The Obama administration made some changes to Cuba travel and remittance policy. But further easing of Cuba policy will face resistance from the new U.S. Congress.

An AS/COA Online interview with New Mexico’s governor covers topics ranging from the need for a hemispheric security pact to the shifting U.S.-Cuban relationship. Richardson also urged for comprehensive immigration reform, warning of “continued division” without it.

Two Cuba experts debate whether the U.S. should maintain the status quo.

"If done carefully, further reforms hold the promise of breaking the policy and human rights stasis that has gripped Cuba, and U.S. policy towards Cuba, for more than half a century. That is a prize worth grasping," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in the Financial Times.

"Any and all changes to the U.S. embargo must first and foremost be geared toward strengthening the hand of the island’s independent sectors," says AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in this report published by the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin America Program.

It's time for the United States to ease restrictions and promote development of IT services in Cuba, writes Carlos Saladrigas of the Cuba Study Group in an op-ed for The Miami Herald.

AS/COA, in conjunction with the Brookings Institute and the Cuba Study Group, held a panel on findings of the new working paper Empowering the Cuban People through Technology. The paper recommends loosening restrictions on U.S. telecom firms to boost Cuba’s access to IT and the Internet.