Cuba remains a one-party authoritarian state with a poor record on human rights. Current President Raúl Castro succeeded his long-ruling brother Fidel Castro in 2006, and he is expected to step down in April 2018. Most observers see First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel as the "heir apparent" as president, although Raúl likely will continue in his position as first secretary of Cuba's Communist Party. Under Raúl, Cuba has implemented gradual market-oriented economic policy changes over the past decade, but critics maintain that the government has not taken enough action to foster sustainable economic growth. Few observers expect the government to ease its tight control over the political system, especially as the country approaches its political succession in 2018. U.S. Policy Congress has played an active role in shaping policy toward Cuba, including the enactment of legislation strengthening and at times easing various U.S. economic sanctions. Since the early 1960s, the centerpiece of U.S. policy has consisted of economic sanctions aimed at isolating the Cuban government. In December 2014, however, the Obama Administration initiated a major Cuba policy shift, moving away from sanctions toward a policy of engagement and a normalization of relations. The policy change included the restoration of diplomatic relations (July 2015); the rescission of Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of international terrorism (May 2015); and an increase in travel, commerce, and the flow of information to Cuba. To implement this third step, the Treasury and Commerce Departments eased the embargo regulations five times, in such areas as travel, remittances, trade, telecommunications, and financial services. President Trump unveiled a new policy toward Cuba in June 2017 that partially rolls back some of the Obama Administration's efforts to normalize relations. The most significant regulatory changes (effective November 9, 2017) include restrictions on transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban military and the elimination of individual people-to-people travel. In response to unexplained injuries of U.S. personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, the State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency personnel from Cuba in September 2017 and subsequently ordered the departure of 15 Cuban diplomats from the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC, in October. Legislative Activity There are contrasting congressional views on the appropriate U.S. policy approach toward Cuba. In the 115th Congress, debate over Cuba policy is continuing, especially with regard to U.S. economic sanctions. To date, several bills have been introduced to ease or lift economic sanctions altogether: H.R. 351 and S. 1287 (travel); H.R. 442/S. 472 and S. 1286 (some economic sanctions); H.R. 498 (telecommunications); H.R. 525 (agricultural exports and investment); H.R. 572 (agricultural and medical exports and travel); H.R. 574, H.R. 2966, and S. 1699 (overall embargo); and S. 275 (private financing for U.S. agricultural exports). Among its provisions, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 provided $20 million in democracy assistance for Cuba and $28.1 million for Cuba broadcasting for FY2017. For FY2018, the Trump Administration did not request any democracy assistance for Cuba, but it requested $23.7 million for Cuba broadcasting; for FY2019, it is requesting $10 million in democracy assistance and $13.7 million for Cuba broadcasting. The House Appropriations Committee's FY2018 foreign aid appropriations bill would provide $30 million in democracy assistance and $28.1 million for Cuba broadcasting and would prohibit funding for a U.S. diplomatic presence in Cuba beyond that in place in December 2014. The Senate Appropriations Committee's version of the measure, S. 1780, would provide $15 million in democracy assistance and $28.6 million for Cuba broadcasting. Several other House appropriations bills have Cuba policy provisions that would tighten san