Americans Say "Hola" To Cuban Relatives

In a radical about-face, the US has eased restrictions on travel to Cuba by family members with close relatives on the island, Reuters reports.

President Obama first announced his intention to ease the decades-old embargo in April, but the details of the changes were not made known until the Treasury Department issued a formal written announcement Friday. Since taking office, Obama has said he wants to repair ties with Cuba.

Americans with family in Cuba can now visit the island country as often and as long as they would like. American banks have also been cleared to make arrangements for money transfers to Cuban institutions. The new rules also allow Americans to ship a wider variety of items and even wire money. Before the change, family members were only able to send food and medicine.

"It's about time!" Maria Brieva, owner of Machi Community Services, which sends packages to Cuba, tells The Miami Herald. "It's hurricane season, and people were beginning to get anxious."

Some restrictions remain. Under the new rules, Americans can spend only $179 per day on visits -- and while the new rules allow visits to relatives beyond their immediate family, the allowance only extends as far as aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins.

According to Reuters, a recent poll conducted by Miami-based pollsters Bendixen & Associates and published by the Miami Herald last Tuesday, shows Americans are split over whether easing the embargo on Cuba is a good thing or not. Forty-one percent of Cuban Americans said they are against maintaining the embargo, while 40 percent said they are in favor of keeping it.

Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution in Cuba led to a rapid decline in relations with the United States. Washington imposed a trade embargo in 1962, citing Cuban nationalization of U.S. businesses and worries over Castro's shift to communism. The United States has stated it will continue the embargo so long as the Cuban regime continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights.

Photo courtesy of AnitaKaos via Flickr.