Official Confirms: Obama Will Loosen Cuba Restrictions

Andrew Nagy
Posted: April 6, 2009

President Obama, according to an administration official, plans to lift sanctions on travel and remittances with Cuba in the near future, possibly before the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17.

A source in the Obama administration confirmed with the Wall Street Journal last Friday that the president plans to allow families of Cuban heritage to freely travel to the island as well as send money to relatives.

The news comes not even a month after Obama signed an appropriations bill containing language that loosened U.S. Cuban policy.

The bill, among other things, changed the number of times Cuban Americans can visit relatives on the island nation from once every three years to once a year.

If the speculations turn out to be true, more than 1.5 million Americans who have relatives in Cuba will be affected.

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