First new U.S. airport gets go-ahead from Cuba

Cuba Standard: Tampa International Airport is poised to become the first of a series of additional U.S. airports that will be able to offer flights to Cuba.

Miami-based ABC Charters, a company that has been offering flights from Miami to Cuba, has secured landing rights in Cuba for flights from Tampa, the airport said in a press release. Tessie Aral, president of ABC Charters, told the airport that the first flight from Tampa to Cuba could start as early as Sept. 10.

In March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection allowed all U.S. airports with “adequate customs and immigration capabilities” to host Cuba flights. More than a dozen airports have received approval from USCBP, but Tampa is the first to have secured a carrier service provider with landing rights in Cuba.

Aral said at a press conference in Tampa that ABC would offer once-a-week flights to Havana, with frequency rising to twice a week in October, on American Airlines-provided Boeing 737-800s. ABC Charters currently flies seven times a week to Havana and three times a week to Holguín from Miami, usually in larger jets.

At least two other travel providers are vying to offer Cuba flights from Tampa, including Air MarBrisa and Island Travel & Tours, Ltd.

Tampa is the U.S. city with the second-largest Cuban population, following Miami. There are nearly 140,000 people of Cuban ancestry living within 90 minutes of Tampa International Airport.

In Atlanta, Delta Airlines said it is already licensed to operate charter flights to Cuba. In Fort Lauderdale, Airline Broker Co., which also has a license, is vying to offer twice-weekly flights. Other airports that have expressed interest in offering Cuba flights are Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, Chicago, San Juan, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.

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Cuban Tourism: A Single Strategy of Stability and Growth

Havana (PL) The development of the Cuban tourist industry is a focus of attention for the government on the island, and its impressive growth was recently reiterated by Carmen Casals, director of communications of the Ministry of Tourism.

During a meeting with communicators from six Latin American countries at Havana´s José Martí International Institute of Journalism, the expert predicted a promising future for this sector.

She said that there have been many changes in Cuban tourism since 1961, because at that time it depended on the United States, and after the economic barriers imposed by Washington against Havana, which are still in force, the industry was seriously affected.

Between 1979 and 1989, the development of new holiday resorts started, along with the essential one in Varadero, 140 kilometers away to the east of the capital, and the country´s main recreational hub.

By the 1990s, with the demise of the socialist camp, Cuba opened up to international tourism as an industry as well as to new investment processes.

A country like this archipelago, with a 25 degree-centigrade average temperature, 11.2 million inhabitants, 800 thousand university graduates, a road network of 46 thousand kilometers, a 78-year life expectancy and 300 beaches, has many attractions, she stressed.

Nowadays, the main recreational hubs are Varadero, with 35 percent of all tourism on the island, Havana with 23, Jardines del Rey with nine percent and the eastern region of Holguín with 10 percent.

Other tourist destinations include such interesting places as the westernmost province of Pinar del Río or the southern area of Cayo Largo. Right now, officials are involved in enlarging the recreational industry by making the most of every site.

Cuba is connected by air to 39 cities in the world, by means of 90 airlines, either on regular or charter flights; ten international airports are in operation and the flow of visitors is steady.

She added that there are 3 cruise terminal stations, in Havana, the central province of Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba in the east. In addition there are ten international marinas, including two in Havana.

Hotel accommodation has grown significantly at a rate of 7.5 percent since 1990, and, at the moment, there are 52 thousand rooms in 334 hotels, 62 percent of them being four-and-five-star.

There is foreign participation by means of 65 managerial contracts for 28,854 rooms, through the Cuban companies Cubanacán, Gran Caribe and Gaviota.

These businesses involve 13 foreign hotel chains; among them Sol Meliá, Iberostar, Riu, Barceló, Occidentales Hoteles, Hoteles Blau and Hoteles C.

Concerning employment, tourism provides jobs for 110 thousand people, 60 percent of whom are high-school graduates and 22.3 percent university graduates; one third of them are under 35 years of age, 42.8 percent are women, and 31.5 percent are blacks and mixed.

Formatur, the tourist training system, is made up of 13 schools for upgrading, training and preparing staff, by means of different courses such as post-graduate, specialty and university training, among a large range of them.

This development makes things easier for the country´s economy, even though the U.S. economic barriers against Cuba, since 1961, have affected the sector with losses amounting to more than 22 thousand million dollars.

Casals added that in less than three years Cuba moved to the third position as an outstanding destination in the island Caribbean, and since 1990 has welcomed 30 million tourists.

She revealed that for some years now more than two million travelers per year have been received, and that figure is expected to reach 2.7 million visitors for the first time by the end of 2011.

She mentioned Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Mexico, in that order, as the main sending markets to the island.

Among her ministry´s priorities, she indicated, are improving marketing methods, developing the Auténtica Cuba promotion campaign, and recreational navigation.

She emphasized the importance of giving continuity to increasing the quality of the tourist product, spreading the training system and turning each hotel into a high-quality school, apart from plans for repairs and new constructions.

She wound up by mentioning the development of golf, the recovery of heritage facilities under the name of Hotels E (for encanto, or charm) and other projects supporting the strategy of a peaceful, healthy and safe tourism, one that protects the environment and gives prominence to culture.

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Cuba to consider term limits for leaders: Castro

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba will consider placing term limits on its leaders to assure new blood in the goverment, President Raul Castro said on Saturday in a speech kicking off a Communist Party congress on the island he and his brother led for more than five decades.

He said the government does not have “a reserve of well-trained replacements with sufficient experience and maturity” to replace the current leaders, most of whom are in their 70s and 80s.

“We have reached the conclusion that it is advisable to recommend limiting the time of service in high political and state positions to a maximum of two five-year terms,” he told 1,000 delegates at the congress, where economic reform is the main agenda item.

Castro, 79, said he would not be excluded from the limits, which will be discussed not at this congress, but a party conference next January.

Cuba’s geriatric leadership has been a topic of concern for a government intent on assuring the survival of Cuban socialism and new faces could be elected to high party positions during the congress.

Long-tenured officials have been a trademark of Cuba since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

Fidel Castro, who is 84 and did not attend the congress, ruled for 49 years and younger brother Raul Castro was defense minister for the same amount of time before taking over the presidency in 2008.

In the line of succession, first vice president Juan Machado Ventura is 80 and second vice president Ramiro Valdes is 77.

“It’s really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century,” Castro said.

“Although we kept trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice,” he said.

Raul Castro was expected to be elected the party’s First Secretary, a post he has filled unofficially since Fidel Castro fell ill in 2006. Fidel Castro only recently disclosed that he had left the post.

NEW BLOOD

Closely watched for any signs of new blood will be the selections for Second Secretary, the post Raul Castro has held, and for the Central Committee and Political Bureau.

Due to the “laws of life,” this is likely the last party congress for Cuba’s aging leaders, President Castro has said.

He told the congress, the party’s first in 14 years, it would consider 311 proposed reforms during the four-day meeting, all aimed at remaking Cuba’s creaking, Soviet-style economy.

The changes will reduce the size of the state and expand the private sector, while maintaining central planning.

Many of the changes are already in place, including a program to slash more than a million jobs from state payrolls, cut subsidies and allow more self-employment.

He said more than 200,000 Cubans had taken out licenses for work for themselves since October.

Castro said more than 8 million Cubans had attended pre-congress meetings to give input on the reform guidelines, with a proposal to end Cuba’s universal monthly food ration getting the most comment.

Many Cubans fear the social and political consequences of ending the ration, or “libreta,” but Castro made it clear that eventually it will go only to those in need.

The ration has become “an unsupportable burden for the economy and a destimulus of work,” he said.

Before the congress convened, Cuba staged a military parade to mark the 50th anniversaries of the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion and the declaration of Cuban socialism.

On April 16, 1961, fearing U.S. invasion was imminent, Fidel Castro finally told Cubans what the 1959 revolution he led from the Sierra Maestra mountains was all about.

“What the imperialists can’t forgive us … is that we have made a socialist revolution right under the nose of the United States,” he proclaimed in speech paying tribute to victims of pre-invasion bombing raids the previous day.

On April 17, a force of CIA-trained Cuban exiles, backed by U.S. ships and planes, came ashore at the Bay of Pigs 100 miles southeast of Havana in a bloody attempt to spark a counter-revolution.

Castro rallied tens of thousands of troops and citizens to the battle and two days later declared victory as the attackers fled or were killed or captured in the botched invasion.

The triumph by tiny Cuba versus the superpower 90 miles away won Castro favor at home and abroad and is portrayed by Cuban leaders as one of their greatest accomplishments.

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Tampa-Cuba Ferry Proposed

WUSF:

TAMPA (2011-3-15) -

President Obama recently allowed flights from Tampa to Cuba. Now, two companies are vying to establish what would be the first regularly-scheduled ferry service to the communist country.

But first, some hurdles have to be overcome. The biggest is getting permission from the U.S. Treasury Department, which regulates contact with the island nation. One of the companies is United Carribean Lines, based in Orlando. Company president Bruce Nierenberg wants to take advantage of newly-relaxed rules on cultural and educational tours in Cuba for Americans.

“Since the Cuban-Americans who go quite often take a lot of stuff with them – clothing, electronics, medicines, to friends and relatives in Cuba, a ferry would make it much more capable for them to take as much as they like, and without it costing a lot,” he says.

Nierenberg says the cost of tickets without a cabin would be a fraction of the cost of an airplane ticket. He hopes to start the ferry service from the Port of Tampa early next year.

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U.S. approves eight more airports for Cuba flights

HAVANA (Reuters) – The government has given permission to eight more airports to offer direct charter flights to and from Cuba in the latest small opening in the 49-year-long trade embargo against the communist island.

Customs and Border Protection said on Tuesday Cuba flights would now be allowed from airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Tampa and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Previously, Cuba flights could be flown only from Miami, New York and Los Angeles. It was not yet known when flights would begin from the new cities.

President Barack Obama said in January Cuba charter service would be expanded. At the same time, he announced a loosening of restrictions for some groups on U.S. travel to Cuba.

The embargo, imposed since 1962 with the aim of toppling the communist government put in place after a 1959 revolution, prevents most Americans from going to Cuba. Only charter flights, not regular air service, are allowed to operate on U.S.-Cuba routes.

Obama has said he wants to recast U.S.-Cuba relations. He previously removed limits on Cuban American travel to the island located 90 miles from Florida and on the sending of remittances.

Cuban Americans have flooded into the country, packing the flights available and making Americans among the top nationalities numerically to visit Cuba.

Under Obama and President Raul Castro, the longtime ideological foes also have initiated talks on migration issues and the possible resumption of direct mail service.

Some Cuban American leaders and groups have opposed Obama’s measures, saying they help the Cuban government that was run by Fidel Castro for 49 years before his younger brother Raul Castro succeeded him in 2008.

Progress in the long-hostile relations came to a halt in December 2009 when Cuba arrested U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross for working in a U.S.-funded program to promote political change on the island.

The approval of the new airports comes as a Cuban court decides Gross’s fate following a two-day trial last week for what prosecutors said was his involvement in “subversive projects” to “defeat the Revolution.”

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

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Varadero’s Architectural Charm Threatened by Tourism

HAVANA, Mar 2, 2011 (IPS) – Important architectural works from the Modern movement in Cuba appear to be doomed as a result of the expansion of massive hotel complexes, which threaten to take over the landscape in Varadero, this country’s most famous beach resort.

The alert was first sounded in 2010 when rumours began to spread about the demolition of the Hotel Internacional and the Hotel Club Cabañas del Sol, two 1950s structures located in a prime area of Varadero, which is 140 km east of Havana, in the province of Matanzas.

Two statements issued by the ICOMOS National Committee, the Cuban branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, in May and November have received no response, architect Jorge Fornés told IPS.

Fornés is chair of the National Committee of ICOMOS, an independent international non-governmental organisation of professionals dedicated to the conservation of the world’s historic monuments and sites, which works closely with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

“Independently of any decisions, I have no doubt as an architect that it is not necessary to eliminate something valuable to build something new,” he said. “If there is interest in preserving a valuable piece of heritage, there is always a way to do so,” he added, citing cases like the conservation of the colonial fortifications in Old Havana.

Nor have demands from intellectuals and academics, mainly circulated by email, received an official public response from representatives of the Tourism Ministry or coverage by the media. An employee at the Hotel Internacional told IPS, “The decision has already been reached.”

“There are contradictory versions,” Roberto Fernández García, a poet who lives in Varadero, said in an email message that sums up the results of his inquiries and those of others interested in the case, posed to the Tourism Ministry’s provincial authorities.

Tourism Ministry officials in Matanzas said “The Hotel Internacional, which opened on Dec. 24, 1950, is very old, small and old-fashioned, with few rooms, and no longer meets the requirements of today’s tourism,” according to Fernández García’s message.

He said the 161-room hotel would be demolished to build, on the same site, a modern 800-room structure. Cabañas del Sol, other tourist installations from the first half of the 20th century — when architects of the Modern movement were seeking a fresh expression of the Cuban identity — and buildings in the old city in Varadero are also apparently facing the same fate.

But the Matanzas office of the historian offered a different explanation. According to a message circulated by the Cofradía de la Negritud, a non-governmental association of black people, in this case the response was that “The hotel’s plumbing system is in a state of collapse, so it is more economical to demolish it and build from scratch, than to repair it.”

But tourism authorities did not mention poor structural condition to the hotel’s employees. “They told us the hotel would be demolished because of environmental regulations, and that it was useless to turn to Eusebio Leal to save the hotel,” one worker told IPS.

Supposedly Leal, a national lawmaker and the head of the ICOMOS National Committee, would be unable to do anything to preserve a structure built on a sand dune, like more than 100 other buildings and thousands of metres of walls and fences that will have to be demolished, according to environmental studies.

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Alfredo Cabrera, director of the office in charge of the management of Varadero’s beaches, had ensured IPS in 2007 that before a decision was reached about a demolition, his office took into account “the cultural heritage or historical value of the structure,” and whether it served “an important social function.”

An employee at the Varahicacos ecological reserve, meanwhile, who a few years ago experienced the “breakdown” of the management of that protected area due to the construction of a mega-hotel, told IPS that in the case of the Hotel Internacional, environmental and heritage interests should be reconciled.

Sources close to the Tourism Ministry confirmed that the Hotel Internacional has reached an agreement with another country to build a modern hotel, similar to so many others built in Varadero in recent years near the Internacional and Cabañas del Sol hotels.

Half of the over two million tourists who visit Cuba every year go to Varadero, which has more than 18,000 rooms in 49 hotels on 22 kilometres of beach.

The municipality of 26,600 people, which includes Varadero and two neighbouring towns, received a record of more than 31,000 visitors in one day in February, in the context of the expansion of resort tourism in Cuba.

“This is a preview of what could be about to hit us on a much, much larger scale, because the country needs money urgently,” Mario Coyula, winner of the National Architecture Prize in 2001, told IPS, without directly mentioning the complicated economic situation the country has been in since the early 1990s.

Above and beyond architectural questions, Coyula, an architect and urban designer, pointed out that “for many people these two hotels are distinctive features of the local landscape, which are fast disappearing in Varadero, as is coexistence (between the tourists) and the local population, which is increasingly marginalised and isolated.”

Architects, artists, writers and journalists who have called for saving what is left of the Varadero of the 1950s point to the enormous potential for the promotion of cultural tourism, with an offer that differs from “the standardised sun and sand tourism in all-inclusive resorts” that can be found on any Caribbean island.

“I see this as a natural result of excessive centralisation, which stands in the way of dealing with thousands of small and medium investors who could generate more stable and balanced wealth,” Coyula said. “And the most important thing: small-scale investors cannot impose their own conditions.”

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Cuba’s Deepwater Oil Exploration Could Be a Game Changer See full article from DailyFinance: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/cuba-deepwater-oil-exploration-game-changer/19865273/?icid=sphere_copyright

Dailyfinance.com:

People who follow the oil industry are closing watching a pair of news items, both involving drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Earlier this week, the Obama administration said Noble Energy (NBL) could restart drilling operations at its Santiago well in the Gulf. The announcement will make Noble the first company to resume drilling in the region since last April’s BP (BP) Deepwater Horizon disaster — and the first since the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf was lifted last October.

The other bit of news is that a semi-submersible oil rig, originally due to arrive in Cuban waters this month, will reportedly be delayed until late summer.

Working Around U.S. Trade Embargo

The rig is a multinational project: owned by an Italian oil service group, constructed by a Chinese firm and funded by a consortium led by the Spanish energy company Repsol (REP). The delay is being blamed on technical problems — but “part of the delays were originally that the [rig's] works were going to have more than 10% of U.S. technology, which is not acceptable to the U.S.,” says Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, political science professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

That 10% figure is a part of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, now in its sixth decade. But the possibility of a good-size oil find off the Cuban coast could be a major game-changer for both Havana and Washington.

A 2004 assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey reported that about 4.6 billion barrels of oil — as well as substantial deposits of natural gas — might lie trapped in the sediment just north of Cuba.

Some preliminary explorations of the site have shown promise, but the oil deposit is hardly a sure thing — especially since it’s in water even deeper than the BP Deepwater Horizon site. But given present concerns over oil supplies, “the idea is to eventually export [oil] in the area or for Cuban consumption,” says Arturo Lopez-Levy, a former political analyst for the Cuban government and now a research associate at the University of Denver.

Transitioning From Oil Importer to Exporter

“It could create a significant change in Cuba’s economic wherewithal,” says Benjamin-Alvarado, who recently co-authored a book on Cuba’s energy sector. He notes Cuba currently produces about 90,000 barrels of oil daily, or about half of its overall needs — with the rest being imported from Venezuela. But with the possibility of Cuba transitioning from an oil importer to a modest exporter, there’s been a dramatic increase in foreign direct investment in Cuba in recent years — as international companies invest in the country’s oil production infrastructure.

“About 88% of all the oil reserves in the world are already spoken for,” Benjamin-Alvarado says. “Only 11% are open and available for purchase by the international oil companies.” With that in mind, he says, “oil would solidify Castro’s effort to remain viable with the Cuban people, to satisfy their material needs. The Cuban people would take the trade-off. But over the course of 10 to 15 years, that may change.”

There are also some practical concerns about possibly having Cuban oil wells operating less than 90 miles from the Florida coast. A recent report by advocates for more U.S. engagement with Cuba suggests the U.S. government should start direct talks with Havana over energy and environmental issues — to prevent any future Deepwater Horizon-like spills in the Gulf.

That suggestion is getting a lot of push-back from anti-Castro groups in Florida, as well as state lawmakers. But according to the report, by the Center for Democracy in the Americas, the current trade embargo “restricts Cuba’s access to knowledge and associations that would help it plan for or react to a spill. The embargo prevents meaningful participation by U.S. private sector firms in planning for reaction, containment or remediation efforts.”

“The extent to which the U.S. can get on the stick and put forth a working agreement on environmental drilling will be very important, to be able to monitor very closely what the Cubans will be doing,” says Benjamin-Alvarado. “This won’t solve our energy problem, but it gives the U.S. an opportunity to have an imprint in the direction of the energy developments that are presently at play in Cuba.”

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Cuba, Now: Viva la Commercial Revolución

Jaunted:

With President Obama working to lessen Cuba Travel restrictions, the focus on future trips to the country is growing wildly. A Jaunted special secret correspondent just returned from a period in Cuba, and she’ll be sharing her impressions of the country, the people and their hopes all this week.

What struck me most powerfully on arriving in Havana was the complete absence of advertising.

Traveling to Cuba from the world’s commercial super-center—the USA—is like diving from a hot, sweaty and crowded monkey cage into a refreshingly vast and empty pool. There is nothing in most Cuban shops beyond a packet of dried black beans and some powdered custard—the same brand, always the same brand. You can’t buy or sell a car made after Castro’s 1959 communist revolution. Toasters and other domestic essentials were until recently banned. Decadent, capitalist toasters!

So the question is: are Cubans ready for the commercial revolution that will sweep through the island like a rainy-season hurricane the moment the US embargo falls?

The answer: a qualified yes. Havana’s streets buzz with the first signs of commercialism, appearing like spring daffodils out of hard, barren soil. Privately-owned restaurants (paladares) and guesthouses (casas particulares) are reaching a critical mass; there are art and photo galleries, mobile phone stores, the odd shop (with uniformed guard) selling Adidas sneakers. You can even, in some places, get hold of a can of real Coke.

The delicate sensibilities of tourists are increasingly being understood, particularly in the tourist haven of Habana Vieja (Old Havana). Gleaming hotels part-owned by Spanish investors serve pumpkin ravioli and pungent French wines, and crumbling mansions are being scrubbed clean and brought back to life with the help of tourist dollars and a sprightly, visionary City Historian named Eusebio Leal.

Cubans have already developed a taste for tourism, thanks to the 2.5 million or so Canadians and Europeans who already visit the island each year. Which is lucky, because apart from nickel, cigars, Ché memorabilia and medicines made from sugar cane and placenta (not lying), there isn’t much else sustaining the stagnant Cuban economy.

Anti-American sentiment is still rife in propaganda—George Dubya and Ronald Reagan share a ‘Cretins’ Corner’ in the Revolution Museum—but on the streets people talk enthusiastically about a possible influx of American tourists. Standing in a shaft of sunlight on Plaza Vieja, a bookseller with a neatly pressed necktie and eyes burning with revolutionary zeal told me how, thanks to socialism, he could read, write, feed his family and last October have a much-needed hernia operation. “I’m socialist hasta las entrañas,” he said—right to my entrails (perhaps, I thought, due to the hernia operation). “Viva la revolución! But you know, I’d love to sell these books to Americans.” The fire in his pupils turned to a glint.

The moral of the story:

If you like your beaches to come with clean toilets, ice, window-shopping and all the other trappings of a fully developed commercial culture, then wait at least ten years after the embargo is dropped.

If you want a glimpse of another world—twisted, surreal and colorful as a Picasso painting, where people still eat to live and wear clothes for warmth—then come now, or just as the Cuban people break down their wall. In between will be chaos.

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New OFAC 2011 Cuba travel regulations

Havana Journal:

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Foreign Assets Control
31 CFR Part 515
CUBAN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS
ACTION: Final rule

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to continue efforts to reach out to the Cuban people in support of their desire to freely determine their country’s future.

These amendments implement policy changes announced by the President on January 14, 2011, designed to increase people to people contact, support civil society in Cuba, enhance the free flow of information to, from, and among the Cuban people, and help promote their independence from Cuban authorities.

To implement these policy changes, OFAC is taking steps that build upon the President’s April 2009 initiative to, among other things, allow for greater licensing of travel to Cuba for educational, cultural, religious, and journalistic activities and expand licensing of remittances to Cuba. These amendments also modify regulations regarding authorization of transactions with Cuban national individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba, as well as implement certain technical and conforming changes.

Background

The U.S. Government issued the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 CFR part 515 (the “Regulations”), on July 8, 1963, under the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 5 et seq.). On September 3, 2009, OFAC amended the Regulations to implement measures announced by the President in April 2009 to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba by easing travel restrictions to facilitate greater contact between separated family members in the United States and Cuba and by increasing the flow of remittances and information to the Cuban people.

OFAC is now amending the Regulations to implement certain policy changes announced by the President on January 14, 2011, to continue efforts to reach out to the Cuban people in support of their desire to freely determine their country’s future. These amendments allow for greater licensing of travel to Cuba for educational, cultural, religious, and journalistic activities and expand licensing of remittances to Cuba. These amendments also modify regulations regarding authorization of transactions with Cuban national individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba, as well as implement certain technical and conforming changes.

Travel to Cuba for educational activities

Section 515.565 is amended to implement policy changes for travel-related transactions incident to educational activities. A new general license authorizing accredited U.S. graduate and undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions to engage in Cuba travel related transactions incident to certain educational activities replaces the former statement of specific licensing policy in paragraph (a) of section 515.565. Specific licenses issued pursuant to former paragraph (a) were limited to one year in duration and covered only “full-time permanent” employees of, and students enrolled “at,” a particular licensed institution.

The new general license authorizes transactions incident to the educational activities described in paragraph (a) of section 515.565 by all members of the faculty and staff (including but not limited to adjunct faculty and part-time staff) of a sponsoring U.S. academic institution. The new general license also authorizes students to participate in academic activities in Cuba through any sponsoring U.S. academic institution, not only through the accredited U.S. academic institution at which the student is pursuing a degree. The requirement that participation in a structured educational program in Cuba or participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution be no shorter than 10 weeks in duration is removed, and the new general license instead requires that the study in Cuba be accepted for credit toward the student’s degree.

Revised paragraph (b) of section 515.565 sets forth specific licensing policies. Paragraph (b)(1) provides that specific licenses may be issued to authorize travel-related transactions incident to an individual’s educational activities of certain types described in but that are not authorized by the new general license contained in revised paragraph (a). New paragraph (b)(3) allows accredited U.S. graduate or undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions, by specific license, to sponsor or co-sponsor academic seminars, conferences, and workshops related to Cuba or global issues involving Cuba, and it allows faculty, staff, and students of such institutions to attend those events. A new note to section 515.565 explains that U.S. academic institutions may open accounts at Cuban financial institutions for the purpose of accessing funds in Cuba for transactions authorized pursuant to that section. Nothing in these amendments authorizes U.S. financial institutions to open or use direct correspondent accounts of their own at Cuban financial institutions.

People-to-people exchanges

OFAC also is adding new paragraph (b)(2) to section 515.565 to restore a statement of specific licensing policy for “people-to-people” exchanges. This travel category provides for specific licenses authorizing educational exchanges not involving academic study pursuant to a degree program when those exchanges take place under the auspices of an organization that sponsors and organizes such programs to promote people-to-people contact.

Travel to Cuba for religious activities

Section 515.566 is amended to implement policy changes for travel-related transactions incident to religious activities. A new general license authorizing religious organizations located in the United States to engage in Cuba travel-related transactions incident to religious activities replaces the former statement of specific licensing policy in paragraph (a) of section 515.566. Revised paragraph (b) provides that specific licenses may be issued to authorize travel-related transactions incident to religious activities that are not authorized by the new general license contained in revised paragraph (a). A new note to section 515.566 explains that religious organizations may open accounts at Cuban financial institutions for the purpose of accessing funds in Cuba for transactions authorized pursuant to that section. Nothing in these amendments authorizes U.S. financial institutions to open or use direct correspondent accounts of their own at Cuban financial institutions.

Other travel to Cuba

Section 515.567, including its heading, is revised to restore a statement of specific licensing policy for travel-related transactions incident to participation in clinics or workshops. New paragraph (b)(3) of section 515.567 includes a condition that any clinics or workshops in Cuba must be organized and run, at least in part, by the licensee.

Paragraph (b) of section 515.563 is amended to increase the scope of the statement of specific licensing policy for journalistic activities in Cuba to include free-lance journalistic projects other than “articles.”

Remittances

OFAC also is amending section 515.570 to implement several policy changes regarding remittances to Cuba. New paragraph (b) contains a general license authorizing persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to remit up to $500 per quarter to any Cuban national, except prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba or prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party, to support the development of private businesses, among other purposes. A second general license has been added in new paragraph (c), authorizing unlimited remittances to religious organizations in Cuba in support of religious activities. Prior to this amendment, remittances to religious organizations in Cuba were authorized by specific license. New paragraph (d) contains a third new general license, authorizing remittances to close relatives who are students in Cuba pursuant to an educational license for the purpose of funding transactions authorized by the license under which the student is traveling. Former paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) have been redesignated as paragraphs (e), (f), and (g), respectively. Newly redesignated paragraph (g)(1) of section 515.570 has been revised to clarify that specific licenses may be issued to authorize remittances to individuals or independent non-governmental entities to support the development of private businesses, including small farms.

Certain transactions with Cuban nationals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba

Section 515.505, including its heading, is revised to add a general license in new paragraph (d) authorizing certain transactions with individual nationals of Cuba who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba (former paragraphs (d) and (e) have been redesignated as paragraphs (e) and (f), respectively). Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction may engage in transactions with such individuals, prospectively, as if they were unblocked Cuban nationals as defined in section 515.307 of this part. All property in which such Cuban nationals have an interest that was blocked pursuant to this part prior to the later of the date on which the individual took up permanent residence outside of Cuba or—INSERT DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER—however, remains blocked. To determine whether an individual Cuban national has taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba, persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are required to collect copies of at least two documents issued to the individual by the government authorities of the new country of permanent residence. An example illustrating the application of this general license is found in new paragraph (f)(4).

Public Participation

Because the amendments of the Regulations involve a foreign affairs function, Executive Order 12866 and the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) requiring notice of proposed rulemaking, opportunity for public participation, and delay in effective date are inapplicable. Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required for this rule, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) does not apply.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The collections of information related to the Regulations are contained in 31 CFR part 501 (the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations”). Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), those collections of information have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1505-0164. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid control number.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 515

Administrative practice and procedure, Banking, Blocking of Assets, Cuba, Remittances, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Travel restrictions.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control amends 31 CFR part 515 as set forth below:

PART 515—CUBAN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS

1. The authority citation for part 515 is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 18 U.S.C. 2332d; 22 U.S.C. 2370(a), 6001-6010, 7201-7211; 31 U.S.C. 321(b); 50 U.S.C. App 1-44; Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note); Pub. L. 104-114, 110 Stat. 785 (22 U.S.C. 6021-6091); Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681; Pub. L. 111-8, 123 Stat. 524; Pub. L. 111-117, 123 Stat. 3034; E.O. 9193, 7 FR 5205, 3 CFR, 1938-1943 Comp., p. 1174; E.O. 9989, 13 FR 4891, 3 CFR, 1943-1948 Comp., p. 748; Proc. 3447, 27 FR 1085, 3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p. 157; E.O. 12854, 58 FR 36587, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 614.

Subpart E—Licenses, Authorizations, and Statements of Licensing Policy

2. Amend § 515.505 by revising the section heading and paragraph (b), by redesignating paragraphs (d) and (e) as paragraphs (e) and (f), respectively, by adding new paragraph (d), and by adding new paragraph (f)(4) to read as follows:

§ 515.505 Certain Cuban nationals unblocked; transactions of certain other Cuban nationals lawfully present in the United States; transactions with Cuban nationals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba.

* * * * *

(b) Specific licenses unblocking certain individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba. Individual nationals of Cuba who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba may apply to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to be specifically licensed as unblocked nationals. Applications for specific licenses under this paragraph should include copies of at least two documents indicating permanent residence issued by the government authorities of the new country of permanent residence, such as a passport, voter registration card, permanent resident alien card, or national identity card. In cases where two of such documents are not available, other information will be considered, such as evidence that the individual has been resident for the past two years without interruption in a single country outside of Cuba or evidence that the individual does not intend to, or would not be welcome to, return to Cuba.

* * * * *

(d) General license authorizing certain transactions with individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba.

Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are authorized to engage in any transaction with an individual national of Cuba who has taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba as if the individual national of Cuba were an unblocked national, as defined in § 515.307 of this part, except that all property in which the individual national of Cuba has an interest that was blocked pursuant to this part prior to the later of the date on which the individual took up permanent residence outside of Cuba or [INSERT DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER] shall remain blocked.

In determining whether an individual national of Cuba has taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba, persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction must obtain from the individual copies of at least two documents indicating permanent residence issued by the government authorities of the new country of permanent residence, such as a passport, voter registration card, permanent resident alien card, or national identity card.

(f) * * *

(4) Example 4: An individual national of Cuba who has taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba wishes to open a bank account at a branch of a U.S. bank in Spain and then withdraw a portion of her previously blocked funds held by the same U.S. bank’s New York branch. The individual provides the Spanish branch with a copy of her third-country passport and voter registration card demonstrating her permanent residence status in the third country. The Spanish branch may open an account for the individual and provide her with banking services. The New York branch may also handle any transactions related to this new account processed through the United States but may not unblock her funds that had been blocked prior to the later of the date on which the individual took up permanent residence outside of Cuba or [INSERT DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. Those funds remain blocked unless and until the individual is licensed as an unblocked national pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this section or the funds are otherwise unblocked by a separate Office of Foreign Assets Control authorization.

§ 515.560 Travel-related transactions to, from, and within Cuba by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction

3. Amend § 515.560 by revising paragraphs (a)(5) through (7), (c)(4)(i) and (ii), and (f) and by adding new paragraph (d)(3) to read as follows:

(a) * * *
(5) Educational activities (general and specific licenses) (see § 515.565);
(6) Religious activities (general and specific licenses) (see § 515.566);
(7) Public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions (specific licenses) (see § 515.567);
(c) * * *
(4) * * *
(i) The total of all remittances authorized by § 515.570(a) through (d) does not exceed $3,000
(ii) No emigration remittances authorized by § 515.570(e)
are carried to Cuba unless a U.S. immigration visa has been issued for each payee and the licensed traveler can produce the visa recipients’ full names, dates of birth, visa numbers, and visa dates of issuance.

(d) * * *
(3) Compensation earned by a Cuban national from a U.S. academic institution up to any amount that can be substantiated through payment receipts from such institution as authorized pursuant to § 515.565(a)(5).

* * * * *

(f) Nothing in this section authorizes transactions in connection with tourist travel to Cuba.

§ 515.563 Journalistic activities in Cuba

4. Amend § 515.563 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

(b) Specific licenses. (1) Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and other transactions that are directly incident to journalistic activities in Cuba for a free-lance journalistic project upon submission of an adequate written application including the following documentation:

(i) A detailed itinerary and a detailed description of the proposed journalistic activities

(ii) A resume or similar document showing a record of journalism.

(2) To qualify for a specific license pursuant to this section, the itinerary in Cuba for a free-lance journalistic project must demonstrate that the journalistic activities constitute a full work schedule that could not be accomplished in a shorter period of time.

(3) Specific licenses may be issued pursuant to this section authorizing transactions for multiple trips to Cuba over an extended period of time by applicants demonstrating a significant record of journalism.

§ 515.565 Educational activities

5. Revise § 515.565 to read as follows:

(a) General license

Accredited U.S. graduate and undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions, including faculty, staff, and students of such institutions, are authorized to engage in the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and such additional transactions that are directly incident to:

(1) Participation in a structured educational program in Cuba as part of a course offered for credit by the sponsoring U.S. academic institution. An individual traveling to engage in such transactions must carry a letter on official letterhead, signed by a designated representative of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, stating that the Cuba-related travel is part of a structured educational program of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, and stating that the individual is a member of the faculty or staff of that institution or is a student currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program at an accredited U.S. academic institution and that the study in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward that degree;

(2) Noncommercial academic research in Cuba specifically related to Cuba and for the purpose of obtaining a graduate degree. A student traveling to engage in such transactions must carry a letter on official letterhead, signed by a designated representative of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, stating that the individual is a student currently enrolled in a graduate degree program at an accredited U.S. academic institution, and stating that the research in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward that degree;

(3) Participation in a formal course of study at a Cuban academic institution, provided the formal course of study in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward the student’s graduate or undergraduate degree. An individual traveling to engage in such transactions must carry a letter on official letterhead, signed by a designated representative of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, stating that the individual is a student currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program at an accredited U.S. academic institution and that the study in Cuba will be accepted for credit toward that degree;

(4) Teaching at a Cuban academic institution by an individual regularly employed in a teaching capacity at the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, provided the teaching activities are related to an academic program at the Cuban institution and provided that the duration of the teaching will be no shorter than 10 weeks. An individual traveling to engage in such transactions must carry a letter on official letterhead, signed by a designated representative of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, stating that the individual is regularly employed in a teaching capacity at that institution;

(5) Sponsorship, including the payment of a stipend or salary, of a Cuban scholar to teach or engage in other scholarly activity at the sponsoring U.S. academic institution (in addition to those transactions authorized by the general license contained in § 515.571). Such earnings may be remitted to Cuba as provided in § 515.570 or carried on the person of the Cuban scholar returning to Cuba as provided in § 515.560(d)(3)

(6) The organization of, and preparation for, activities described in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) of this section by members of the faculty and staff of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution. An individual engaging in such transactions must carry a letter on official letterhead, signed by a designated representative of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution, stating that the individual is a member of the faculty or staff of that institution, and is traveling to engage in the transactions authorized by this paragraph on behalf of that institution.

Note 1 to paragraph (a):

U.S. academic institutions and individual travelers must retain records related to the travel transactions authorized pursuant to this paragraph. See §§ 501.601 and 501.602 of this chapter for applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Exportation of equipment and other items, including the transfer of technology or software to foreign persons (“deemed exportation”), may require separate authorization from the Department of Commerce.

Note 2 to paragraph (a):

This paragraph authorizes all members of the faculty and staff (including but not limited to adjunct faculty and part-time staff) of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution to participate in the activities described in this paragraph. A student currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program at any accredited U.S. academic institution is authorized pursuant to this paragraph to participate in the academic activities in Cuba described above through any sponsoring U.S. academic institution, not only through the institution at which the student is pursuing a degree.

(b) Specific licenses. Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and other transactions directly incident to:

(1) An individual’s educational activities of the types described in paragraphs (a)(2) through (a)(4) of this section but not authorized by the general license contained in paragraph (a) of this section;

(2) Educational exchanges not involving academic study pursuant to a degree program when those exchanges take place under the auspices of an organization that sponsors and organizes such programs to promote people-to-people contact (3) Sponsorship or co-sponsorship by an accredited U.S. graduate or undergraduate degree-granting academic institution of academic seminars, conferences, and workshops related to Cuba or global issues involving Cuba and attendance at such events by faculty, staff, and students of the licensed institution.

(c) Transactions related to activities that are primarily tourist-oriented, including self-directed educational activities that are intended only for personal enrichment, will not be authorized pursuant to this section.

(d) For the purposes of this section, the term designated representative of the sponsoring U.S. academic institution means a person designated by the relevant dean or the academic vice president, provost, or president of the institution as the official responsible for overseeing the institution’s Cuba travel program.

Note to § 515.565:

Accredited U.S. academic institutions engaging in activities authorized pursuant to this section are permitted to open and maintain accounts at Cuban financial institutions for the purpose of accessing funds in Cuba for transactions authorized pursuant to this section.

§ 515.566 Religious activities in Cuba

6. Revise § 515.566 to read as follows:

(a) General license

Religious organizations located in the United States, including members and staff of such organizations, are authorized to engage in the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and such additional transactions as are directly incident to religious activities in Cuba under the auspices of the organization. Travel related transactions pursuant to this authorization must be for the purpose of engaging, while in Cuba, in a full-time program of religious activities. Financial and material donations to Cuba or Cuban nationals are not authorized by this paragraph (a).

All individuals who engage in transactions in which Cuba or Cuban nationals have an interest (including travel-related transactions) pursuant to this paragraph (a) must carry with them a letter on official letterhead, signed by a designated representative of the U.S. religious organization, confirming that they are members or staff of the organization and are traveling to Cuba to engage in religious activities under the auspices of the organization.

Note to paragraph (a):

U.S. religious organizations and individual travelers must retain records related to the travel transactions authorized pursuant to this paragraph. See §§ 501.601 and 501.602 of this chapter for applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Financial donations require separate authorization under § 515.570. See § 515.533 for an authorization of the exportation of items from the United States to Cuba. Exportation of items to be used in Cuba may require separate licensing by the Department of Commerce.

(b) Specific licenses

Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and other transactions that are directly incident to religious activities not authorized by the general license contained in paragraph (a) of this section. The application for the specific license must set forth examples of religious activities to be undertaken in Cuba. Specific licenses may be issued pursuant to this section authorizing transactions for multiple trips over an extended period of time to engage in a full-time program of religious activities in Cuba.

(c) For the purposes of this section, the term designated representative of the U.S. religious organization means a person designated as the official responsible for overseeing the organization’s Cuba travel program.

Note to § 515.566:

Religious organizations engaging in activities authorized pursuant to this section are permitted to open and maintain accounts at Cuban financial institutions for the purpose of accessing funds in Cuba for transactions authorized pursuant to this section.

§ 515.567 Public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions

7. Amend § 515.567 by revising the section heading and paragraph (b) to read as follows:

(b) Public performances, clinics, workshops, other athletic or non-athletic competitions, and exhibitions. Specific licenses, including for multiple trips to Cuba over an extended period of time, may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and other transactions that are directly incident to participation in a public performance, clinic, workshop, athletic competition not covered by paragraph (a) of this section, non-athletic competition, or exhibition in Cuba by participants in such activities, provided that:

(1) The event is open for attendance, and in relevant situations participation, by the Cuban public;

(2) All U.S. profits from the event after costs are donated to an independent nongovernmental organization in Cuba or a U.S.-based charity, with the objective, to the extent possible, of promoting people-to-people contacts or otherwise benefiting the Cuban people (3) Any clinics or workshops in Cuba must be organized and run, at least in part, by the licensee.

* * * * *

§ 515.570 Remittances

8. Revise § 515.570 to read as follows:

(a) Family remittances authorized.

Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who are 18 years of age or older are authorized to make remittances to nationals of Cuba who are close relatives, as defined in § 515.339 of this part, of the remitter, provided that:

(1) The remittances are not made from a blocked source. Certain remittances from blocked accounts are authorized pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section;

(2) The recipient is not a prohibited official of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337 of this part, or a prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338 of this part

(3) The remittances are not made for emigration-related purposes. Remittances for emigration-related purposes are addressed by paragraph (e) of this section.

(b) Periodic $500 remittances authorized.

Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are authorized to make remittances to Cuban nationals, including, but not limited to, remittances to support the development of private businesses, provided that:

(1) The remitter’s total remittances pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section to any one Cuban national do not exceed $500 in any consecutive three-month period

(2) The remittances are not made from a blocked source

(3) The recipient is not a prohibited official of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337 of this part, or a prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338 of this part;

(4) The remittances are not made for emigration-related purposes. Remittances for emigration-related purposes are addressed by paragraph (e) of this section

(5) The remitter, if an individual, is 18 years of age or older

(c) Remittances to religious organizations in Cuba authorized

Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are authorized to make remittances to religious organizations in Cuba in support of religious activities, provided that the remittances are not made from a blocked source and that the remitter, if an individual, is 18 years of age or older.

(d) Remittances to students in Cuba pursuant to an educational license authorized.

Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who are 18 years of age or older are authorized to make remittances to close relatives, as defined in § 515.339 of this part, who are students in Cuba pursuant to the general license authorizing certain educational activities in § 515.565(a) of this part or a specific license issued pursuant to § 515.565(b) of this part, provided that the remittances are not made from a blocked source and are for the purpose of funding transactions authorized by the general license in § 515.565(a) of this part or the specific license issued pursuant to § 515.565(b) of this part under which the student is traveling.

(e) Two one-time $1,000 emigration-related remittances authorized.

Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are authorized to remit the following amounts:

(1) Up to $1,000 per payee on a one-time basis to Cuban nationals for the purpose of covering the payees’ preliminary expenses associated with emigrating from Cuba to the United States. These remittances may be sent before the payees have received valid visas issued by the State Department or other approved U.S. immigration documents, but may not be carried by a licensed traveler to Cuba until the payees have received valid visas issued by the State Department or other approved U.S. immigration documents. See § 515.560(c)(4) of this part for the rules regarding the carrying of authorized remittances to Cuba. These remittances may not be made from a blocked source unless authorized pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section.

(2) Up to an additional $1,000 per payee on a one-time basis to Cuban nationals for the purpose of enabling the payees to emigrate from Cuba to the United States, including for the purchase of airline tickets and payment of exit or third-country visa fees or other travel-related fees. These remittances may be sent only once the payees have received valid visas issued by the State Department or other approved U.S. immigration documents. A remitter must be able to provide the visa recipients’ full names, dates of birth, visa numbers, and visa dates of issuance. See § 515.560(c)(4) of this part for the rules regarding the carrying of authorized remittances to Cuba. These remittances may not be made from a blocked source unless authorized pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section.

(f) Certain remittances from blocked sources authorized.

Provided the recipient is not a prohibited official of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337 of this part, or a prohibited member of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338 of this part, certain remittances from blocked sources are authorized as follows:

(1) Funds deposited in a blocked account in a banking institution in the United States held in the name of, or in which the beneficial interest is held by, a national of Cuba as a result of a valid testamentary disposition, intestate succession, or payment from a life insurance policy or annuity contract triggered by the death of the policy or contract holder may be remitted:

(i) To that national of Cuba, provided that s/he is a close relative, as defined in § 515.339 of this part, of the decedent

(ii) To that national of Cuba as emigration-related remittances in the amounts and consistent with the criteria set forth in paragraph (e) of this section.

(2) Up to $300 in any consecutive three-month period may be remitted from any blocked account in a banking institution in the United States to a Cuban national in a third country who is an individual in whose name, or for whose beneficial interest, the account is held.

(g) Specific licenses.

Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the following:

(1) Remittances by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to independent non-governmental entities in Cuba, including but not limited to pro-democracy groups and civil society groups, and to members of such groups or organizations, or to individuals or independent non-governmental entities to support the development of private businesses, including small farms;

(2) Remittances from a blocked account to a Cuban national in excess of the amount specified in paragraph (f)(2) of this section

(3) Remittances by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to a person in Cuba, directly or indirectly, for transactions to facilitate non-immigrant travel by an individual in Cuba to the United States under circumstances where humanitarian need is demonstrated, including but not limited to illness or other medical emergency.

Note to §515.570:

For the rules relating to the carrying of remittances to Cuba, see § 515.560(c)(4) of this part. Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are prohibited from engaging in the collection or forwarding of remittances to Cuba unless authorized pursuant to § 515.572. For a list of authorized U.S. remittance service providers other than depository institutions, see the “List of Authorized Providers of Air, Travel and Remittance Forwarding Services to Cuba” available from OFAC’s Web site.

§ 515.571 Certain transactions incident to travel to, from, and within the United States by Cuban nationals

9. Amend § 515.571 by revising paragraph (a)(5)(i) and the note to § 515.571 to read as follows:

(a) * * *
(5) * * *

(i) This paragraph (a)(5) does not authorize receipt of compensation in excess of amounts covering living expenses and the acquisition of goods for personal consumption. See § 515.565(a)(5) of this part for an authorization of payments to certain Cuban scholars of stipends or salaries that exceed this limit.

Note to § 515.571:

For the authorization of certain transactions by Cuban nationals who become U.S. citizens, apply for or receive U.S. permanent resident alien status, or are lawfully present in the United States in a non-visitor status, see § 515.505 of this part.

§ 515.577 Authorized transactions necessary and ordinarily incident to publishing

10. Amend § 515.577 by revising the paragraph (a) introductory text to read as follows:

(a) To the extent that such activities are not exempt from this part, and subject to the restrictions set forth in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are authorized to engage in all transactions necessary and ordinarily incident to the publishing and marketing of manuscripts, books, journals, and newspapers in paper or electronic format (collectively, “written publications”). This section does not apply if the parties to the transactions described in this paragraph include the Government of Cuba. For the purposes of this section, the term “Government of Cuba” includes the state and the Government of Cuba, as well as any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including the Central Bank of Cuba; prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba, as defined in § 515.337 of this part; prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party, as defined in § 515.338 of this part; employees of the Ministry of Justice; and any person acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly on behalf of any of the foregoing with respect to the transactions described in this paragraph.

For the purposes of this section, the term “Government of Cuba” does not include any academic and research institutions and their personnel. Pursuant to this section, the following activities are authorized, provided that persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States ensure that they are not engaging, without separate authorization, in the activities identified in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section.

January 25, 2011

Adam J. Szubin,
Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control
BILLING CODE 4810-AL [FR Doc. 2011-1969 Filed 01/27/2011 at 8:45 am
Publication Date: 01/28/2011

www.particularcuba.com – Travel to Cuba

Easing of Cuba travel restrictions opens door to more U.S. visits

USA Today: President Obama recently announced plans to let student, church and cultural groups legally visit Cuba. And while falling short of now-stalled legislation that would have lifted a nearly five decade-old travel ban, it could pave the way for more U.S. tourism to the communist country.

Obama eased restrictions on U.S. travel, visas and remittance of money from Americans to Cubans last Friday, and the orders are expected to take effect within two weeks. The actions still preclude trips by ordinary tourists who now slip in illegally via Canada, Mexico and other Caribbean countries. An estimated 400,000 U.S. citizens (including legal Cuban Americans) traveled to the island last year. That’s five times more than in 2008, the year before the Obama administration lifted travel restrictions for those with family on the island, and a number not seen since before the Cuban revolution, reports NPR.

But the new measures “more or less return things to where they were under the Clinton administration, with the addition of exciting new openings,” says Cuba travel expert Christopher P. Baker, author of the guidebook Moon Cuba.

“Academics and students have been unshackled to travel to Cuba more freely. But the changes also potentially open the door for every U.S. citizen to legally travel to Cuba as a participant in cultural programs, (and) the licensing process should be much more friendly,” says Baker.

“I anticipate a surge in applications by a broad range of travel companies and cultural organizations for licenses to operate cultural tours that involve interactions with Cubans,” he adds. “In the Clinton era, this included everything from bicycling to ornithology groups and… well, you name it. In fact, my first visit to Havana, in 1993, was as a participant in a tour to the Havana International Jazz Festival licensed under the ‘people-to-people provision.’”

At a U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit in Cancun last spring, executives of such companies as Tauck, Isram, and Travel Impressions “all expressed interest in operating cultural tours,” Baker says.

While a White House statement pointed out that it is maintaining the economic embargo against Cuba instituted in 1962, it said the new measures “will increase people-to-people contact; support civil society in Cuba; enhance the free flow of information to, from, and among the Cuban people; and help promote their independence from Cuban authorities.”

Among the changes: More U.S. airports will be allowed to offer charter flights to serve delegations that travel to Cuba under the expanded rules.

“For the U.S. travel sector, this will undoubtedly open new routes and new revenues for charters and other businesses that provide services for Americans visiting the Cuban market,” says Sarah Stephens, executive director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas. “At a time when Cubans are changing their system in fundamental ways, it is a good idea to have greater engagement, more Americans traveling to Cuba, and more opportunities to learn from each other as everyday Cubans reshape their lives and their country.”

But the new policies are being criticized by some Cuban-Americans, including new U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

“It is unthinkable that the administration would enable the enrichment of a Cuban regime that routinely violates the basic human rights and dignity of its people,” says Rubio, born in Miami to Cuban-American parents who had fled Fidel Castro’s regime.

www.particularcuba.com