Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
39 p., Restrictions on travel to Cuba have been a key and often contentious component in US efforts to isolate Cuba's communist government since the early 1960s. Under the George W. Bush Administration, restrictions on travel and on private remittances to Cuba were tightened. Congress took action in March 2009 by including two provisions in the FY2009 omnibus appropriations measure (P.L. 111-8) that eased restrictions on family travel and travel related to marketing and sale of agricultural and medical goods to Cuba -- Subsequently, in April 2009, President Obama announced that his Administration would go further and allow unlimited family travel and remittances. Tables.
Campaigning in 2007, Barack Obama promised to end restrictions on remittances and family travel to Cuba, resume "people-to-people" contracts, and engage Cuba on issues of mutual interest. As President, Obama has declared his desire to forge a new "equal partnership" with Latin America. Two months later, the 39th General Assembly of the Organization of American States voted to repeal the 1962 resolution that suspended Cuba fro its ranks.
After Soviet aid and trade ended Cuba was forced to reintegrate into the capitalist world economy. Needing hard currency, the government transformed the diaspora into a dollar attaining strategy, by facilitating and tacitly encouraging remittance-sending. Ordinary Cubans themselves wanted remittances to finance a lifestyle they could not otherwise afford. Despite their shared interest in remittances, the government increasingly appropriated remittances at recipients' expense.
Beszterczey,Dora (Author), Fernandez,Damian J. (Author), and Gomez,Andy S. (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
Aug 2010
Published:
Washington, DC: Latin America Initiative at Brookings
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
5 p., Last year, President Obama delivered the first step in his promise to reach out to the Cuban people and support their desire for freedom and self-determination. Premised on the belief that Cuban Americans are the best ambassadors for freedom in Cuba, the Obama administration lifted restrictions on travel and remittances by Cuban Americans; however, if US policy is to be truly forward looking it must further expand its focus from the Castro government to the well-being of the Cuban people. Tables.
