Obama Wants Remittances To Cuba - President Barack Obama plans to lift U.S. restrictions on family travel and money remittances to Cuba, according to the Wall Street Journal. Obama indicated his intention to ease the current restrictions last May during a visit to Miami while on the presidential campaign trail. The move is seen as a signal of a new attitude toward both the communist nation of Cuba and other Latin American countries that have encouraged the U.S. to alter its current policies.
The president also spoke of his willingness to meet with Raul Castro, who succeeded his elder brother Fidel to become Cuba’s first new leader in almost 50 years. Current U.S. rules, tightened by the Bush administration in 2004, restrict families to one visit every three years and limit money remittances to $300 every three months.
Obama received just 35% of the Cuban American vote in the presidential election of 2008, but won the state of Florida by 51% to 48%, which provides him room to adjust policy without fearing he might lose the state in a re-election campaign in 2012. |
