Cuba – US lifts series of international sanctions

The United States announced Monday (16) that it will continue to relax restrictions on immigration, money transfers and flights imposed on Cuba under President Donald Trump.

Washington’s announcement is the result of a policy review of Havana, which President Joe Biden promised when he visited the White House in January 2021, but began to take shape after the historic protests that rocked Cuba in July last year.

“Through these measures, we intend to support Cuba’s aspirations for independence and greater economic opportunities so that they can lead successful lives at home,” State Department spokeswoman Nate Price said in a statement.

The Biden government has announced the resumption of the CFRP Family Reunification Program for Cubans, which has been suspended since 2017. Created in 2007, it allows U.S. citizens or residents to travel to the United States with their relatives in Cuba to apply for a job. Let there be when your legal citizenship status is processed.

He also promised to increase the processing capacity of visa applications in Havana.

In addition, he said he would remove the current limit of US $ 1,000 per family remittance per sender-recipient pair and authorize remittances from donations, i.e. non-family remittances in favor of “independent Cuban entrepreneurs”.

However, the State Department stated that these financial flows should not “enrich” individuals or organizations that violate human rights.

Biden management will increase the number of flights between the United States and the island, authorizing service to cities other than Havana. Allow specific group travel that is currently prohibited.

However, he made it clear that personal trips would not be re-enacted.

“The administration’s (Biden) policy toward Cuba focuses on supporting the Cuban people, including their human rights and their political and economic well-being,” Price said.

“We continue to call on the Cuban government to release political prisoners immediately, to respect the fundamental freedoms of the Cuban people, and to allow the Cuban people to determine their future,” he added.

– “defined step” –

Cuba acknowledged the progress of the operation, but insisted that it would not “change the embargo” that had been in place since 1962.

“The announcement of the US government is a definite step in the right direction,” the Cuban foreign minister said on Twitter. , Bruno Rodrஸ்guez.

“This decision does not change the siege.

Trump modified the opening of the island, promoted by his predecessor Democrat Barack Obama (2009-2017), and strengthened the US-imposed embargo on Cuba to force regime change.

Biden, Obama’s former vice president, surprised viewers by overwhelmingly supporting Trump’s decision.

“Today’s announcement risks sending the wrong message to the wrong people at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons,” said Bob Menendez, an influential Democrat senator who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mendes warned that the government of Miguel Das-Colonel was “continuing to persecute countless Cubans” for participating in the July protests, and denied that further travel to Cuba would “create democracy” on the island under one-party communist rule. From the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.