Moving swiftly, US eases travel and trade rules on Cuba

The Obama administration, following through on its declaration of warming ties with Cuba, has eased travel restrictions and opened a wide range of new export opportunities with the communist island.
The series of executive branch moves, taken together, have had the effect of punching a large hole in America's half-century-old embargo, although only Congress has the authority to fully end the 54-year embargo. President Barack Obama announced last month that he would soften the restrictions, and a new set of government regulations took effect today.
Obama argued at the time that "these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked." The new spirit of cooperation emerged after 18 months of secret talks that culminated in the exchange of imprisoned spies and the release of Alan Gross, a US government contractor who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years.

Less than a month after the Cold War foes agreed to end their enmity, the US Commerce and Treasury departments unveiled new rules yesterday permitting US citizens to visit Cuba without special permits.
Most US travelers still will be required to go on supervised group trips, but now virtually any US company or organization can offer such trips without the paperwork and inspections that discouraged past expansion of travel to Cuba.
Some tour operators, already seeing unprecedented interest in legal travel to Cuba, expect some tourists to simply ignore the restrictions.

American companies also now will be permitted to export telephones, computers and Internet technology, and to send supplies to private Cuban firms. However, Cuban authorities have said nothing about the restrictions they might impose on US products entering a country that has long frustrated foreign investors with bureaucratic obstacles and tapped-out infrastructure.

The changes are the latest step in Obama's plan to rebuild relations with Cuba after a history marred by suspicion, espionage and conflict. The new regulations come three days after US officials confirmed the release of 53 political prisoners Cuba had promised to free.
The US is now "one step closer to replacing out-of-date policies," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said yesterday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the new rules "immediately enable the American people to provide more resources to empower the Cuban population to become less dependent upon the state-driven economy.