Kathy Castor to Obama: Please lift family restrictions on travel to Cuba
December 16, 2008 at 3:05 pm by Wayne GarciaTampa Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor today released a copy of a letter she sent to President-Elect Barack Obama in which she asks for a “breath of fresh air” in our long-stagnant relations with Cuba by lifting some travel restrictions. The Cuban Embargo has prohibited most trade and travel to the island nation 90 miles south of the Keys since February 1962:
Your historic elections provides an opportunity to make important changes both here at home and abroad. I respectfully urge you to breathe fresh air into our relationship with our neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean and to modernize policies relaating to Cuba. I encourage you to lift the restructions that limit family travel to Cuba and limit the amount of remittance that families may send to relatives in Cuba through an executive order soon after your inauguration in 2009.
The embargo (el bloqueo) allows family members to travel back to Cuba only once every three years and limits the amount of money that can be sent to relatives there to $300 a year.
The restrictions have proven ineffective in altering the political situation and interfere with fundamental family relations and human rights. By lifting the burdensome restrictions, we can provide relief to families while maintaining the pressure for human rights and change the island needs.
You can download the full letter here.
