WASHINGTON (AP) – Following through on its declaration of warming ties with Cuba, the Obama administration has eased travel restrictions and opened a wide range of new export opportunities with the communist island.
The series of executive branch moves, taken together, have had the effect of punching a large hole in America’s half-century-old embargo. Although only Congress has the authority to fully end the 54-year embargo. President Barack Obama announced last month that he would soften the restrictions.
He argued at the time that “these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked.” The new spirit of cooperation emerged after 18 months of secret talks that culminated in the exchange of imprisoned spies and the release of Alan Gross, a U.S. government contractor who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years.
Less than a month after the Cold War foes agreed to end their enmity, the Commerce and Treasury departments unveiled new rules Thursday permitting U.S. citizens to visit Cuba without special permits.
Most U.S. travelers still will be required to go on supervised group trips, but now virtually any U.S. company or organization can offer such trips without the paperwork and inspections that discouraged past expansion of travel to Cuba. Some tour operators, already seeing unprecedented interest in legal travel to Cuba, expect some tourists to simply ignore the restrictions.