thy's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

President Barack Obama will be lifting travel restrictions to Cuba.  Current restrictions limiting what goods can be sent to the island nation will be eased as well, however the United States trade embargo will stay in place for the time being.  The moves will be officially announced this afternoon and greater details will be known at that time, but the early word leaking out of The White House is that the easing on restrictions is directed toward making it easier for Cuban-Americans to visit and send packages to their relatives in Cuba.

President Clinton while in office had also eased restrictions on Cuba travel and packages.  But George W. Bush took a much harder line upon assuming office and set policy back to its stringent practice before Clinton. The point of having any restrictions on Cuban travel or trade seem absolutely ridiculous after seeing the policies have little effect on Cuba after nearly 50 years.

You can takepart in finding out more about normalization of relations with Cuba by checking out the US Cuba Normalization blog.

LINKS:

Miami Herald: Restrictions on Cuban Americans’ travel to Cuba to be lifted

AFP: Obama lifting Cuba travel, money restrictions

CNN International: Obama to ease Cuba travel restrictions