venezuela and Russia can no longer support Cuba. The Cuban regime was literally on the brink of disaster, and what happens? Now is the time that President Obama throws the Cuban regime a lifeline. Now is not the time.”

He further argued “if increased commerce was the thing that worked, then we would see the Chinese people having full access to the internet. But we don’t see that.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett