by Marcus Papadopoulos
BARACK OBAMA has loosened restrictions by presidential decree on Americans travelling to Cuba and sending money to family members on the communist Caribbean island.
The announcement by the US president is a follow-up to his campaign pledge of adopting a less hard-line approach to the country as a way of instigating democratic reforms. During the administration of George W Bush, Cuban Americans experienced major travel restrictions to Cuba.
The Cuban American National Foundation – an influential lobby group on Capitol Hill – welcomed the change in approach. The organisation’s president, Francisco Hernandez, said: “You need two to tango, and so far the US government has taken the first step. Now we have to see what the Cuban government will do.”
Although the easing of travel restrictions to Cuba has been interpreted by some commentators as potentially heralding the beginning of a new dawn in relations between Washington and Havana, formidable impediments remain.
The most major is the trade embargo which has been in place for nearly 50 years. Recently, US Vice President Joe Biden said that the embargo would not be lifted by the Obama government.
However, Mr Obama’s policy towards the communist island may encourage other governments in the world to review their relationship with Havana. The British-based Cuba Solidarity Campaign is encouraging Foreign Secretary David Miliband to visit Cuba.
When asked what the response is of the British government to the US president’s decree, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told Tribune that it was a matter which concerned only Washington and Havana.
It is conceivable that by dispensing with the Bush administration’s hard-line policy towards Cuba, President Obama is hoping that it will discourage the Cuban government from pursuing closer relations with Russia, which has begun to try and regain some of the Soviet Union’s old influence in Latin America.
