My wife says this is to punish Louisiana for voting Landreau out of office. Cuban sugar will wipe out Louisiana’s sugar industry.
Not to minimize this, but the President can only go so far, establishing an embassy, loosening some travel restrictions, allowing those limited travellers permitted to go to Cuba to bring back a certain dollar value in merchandise, without Congress repealing things like Helms-Burton.
From what I can tell the full embargo isn’t being lifted, and can’t be lifted, without act of Congress.