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A2 UP FRONT
Saturday 17 June 2017
What does Trump’s new Cuba policy mean for travel to island?

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN the Cuban government, international issues. able from travel to any Online lodging booker
DAVID KOENIG meaning U.S. travelers other country in the world. Airbnb was allowed into
Associated Press were effectively under the OBAMA’S REFORMS Travelers were legally re- Cuba, and commercial
HAVANA (AP) — Here’s constant supervision of the Obama eliminated the quired to maintain logs of flights between the U.S.
what’s changing with Pres- government. As a result, tour requirement, allow- their full-time “people-to- and Cuba resumed after
ident Donald Trump’s new they were often presented ing Americans to travel to people” schedules but more than half a century.
policy on travel to Cuba, As a result, U.S. travel to
announced Friday: Cuba roughly tripled by
the time Obama left of-
BEFORE DETENTE fice. U.S. travelers are en-
Before former President gaging in what amounts to
Barack Obama launched illegal tourism, but they are
detente with Cuba in De- also pumping hundreds of
cember 2014, most Ameri- millions of dollars into the
cans without family ties to restaurants and bed-and-
Cuba traveled to the is- breakfasts that are driving
land on expensive guided the growth of Cuba’s na-
tours dedicated to full-time scent private sector.
“meaningful interaction”
with the Cuban people TRUMP’S ROLLBACK, AND
and — in principle at least WHAT IT MEANS
— avoiding activities that Trump will re-impose the re-
could be considered tour- quirement that “people-to-
ism, which is illegal under people” travelers can only
U.S. law. come to Cuba with heav-
“People-to-people” tour ily regulated tour groups.
companies needed spe- Many Cuban entrepre-
cial licenses from the U.S. neurs fear this will stifle the
Treasury Department and American travel that has
were regularly audited and A United States flag and a Cuban flag hang from a wall as actor Armando Ricart looks at the allowed so many of them
faced steep fines or loss of television set showing U.S. President Donald Trump announcing his new Cuba policy, in Havana, to flourish since the start of
Cuba, Friday, June 16, 2017. President Trump declared he was restoring some travel and eco-
licenses for allowing travel- nomic restrictions on Cuba that were lifted as part of the Obama administration’s historic easing. detente.The policy will also
ers to engage in tourism. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) ban most American finan-
In Cuba, U.S. tour com- cial transactions with the
panies were required to with activities and talks fa- Cuba on individual “peo- the Obama administration military-linked conglomer-
contract guides, tour bus- voring Cuba government ple-to-people” trips that made clear it would not ate that dominates much
es and hotel rooms from positions on domestic and were in reality indistinguish- enforce the requirement. of the Cuban economy,
including dozens of hotels,
along with state-run restau-
rants and tour buses.
This will almost certainly
make all American travel
to the island a compli-
cated maze of avoiding
payments to military-linked
monopolies ranging from
hotels to gas stations to
convenience stores.
Sen. Marco Rubio, who
claims credit for writing the
Trump policy along with a
fellow Cuban-American
and Florida Republican,
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart,
tweeted Friday that indi-
vidual American travel-
ers will still be able to go
to Cuba for the purpose
of supporting the Cuban
people, a category that
includes helping human
rights organizations and
non-governmental groups
meant to strengthen de-
mocracy and civil society.

WHEN DOES IT TAKE EFFECT?
The new realities of U.S.
travel to Cuba will be de-
termined by the regula-
tions that federal agencies
will produce as a result of
the new policy. q