The United States has relaxed restrictions on sending remittances and travel to Cuba

The government of President Joe Biden was announced on Monday flights to Cuba will increase Y restrictions on remittances will be removed that immigrants could be sent to the island imposed by former president Donald Trump.

The State Department said in a statement that lift the current limit of $ 1,000 per quarter on family remittances and will allow non -family remittances, which will provide support to independent Cuban entrepreneurs. Washington will also allow scheduled and charter flights to places other than Havana, the agency said.

“Through these measures, we aim to support the Cubans’ aspirations of freedom and greater economic opportunity so that they can live successfully in their country, ”the State Department added.

“We continue to call on the Cuban government to immediately release political prisoners, respect the fundamental freedoms of the Cuban people and let them determine their own future,” they added.

At the same time, U.S. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price reiterated his appeal to the Cuban Executive to release “political prisoners” “immediately” and respect the fundamental rights of its citizens.

The policy change follows a review that began shortly after a series of widespread protests on the island in July.

In particular, the US announced on Monday that it would be returned both commercial flights and charter flights and it will allow certain types that Trump has restricted, such as those that have educational or professional related goals.

It will also prevent trips by groups of Americans scheduled to interact with Cuban people, known in English as “people to people travel”, but individual visits of this type will continue to be prohibited.

Until now, U.S. airlines could only fly to Havana, leaving Cuban-Americans with few options to visit relatives on the rest of the island.

In 2019, the Trump administration banned commercial flights from its territory to all Cuban cities except Havana and, in August 2020, proceeded by suspending private charter flights to all airports on the island. , including in the capital.

Those charter flights were used by many Cuban-Americans to travel to the island from Miami (Florida, USA).

Also, the State Department announced on Monday that it will increase its support for Cuban entrepreneurs with permissions to access electronic commerce platforms, among other actions.

The policy change came after an internal review within the Biden administration that lasted several months.

During his campaign for the 2020 election, Biden vowed to return to the meltdown with Cuba started by Barack Obama (2009-2017) and reverse many of the sanctions imposed by Trump.

However, the debate within the Biden government seems to have stopped after unprecedented anti -government demonstrations on July 11 in Cuba, which led to the imposition of U.S. sanctions as punishment for the detention of some of the leaders and participants. its. .

After these clashes, U.S. and Cuban representatives met in Washington in April to discuss migration issues, the first high -level dialogue between the two countries since Biden arrived at the White House.

With information from AP and EFE