Apr 4, 2009 4:52 pm US/Eastern
Report: Obama To Lift Travel Restrictions On Cuba
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ―
President Obama plans to lift a long-standing U.S. restriction on family travel and remittances to Cuba, according to a U.S. senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Obama made the promise to ease travel restrictions last May during a stop in Miami while on the campaign trail.
The move is likely meant as a signal of a new attitude toward both the communist nation and other Latin American countries that have pressed the U.S. to alter its policy.
Democrats in Congress are also moving to loosen restrictions on family travel to Cuba, but Obama plans to use presidential powers to ease the rules on his own.
The president is not expected to call for lifting of the trade embargo against Cuba saying that would require congressional action.
Timing of the announcement comes before this month's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.
During the presidential campaign, Obama pledged to allow unlimited family travel and remittances to Cuba.
"It's time to let Cuban-Americans see their mothers and fathers, their sisters and their brothers," he said in a speech last May in Miami. "It's time to let Cuban-American money make their families less dependent on the Castro regime."
Obama signed legislation on March 11th that struck down Bush administration rules that limited Cuban travel to just two weeks every three years and limited visits to immediate family members.
Now, Americans with relatives in Cuba are allowed to visit once a year with no limits on how long they can stay. They are allowed to spend up to $179 a day and the regulations will be in place until the current budget year ends on September 30th.
Already, some local charter companies that fly to Cuba are anticipating more business.
"I just hired two people in the last month expecting this," said ABC Charters owner Tessie Aral.
Marlene Arzola is among the 1.5 million Americans affected by the changes and plans to travel to Cuba soon.
"I'm going to Guantanamo to visit my mom, my neighbors, my aunts, my uncles," Arzola said.
Arzola testified before Congress last year telling lawmakers Cuban-Americans who visit the island provide a window to the outside world for Cubans living under communism.
"They cannot watch other news so when people come it's a wall we are breaking. It's a brick on the wall," Arzola said.
She said the restrictions the prevented her from visiting Cuba more often were aimed at hurting the Castro regime economically.
But opponents say the price was too high because it kept families apart.
"As the freedom we have in the United States, we should be free to chose where we go and not go. And where we spend our money or not," Aral said.
Fidel Castro said last May that Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.
Obama spoke with CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami last May and had this to say about Cuba:
"I'm not in favor of lifting the embargo but I am in favor of lifting the restrictions on travel between Cuban Americans and their families and remittances so that they can send money back to their families in Cuba."
Obama said that he would maintain the nearly fifty-year-old trade sanctions against Cuba as leverage to push for democratic change on the island.
The president also spoke of his willingness to meet with Raul Castro, who in February succeeded his elder brother Fidel to become the communist nation's first new leader in 49 years.
"I think that is part of a process of exploring whether or not Raul Castro is willing to start liberalizing in Cuba," Obama told WFOR. "I do want to see some low level direct talks initiated there to explore the possibilities of change there."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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