Cuba travel
In February Senator Richard Lugar publicly stated that the embargo was a failure. Now he has sent a letter to Barack Obama, calling for a special envoy to initiate direct talks with Cuba. He also co-sponsored a bill to end all travel restrictions. He places Cuba policy within the context of national security, arguing that being so out of step with the rest of the world undermines our interests.
The end of travel restrictions is now a matter of when, not if. Both Obama and Biden have said they are not going to push for an end to the embargo, but I have a feeling that unlimited travel to Cuba will increase support for ending it. That, too, is a matter of when, not if, but the time horizon could be much longer.
3 comments:
Some Cubans I've talked to here in Havana have mentioned how they don't have the capacity to handle an instant flood of additional U.S. tourists. So there's some fear of it happening all at once instead of gradually, where they can improve infrastructure, etc. I guess there's an element of the "be careful what you wish for" adage. I'll be interested in the Cuban response when the travel ban ends--if they'll limit the number of tourist visas, etc.
Of course they will limit US access to the island. And that has nothing to do with the infrastructure. It's got all to do with fear from US dollars (particularly from the Cuban exiled community) buying up the country.
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