The U.S. moved closer Tuesday to restoring regular air travel to Cuba, with several airlines lobbying for access to the island nation and President Obama easing restrictions on visitors.
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The new measures will allow Americans to travel more easily to Cuba independently for educational, cultural and other authorized purposes without having to go in organized group tours, creating new cracks in a longstanding US ban on general tourism to the island.
Rhodes said the Cuban government should consider its own legal changes “to increase the impact” of the relaxed USA restrictions, including ending a 10 percent penalty on dollar conversions in Cuba, an “irritant” for Americans.
Today we are building on this progress by facilitating travel for additional Americans looking to engage with Cubans.
Plenty of activities could fall under that category, and the White House suggested it wouldn’t be splitting hairs.
Enacted by the Departments of Treasury and Commerce, these are the most significant regulatory steps so far on the path that Obama and Cuban president Raúl Castro laid out in December toward normalizing relations. And while European cruise ships now make regular appearances in Havana harbor, US lines have yet to receive Cuban approval months after getting the OK from the Treasury Department.
Despite that, Obama told CNN en Espanol he believes Congress will remove the embargo in the next administration, whether led by a Democrat or a Republican – though he acknowledged there were not yet enough votes.
The announcement comes one day before the two countries will resume postal service and five days before Obama will visit Cuba from March 20 to 22.
Gross spoke to the media Tuesday morning about what he endured during his five-year detainment in Cuba and touched on his thoughts of President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to the island.
Yet it was unclear whether Cuba would respond by easing its own barriers on U.S.travel and commerce, including a requirement that USA companies operating in Cuba hire workers through a state-run agency, a key US sticking point.
President William J. Hauf said the company halted the Baltimore flights previous year, but he would consider starting them again if more people showed interest.
The Obama administration has announced changes regarding travel to Cuba.
The administration Tuesday also released new rules that will make it easier for Americans to travel to and trade with Cuba. Flake called it a big step when combined with agreements to allow regularly scheduled flights between the US and Cuba.
Among other things, US banks will also be allowed to open bank accounts in the USA for people living in Cuba and vessels will be permitted to transport cargo from the U.S.to Cuba and then sail to other countries.
For example USA banks can now participate in so-called U-turn transactions, in which dollar payments can pass through a US bank as long as the two parties on either end of the deal are non-U.S. entities.
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The Associated Press contributed reporting.
