U.S. revises Cuba policy, eases restrictions on remittances, travel

[El Presidente]

May 16, 2022 - 23:30

 

By Daphne Psaledakis, Matt Spetalnick and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Monday announced a series of steps to revise its policy toward Cuba, including easing some Trump-era restrictions on family remittances and travel to the island and sharply increasing the processing of U.S. visas for Cubans.

The measures, which come after a lengthy U.S. government review, mark the most significant changes in the U.S. approach to Havana since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

But the announcement stopped short of returning U.S.-Cuba relations to the historic rapprochement engineered by former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president. That included less crimped flow of remittances, fewer travel curbs and faster visa services.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a statement said the measures announced Monday were to "further support the Cuban people, providing them additional tools to pursue a life free from Cuban government oppression and to seek greater economic opportunities."

The State Department said the United States would lift the cap on family remittances, previously set to $1,000 per quarter, and authorize donative remittances to non-family members.

But it made clear that the United States would not remove entities from the Cuba Restricted List, a State Department list of Cuban government- and military-aligned companies with whom U.S. firms and citizens are barred from doing business.

CONTINUED

[Jai]

A step in the right direction. Thanks for the update!!!!!

[Smokin911]

Please help me out here:   Why do conservative Cuban Americans in south Florida oppose easing restrictions with Cuba.  I'm sure there is an easy answer,  but it is escaping me at the present.  

[wineguy]

1 minute ago, Smokin911 said:

Please help me out here:   Why do conservative Cuban Americans in south Florida oppose easing restrictions with Cuba.  I'm sure there is an easy answer,  but it is escaping me at the present.  

They want the restriction to lead to regime change.

[Chas.Alpha]

1 hour ago, wineguy said:

They want the restriction to lead to regime change.

And this has been entirely successful in the last 70 years... 

[wineguy]

Just now, Chas.Alpha said:

And this has been entirely successful in the last 70 years... 

Agreed...

[Chas.Alpha]

This is a discussion that has labored about this forum for some time. If I elaborate my opinion, I will break the “No American Politics” ban.

 

6 hours ago, wineguy said:

They want the restriction to lead to regime

 Do not forget, some two years ago the US (with a stroke of a presidential pen) declared Cuba a “ State Sponsor of Terrorism.” That takes an act of Congress to overcome. Nobody wants to touch that going into mid term elections. Hence, we delve into forbidden topics...

kinda warms your heart when the Aussies don’t think we’re reasonable enough to have a civil discourse on the subject, don’t you think?... 🤔

[Miguel Gracias]

4 hours ago, Smokin911 said:

Please help me out here:   Why do conservative Cuban Americans in south Florida oppose easing restrictions with Cuba.  I'm sure there is an easy answer,  but it is escaping me at the present.  

They fled when Batista lost his power in Cuba by Castro. most of their properties have been nationalized by the new government of Cuba and haven't got it back since then... one perfect example might be el laguito! 

[BrightonCorgi]

10 hours ago, Miguel Gracias said:

They fled when Batista lost his power in Cuba by Castro. most of their properties have been nationalized by the new government of Cuba and haven't got it back since then... one perfect example might be el laguito! 

Along with executions and imprisonment; still going on. 

[ElJavi76]

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1944/08/richard-wright-communist/618821/
 

I’ll just leave this here for those who wish to read.

I find it curious when folks that have never lived a day under communism like to tell people who escaped it how to feel. 

[Kaptain Karl]

A step in the right direction would be regime change and the liberalization of the oppressed Cuban people. 

[dgixxer252525]

The government just made journalism illegal and has thousands imprisoned for no reason at all. 
 

Javi is right about living in it. It’s a different animal when you live there.

Biden doing this is like giving a violent guy on death row antibiotics to make sure he is healthy while awaiting his demise. 
 

nothing will change for the people outside of the tourist areas. Same as last time everyone was duped by the Cuban government. 

[El Presidente]

A cynic would say that USA and Cuban Governments need each other to be just as they are. 

 

[SCgarman]

23 hours ago, Kaptain Karl said:

A step in the right direction would be regime change and the liberalization of the oppressed Cuban people. 

Problem is no country is going to go into Cuba and neutralize the government. And for a successful coup it takes an armed resistance. The citizens of Cuba don't have that capability unfortunately and likely never will. Cuba is a police state run by the military 

[RichG]

On 5/19/2022 at 9:12 PM, ElJavi76 said:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1944/08/richard-wright-communist/618821/
 

I’ll just leave this here for those who wish to read.

I find it curious when folks that have never lived a day under communism like to tell people who escaped it how to feel. 

Great read, thanks for that. 

[ElJavi76]

6 hours ago, RichG said:

Great read, thanks for that. 

In Spanish we have a saying…

No es lo mismo llamar al diablo que verlo llegar.

Loosely translated, it means it’s not the same thing to invoke the devil as it is to watch him arrive. I see so many here in America flirting with and inviting some of these authoritarian policies, but what they don’t know is that these folks eat their own. If you aren’t in lockstep with everything they decide then you’re an enemy.

I thought the article was a great glimpse into the world of the communists. The rumors. The “chivatos”/informants making up stories and having those be accepted as fact. Ultimately, how they break down an innocent man into thinking he’s done wrong by isolating him. 
 

I personally don’t have any wishes of reparations or land or whatever… I’d simply wish for the communists to be gone. Non-negotiable from where I sit. GTFO! You ruined a once beautiful island and made it into a pile of rubble. 

[BrightonCorgi]

No matter who is in control of Cuba, it's likely to be corrupt and authoritarian.  That being said; I'd take the capitalist dictator over a communist regime. 

 

5 hours ago, ElJavi76 said:

 I see so many here in America flirting with and inviting some of these authoritarian policies, but what they don’t know is that these folks eat their own. If you aren’t in lockstep with everything they decide then you’re an enemy.

They can go from "next great leader" to "should be locked up" faster than a McLaren does 0-60