The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Monday that he will restore commercial flights to Cubawhich only reached the city of Havana, and that will suspend the limit of 1,000 dollars per quarter on remittancesreversing some of the harshest measures of the Donald Trump administration. The Cuban government considered that the measures announced by the United States are “positive” but of “very limited scope.”
The news was communicated by the Department of State and the spokesman for the portfolio, Ned Price. “With these actions we intend to support the aspirations of freedom and greater economic opportunities of Cubans so that they can lead a successful life at home. We continue to call on the Cuban government to immediately release political prisoners, to respect the fundamental freedoms of the people, and to allow them to determine their own future,” Price said in an official statement.
Thus, it was specified that both commercial flights and charter flights will be restored and that it will allow some for certain purposes, such as those for educational purposes or related to professional purposes, that former President Trump had restricted
Travel by groups of Americans destined to make contact with the Cuban people, known in English as “people to people travel“, but individual visits of this kind will continue to be prohibited.
Until now, US airlines might only fly to Havana, leaving Cuban-Americans with few options to visit relatives in other parts of the island.
Likewise, the department commanded by Anthony Blinken announced that will increase its support to Cuban entrepreneurs with authorizations to access electronic commerce platformsamong other actions.
The policy change comes following an internal review within the Biden Administration, following the July 11 anti-government demonstrations on the island.
After these frictions, representatives of the US and Cuba met in Washington in April to discuss migration issues, in the first high-level dialogue between the two countries since Biden’s arrival at the White House.
The Cuban response
The Cuban government I consider that the announced measures they are “positive” but “very limited in scope”. This was expressed by the Foreign Ministry in a statement detailing that the measures will include issues related to visas, regular migration, flights to provinces, remittances and adjustments to regulations for transactions with the “non-state” sector.
“It is possible to identify some of the promises of President Biden during the 2020 election campaign to alleviate inhuman decisions made by the administration of President (Donald) Trump, which tightened the blockade to unprecedented levels and the policy of ‘maximum pressure’ applied once morest our country since then, “the statement said.
Cuba considers that the announcements of the US Executive “they do not modify the lock at all” towards their country, nor do they eliminate the main economic measures taken by Trump.
“It does not reverse the arbitrary and fraudulent inclusion of Cuba on the State Department’s list of countries that are allegedly sponsors of terrorism, one of the main causes of the difficulties that Cuba encounters for its commercial and financial transactions in many parts of the world. ”, says the text.
For the government led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, this is “a limited step in the right direction” which responds “to the denunciation of the Cuban people and government.”
“This has been a demand from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and almost all the member states of the United Nations, expressed in the overwhelming vote once morest the blockade. They are fair demands that have been ignored by the United States government at a very high cost for our population, ”he notes.
In addition, the Cuban government assures that it has “provision” to “initiate a respectful and equal dialogue” with the United States.