The State Department announced on Monday (16) a series of measures aimed at supporting the Cuban people, including the reinstatement of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program and the increase in consular services and visa processing.
“We will make it easier for families to visit their relatives in Cuba and for authorized US travelers to engage with the Cuban people, participate in meetings and conduct research,” Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
The Biden administration is also raising the family remittance limit to $1,000 per quarter “and will support donation remittances for Cuban entrepreneurs, both with the aim of further empowering families to support each other and for entrepreneurs to expand their businesses.” said Price.
President Joe Biden pledged in September 2020, during the campaign, that he would “try to reverse Trump’s failed policies that have inflicted harm on Cubans and their families.” His government had been carrying out a review of the former president’s measures in Cuba since the Democrat took office in January 2021.
How Biden handles Cuba could have political implications, as he lost Florida to Trump in the 2020 election after the former president repeatedly claimed that Biden would turn the US into a “socialist country” if he won, a message that resonated with the Cuban Americans.
The announced changes to Cuba’s policy came after a lengthy review ordered by the president and represent the biggest political steps towards the island since Biden took office.
However, the current administration has failed to fully reinstate the Obama administration’s approach to Cuba, leaving some restrictions in place and maintaining sanctions on certain entities.
The US maintains a ban on American tourism in Cuba and on individuals traveling there for educational purposes, even after loosening some Trump-era restrictions.
But the changes will expand the number of commercial and charter flights to Cuba, including to cities beyond Havana, and allow more Americans to interact with the Cuban people through authorized group visits.
Doing so “will enable greater engagement among the American people and their democratic values,” said a senior administration official.
The U.S. still plans to process immigrant visas at its embassy in Guyana as it works to rehabilitate its facilities in Havana, which have been reduced in size after as-yet-unexplained health incidents among diplomats and officials.
Biden instructed his staff to increase the number of staff at the embassy, in part to make it easier to apply for immigrant visas.
The announcement comes as Biden faces a decision on whether to invite Cuban leaders to the upcoming Summit of Americans, which will be held in Los Angeles in early June. Officials insisted the announced changes are unrelated to the summit and the controversy surrounding the possible exclusion of certain leaders in the region.
“We should focus on addressing a whole range of shared challenges across the region and not just focus on the summit on who shows up and who doesn’t,” said one official.
Another official described the changes as “practical steps we are taking to address the humanitarian situation and respond to the needs of the Cuban people.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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