Meeting one of his major campaign promises, US President Barack Obama has announced a series of changes in America's policy to reach out to the Cuban people in support of their desire to freely determine their country's future.
Bringing cheers to more than 1.5 million Cuban-Americans, the Obama Administration said on Monday it has lifted all restrictions related to the travel of family members to Cuba and removed restrictions on remittances to their family members in the island.
These moves, the White House said, would help bridge the gap among divided Cuban families and promote the freer flow of information and humanitarian items to the Cuban people.
"The President has directed the Secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce to carry out the actions necessary to lift all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit family members in Cuba, and to send them remittances," White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs told media persons.
Obama has further directed that steps be taken to enable the freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people, Gibbs said.
The new measures further authorise greater telecom links with Cuba to advance people-to-people interaction at no cost to the US government. This will increase the means through which Cubans on the island can communicate with each other and with persons outside of Cuba, the White House said.
Terming it as an effort on the part of the Obama Administration to reach out to the people of Cuba, Dan Restrepo, a top Obama aid said, "This is a step to extend a hand to the Cuban people in support of their desire to determine their own future."
A Special Assistant to the President, Restrepo is a Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council.
"It's very important to help open up space so the Cuban people can work on the kind of grassroots democracy that is necessary to move Cuba to a better future," he said.
Restrepo said Obama is very clear that the US need to get out of the business of regulating the relationship between Cuban families and same is expected from the Cuban government, which should stop charging usurious fees that it does on these remittances.
"We are getting ourselves out. The Cuban government should get itself out of the way, and allow Cuban families to support Cuban families -- that creates the kind of space, in our view, that is necessary to move Cuba forward to a free and democratic Cuba," he said.
Responding to a question, Gibbs said Obama has made clear that he is willing to talk to America's adversaries.
"I think at the same time the President has said repeatedly that that is not talk for talk's sake, whether that's with -- well, whether that -- despite what adversary that might be," he said.
Calling it as a significant step in reaching out to the Cuban people and supporting their desires to live in freedom, Restrepo said: "The President is very clear today that this is the step that he is taking to advance the cause of freedom of the Cuban people, to advance our national interest. This is a decision driven by our national interests and how best to advance it and how best to bring to fulfilment the promise he made."
US policy towards Cuba is not frozen in time. It's not frozen in time today. These are the steps that the President believes makes sense to advance the cause of freedom in Cuba, he argued.
