WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has announced plans to ease some sanctions imposed on Cuba by the former administration, including family remittances and travel, but the move falls short of ending the maximum pressure campaign against the Caribbean country.
The measures announced on Monday after a lengthy review will see charter and commercial flights operating beyond Havana after they were restricted to only the capital under the Trump administration.
It will also see the U.S. government lifting caps of $1,000 per quarter on family remittances. Earlier, migrants were barred from sending more than $1,000 every three months.
The Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, which allowed up to 20,000 immigration visas to the U.S. each year, will be revived as part of new measures.
U.S Department of State spokesman Ned Price said the move would allow Cuban citizens to pursue a life free from what he called “government oppression”.
The measures are expected to be implemented over the coming weeks.
After tensions between the two countries had eased under former U.S. President Barack Obama, Trump announced a slew of sanctions on the Cuban government in 2017.
Trump administration cut visa processing, limited remittances, and created hurdles for U.S. citizens seeking to travel to Cuba for any reason other than family visits.
Biden vowed during his election campaign in 2020 to reverse some of his predecessor’s measures against Cuba that he acknowledged “inflicted harm on Cubans and their families”.
Cuba’s foreign minister on Monday welcomed the new announcement but said the easing of restrictions marked “a small step in the right direction”.
In a Twitter post, Bruno Rodriguez criticized Washington for its failure to modify the embargo in place since 1962 or remove the country from the so-called list of state sponsors of terrorism.
“The decision does not change the embargo, the fraudulent inclusion (of Cuba) on a list of state sponsors of terrorism nor most of the coercive maximum pressure measures by Trump that still affects the Cuban people,” he said.
The U.S. has maintained a harsh economic, financial, and commercial embargo against Cuba for more than 60 years.
Numerous resolutions by the UN General Assembly have said the move is in breach of international law. However, that has not prevented Washington from consistently voting against the UN resolutions demanding an end to the harsh embargo on Cuba.