Washington to relax restrictions on remittances, travel to Cuba

Washington (CNN) — The federal government will loosen restrictions on U.S. relations with Cuba beginning in about weeks, a top White House official said Friday.

Dan Restrepo, a special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council, said the changes will allow greater leeway for religious and educational trips to the communist island and will let U.S. citizens send up to $500 in remittances every three months to any Cuban who is not connected with the government,.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, dismissed the move toward rapprochement.

“These changes will not help better human rights nor will they help Cubans free themselves of the tyranny that surrounds them,” she said in a statement. The changes “will just bring economic benefits to the Cuban regime,” she said.