Obama Said to Consider Easing U.S. Travel Restrictions to Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Obama Said to Consider Easing U.S. Travel Restrictions to Cuba
August 07, 2010, 12:28 AM EDT
By Jens Erik Gould and Nicole Gaouette

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama may ease travel restrictions on Cuba, allowing more Americans to visit the island on educational and cultural trips, said a U.S. official who declined to be named because he isn’t authorized to speak on the subject.

Obama first loosened travel rules on Cuba last year, making it easier for Cuban-Americans to visit and send money to relatives on the Caribbean island in a bid to help “promote the freer flow of information,” according to a White House statement. The official didn’t give additional details on what the changes would be.

Current rules allow Americans to travel to Cuba on educational and cultural trips if they are students or employees at qualifying universities and meet a set of additional requirements, such as doing research toward a graduate degree. All Cuba travel must be approved by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The broader travel ban is designed to isolate the Castro regime and keep hard currency out of the country.

Asked if the administration is considering easing the travel rules, Michael Hammer, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in an e-mail yesterday: “We will continue to pursue policies that advance the U.S. national interest and support the Cuban people’s desire to freely determine their country’s future.”

More:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-07/obama-said-to-consider-easing-u-s-travel-restrictions-to-cuba.html

[Billy Burnett]

1. The travel rules are on Americans and US residents (not Cuba).

I love the doublespeak of implying that the ban is on Cuba, when it is a ban on Americans and US residents by our own gov.

Aside from being a desired destination for Americans, Cuba has nothing to do with it.

[flamingdem]

2. Hey wait a minute, this is about to get voted on so...

is this an administration issue? I guess that means Obama will not veto if it passes.

[dipsydoodle]

3. keep hard currency out of the country ?

To the best of my knowledge they don't want US$'s anyway. Cuba's preference is for Euros and there's diddlyshit Obama or her can do about that.