New U.S. regulations for family visits to Cuba
New
regulations for family visits to Cuba from the United States came
into effect on March 11. The announcement from OFAC, the branch of
the U.S. Treasury Department that supervises the embargo against
Cuba, eliminates the cruel restrictions imposed by the Bush
administration in June 2004 at the request of elected officials of
Cuban origin.
The
new regulations establish the possibility of traveling on a family
visit once every 12 months, under a general license. They also
establish emergency provisions to travel more than once a year, by
asking the Treasury Department for a specific license. Under the
previous restrictions, there were no emergency provisions — the
cruelest of the restrictions.
The
range of relatives that may be visited is broadened in the new
regulations. Travelers may visit blood relatives as far as three
generations back, including relatives acquired through marriage or
adoption. Also, persons sharing a home as a family may accompany a
traveler defined as a "relative," even if they don’t have a
relative to visit. The previous regulations limited the definition of
"family" to the point that they didn’t consider cousins and
uncles/aunts as legal relatives deserving a visit.
The
period of permanence authorized for family visits is expanded from 14
days maximum (in the previous regulations) to unlimited permanence.
The
daily expense budget of US$50 authorized by the Bush-imposed
regulations is increased to US$179 a day, maximum, in the new
regulations.
In
practice, these new regulations reestablish the conditions for family
trips that existed during the Clinton administration.
The
limiting and cruel regulations established by Bush and his
influential friends in the United States’ Cuban-American community
obligated tens of thousands of persons to violate U.S. law to meet
family needs, creating a climate of anxiety and increasing the cost
of travel.
The
regulations now in effect are a great relief from those in place for
almost five years. However, they have returned to what existed in the
past and no advances have been made to solve family needs by legal
means. Even with the regulations in effect from March 11, many people
will be forced to continue to break the law because of family needs,
and the Treasury Department will continue to spend resources on
controls that are inapplicable.
While
a candidate, President Obama promised in Miami that he would
eliminate all absurd regulations that might hinder the necessary
relations between families on both sides of the Straits. The
relations between Cuban families must be as normal as those between
families of other origins living in the United States: Mexicans,
Dominicans, Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentines and others.
While
awaiting for the fulfillment of the President’s promise, the
regulations now in effect give us temporary relief from the cruelty
and absurdity.
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SEND A MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA ASKING HIM TO MAKE GOOD ON HIS
PROMISE, CLICK
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