Trump to Set New Restrictions on Travel to Cuba

Donald Trump will on Friday announce new restrictions on trade and travel to Cuba on Friday, but will not entirely reverse Barack Obama’s 2015 rapprochement with Havana.

Diplomatic relations will remain, and so will commercial flights, but travel to Cuba will be more tightly monitored and business will face restrictions aimed at ensuring that Cuban military and intelligence organizations do not benefit.

“The new policy will empower the Cuban people,” a senior White House official said. “It does not target the Cuban people but the measures are designed to restrict the flow of money to oppressive elements of the Cuban regime.”

Trump will declare the new policy in Miami, at the heart of the Cuban exile community in Little Havana, fulfilling an election campaign promise. 

Obama’s opening to Cuba, negotiated in secret with the help of the Vatican and which culminated in a presidential trip to Havana in March 2016, was regarded by his administration as one of its signature foreign policy achievements, ending an embargo of more than a half century, which had failed to produce a softening of the communist regime. 

Flights and sea links were reopened and travel increased to an estimated 400,000 Americans expected to visit the island this year. Administration officials said that those who had already booked trips before the new policy takes effect would be able to go ahead with their plans, but future travel would be policed more rigorously to ensure it fitted one of twelve authorised categories as part of the Obama rules laid down in 2015.

Those categories allowed Americans to travel to Cuba for educational, professional, humanitarian, sporting, artistic or trade purposes, but not for general tourism, but Trump administration officials said the policy was not carefully monitored and was abused to allow tourism.