Obama Eases Restrictions on Travel to Cuba, Remittances

Jens Erik Gould
Bloomberg
January 14, 2011

President Barack Obama will ease travel restrictions to Cuba, allowing educational and church groups greater freedom to visit the communist country.

The plans announced today will allow higher education institutions to sponsor travel to Cuba for course work, a White House statement said. American citizens will also be allowed to send as much as $500 every three months to Cuban citizens who aren’t part of the Castro administration or members of the Communist Party, it said...

...“This is long overdue,” said Christopher Sabatini, policy director of the Council of the Americas business group, in a phone interview. “This is the way you break down mistrust and build human contact and understanding.”

Sabatini said that since Republicans won midterm elections in November, there is “very little appetite” in congress to move forward initiatives that would allow any U.S. citizen to travel to Cuba.

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