Ahead of Cuba visit, Obama makes sweeping trade and travel changes

WASHINGTON/HAVANA, (Reuters) – The United States unveiled sweeping new measures yesterday to make it far easier for Americans to visit Cuba and for the island’s Communist government to conduct long-restricted international trade, as President Barack Obama prepared for a historic trip to Havana next week.

Rolling out some of the biggest changes since Obama announced his opening to Cuba in December 2014, his administration loosened limits on the use of U.S. dollars in Cuba trade, removing a huge obstacle to Havana’s access to the global banking system.

U.S. officials expressed hope that relaxation of travel and financial rules, which further chips away at decades-old sanctions against America’s former Cold War foe, will spur Cuban leaders to respond with economic reforms that have been slow to come.

Obama’s critics have accused him of giving up too much in return for too little from Cuban President Raul Castro and of now taking a premature “victory lap” with his March 20-22 visit to the island, the first by a U.S. president in 88 years.

The new rules will allow Americans to travel to Cuba independently for educational, cultural and other purposes by “self-certifying” that their travel is authorized, rather than having to go in organized group tours.

That measure opens new cracks in a longstanding U.S. ban on general tourism to the island and comes just as U.S. airlines will be allowed to restore scheduled service to Cuba, which will greatly increase the ability of Americans to visit the once-forbidden island.

With the opening to Cuba, U.S. travel to Cuba soared 77 percent to 161,000 visitors in 2015, according to Cuban government data, even though Americans going there must fit 12 officially authorized categories. U.S. officials say travel rose around 50 percent, a discrepancy explained by Americans illicitly traveling to Cuba as tourists through third countries.

The latest changes could also pave the way for American big-league baseball teams to eventually sign Cuban players without them having to defect.