Cuba revising travel policies: Raul Castro

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba will revise its travel and immigration rules as part of a broader reform of its economic and social policies, Cuban President Raul Castro said on Monday.

He spoke after the Cuban Parliament approved Communist Party proposals to overhaul the country’s stagnating, state-dominated economy and lift some restrictions on citizens’ personal lives.

“The country is modifying decisions that played a role at a certain moment and unnecessarily were never changed,” the Prensa Latina news agency quoted Castro as stating.

“Today the overwhelming majority of Cuban immigrants leave for economic reasons and almost all of them maintain their love for family and the country where they were born,” Castro said.

He said rules still in place dated back to the earlier years of the revolution when immigration was largely political and manipulated by the United States.

It was not immediately clear what the changes in travel and immigration policy would entail. But Cuban regulations, which make it difficult and expensive to travel or move abroad, have long been criticized by local residents and human rights groups.

The economic reform plan approved by the National Assembly includes more than 300 points. It was first approved at a Communist Party Congress in April and would definitively do away with the decades-old paternalistic society built under Fidel Castro’s leadership.

Foreign journalists were not invited to the parliamentary meeting addressed by Castro. But he was paraphrased by state-run media as urging lawmakers and all citizens to adjust to the new times and model he is pushing by shedding bureaucratic habits.

“President Raul Castro said today that a change in mentality is indispensable to put into practice the changes the country needs,” Prensa Latina said.

ECONOMY SEEN IMPROVING

The measures, some already being implemented, were improving economic performance, Castro said, with growth at 1.9 percent in the first half of 2011 and on track toward 2.9 percent for the year, compared with 2.1 percent in 2010.

The reforms, to be implemented over five years, slash more than a million government jobs and reduce the state’s role in sectors such as agriculture, retail services, transportation and construction in favor of private small businesses, cooperatives and leasing.

Larger state companies are freed up to make more of their own decisions and take into account market forces, while regulations that prohibit normal personal affairs such as buying and selling cars and homes would be loosened.

At the same time state subsidies for everything from food to utilities will be gradually eliminated and state wages, which average the equivalent of $18 per month, increased.

The state has monopolized more than 90 percent of all economic activity and employed a similar percentage of the labor force since the earliest days of Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.

The country, which faces a stiff U.S. trade embargo, has yet to fully emerge from a two-decades-old economic crisis sparked by the demise of former benefactor the Soviet Union.

Castro has pushed for a new economic and social model based on individual effort and reward with targeted welfare, to replace one based on collective labor and consumption.

Raul Castro first replaced his ailing brother Fidel five years ago and then became president in 2008.

The single chamber parliament meets two times a year for only a few days and just about all of its members hold positions in, or are members of, the Communist Party, the only legal political organization in the country.

www.particularcuba.com

Int’l tourism to Cuba rises 10.6 pct in first half of 2011

Fox News: More than 1.5 million foreign tourists visited Cubain the first six months of this year, a figure that represents an increase of 10.6 percent compared to 2010, according to a report by the National Statistics Office cited Tuesday by the official AIN news agency.

Canada headed the list of the countries sending tourists to the island, followed by Russia, Argentina, Britain, Chile and France, AIN reported.

In addition, the report said that the United States was in eighth place in terms of tourist flow to Cuba despite the economic, trade and financial embargo maintained by Washington for nearly 50 years.

Tourism, the second-biggest contributor of foreign currency to the Cuban economy after technical and professional services, last year generated $2.1 billion from the visits of some 2.5 million tourists.

Cuba hopes to receive 2.7 million tourists this year, most of them from Canada and Europe, according to predictions by the Tourism Ministry.

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Cuba reports more Americans visit forbidden island

HAVANA (Reuters) – The number of Americans visiting their country’s long-time foe Cuba is steadily increasing under the Obama administration, according to Cuban government figures, with the highest number in years likely in 2011.

Some 63,000 U.S. citizens visited Cuba in 2010, up from 52,500 the previous year and 41,900 in 2008, according to a report by the National Statistics Office (http://www.one.cu/aec2010/datos/15.3.xls).

U.S. citizens are forbidden from traveling to Cuba without their government’s permission under a wide-ranging trade embargo against the island imposed nearly five decades ago.

In the years following Cuba’s 1959 revolution the highest known number of U.S. visitors peaked at 70,000 under U.S. President Bill Clinton, then dropped to an average of 30,000 in the last term of U.S. President George W. Bush.

The 2010 numbers do not include 350,000 Cuban Americans estimated by travel providers and U.S. diplomats to have come to the island last year. Because Cuba considers them nationals, they are not listed in tourism statistics except within the broader category of “other.”

In 2009, Obama gave Cuban Americans a green light to visit their homeland at will and in January loosened restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba for professional, religious and humanitarian reasons.

The combined figures of U.S. travelers and Cuban Americans made the United States Cuba’s second-largest tourism provider after Canada.

Before the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power, Cuba used to be an American playground, with hundreds of thousands of Americans visiting to gamble and have a good time.

But since the early 1960s, few have made the trip due to a general travel ban imposed by a U.S. trade embargo against the island.

LOOSENING OF RESTRICTIONS

The current rise in U.S. visitors is a result of the Obama administration loosening travel restrictions to Cuba to encourage more “people to people” contact in hopes of aiding political change on the communist-ruled island 90 miles from Florida.

As well as allowing Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba freely, Obama also authorized the issuing of licenses to more Cuba travel providers and allowed more airports to give charter service between the two countries.

Travel providers report they are swamped, despite delays in implementing the measures, and forecast more than 100,000 Americans not of Cuban descent will come to the forbidden island this year.

“In 2010, Marazul sent over 3,500 people to Cuba for academic, professional, religious and humanitarian reasons, as well as performing arts and sports groups,” said Bob Guild, vice president of Miami-based Marazul Charters.

“This year, we have already sent close to this number and, if the new people to people educational licenses begin to be issued soon by the Treasury Department, we project more than 10,000 people in 2011 traveling through Marazul under the new revised legal categories, not including people visiting their families,” he said.

Cuba has said it had 2.53 million tourists in 2010 with Canada the largest provider at nearly 945,000, followed by Britain at 174,000 and Italy at 112,000.

According to official figures, overall tourism was up 11.3 percent through May, compared with the same period last year.

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Revolutionary Cuba Now Lays Sand Traps for the Bourgeoisie

MEXICO CITY — One of Fidel Castro’s first acts upon taking power was to get rid of Cuba’s golf courses, seeking to stamp out a sport he and other socialist revolutionaries saw as the epitome of bourgeois excess.

Now, 50 years later, foreign developers say the Cuban government has swung in nearly the opposite direction, giving preliminary approval in recent weeks for four large luxury golf resorts on the island, the first in an expected wave of more than a dozen that the government anticipates will lure free-spending tourists to a nation hungry for cash.

The four initial projects total more than $1.5 billion, with the government’s cut of the profits about half. Plans for the developments include residences that foreigners will be permitted to buy — a rare opportunity from a government that all but banned private property in its push for social equality.

Mr. Castro and his comrade in arms Che Guevara, who worked as a caddie in his youth in Argentina, were photographed in fatigues hitting the links decades ago, in what some have interpreted as an effort to mock either the sport or the golf-loving president at the time of the revolution, Dwight D. Eisenhower — or both.

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who maintains close ties with Cuba, has taken aim at the pastime in recent years as well, questioning why, in the face of slums and housing shortages, courses should spread over valuable land “just so some little group of the bourgeois and the petit bourgeois can go and play golf.”

But Cuba’s deteriorating economy and the rise in the sport’s popularity, particularly among big-spending travelers who expect to bring their clubs wherever they go, have softened the government’s view, investors said. Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment, but Manuel Marrero, the tourism minister, told a conference in Europe this month that the government anticipates going forward with joint ventures to build 16 golf resorts in the near future.

For the past three years, Cuba’s only 18-hole course, a government-owned spread at the Varadero Beach resort area, has even hosted a tournament. It has long ceased to be, its promoters argued, a rich man’s game.

“We were told this foray is the top priority in foreign investment,” said Graham Cooke, a Canadian golf course architect designing a $410 million project at Guardalavaca Beach, along the island’s north coast about 500 miles from Havana, for a consortium of Indians from Canada. The company, Standing Feather International, says it signed a memorandum of agreement with the Cuban government in late April and will be the first to break ground, in September.

Andrew Macdonald, the chief executive of London-based Esencia Group, which helps sponsor the golf tournament in Cuba and is planning a $300 million country club in Varadero, said, “This is a fundamental development in having a more eclectic tourist sector.”

The other developments are expected to include at least one of the three proposed by Leisure Canada, a Vancouver-based firm that recently announced a licensing agreement with the Professional Golfers Association for its planned resorts in Cuba, and a resort being designed by Foster & Partners of London.

The projects are primarily aimed at Canadian, European and Asian tourists; Americans are not permitted to spend money on the island, under the cold-war-era trade embargo, unless they have a license from the Treasury Department.

Developers working on the new projects said they believed Cuba had a dozen or so courses before the revolution, some of which were turned into military bases. Cuba and foreign investors for years have talked about building new golf resorts, but the proposals often butted against revolutionary ideals and red tape. Several policy changes adopted at a Communist Party congress in April, however, appear to have helped clear the way, including one resolution specifically naming golf and marinas as important assets in developing tourism and rescuing the sagging economy.

“Cuba saw the normal sun and salsa beach offerings and knew it was not going to be sustainable,” said Chris Nicholas, managing director of Standing Feather, which negotiated for eight years with Cuba’s state-run tourism company. “They needed more facets of tourism to offer and decided golf was an excellent way to go.”

The developers said putting housing in the complexes was important to make them more attractive to tourists and investors, and to increase profits.

Still, John Kavulich, a senior adviser for the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said Cuba had a history of pulling back on perceived big steps toward freer enterprise and might wrestle to explain how such high-dollar compounds could coexist with often dilapidated housing for everyone else.

“Will Cuba allow Cuban citizens to be members, to play?” he said. “How will that work out? Allowing someone to work there and allowing someone to prosper there is an immense deep ravine for the government.”

But Mr. Macdonald said political issues were moot, given that Cuba already had come to terms with several beach resorts near Havana that generally attracted middle-class foreign travelers.

“It’s not an issue for them,” he said. “It’s tourism. It’s people coming to visit the country.”

If the projects are built as envisioned, the tourists will enjoy not just new, state-of-the-art courses and the opportunity for a second home in Cuba, but shopping malls, spas and other luxury perks. Standing Feather, which calls its complex Estancias de Golf Loma Linda (Loma Linda Golf Estates), promises 1,200 villas, bungalows, duplexes and apartments set on 520 acres framed by mountains and beach.

The residences are expected to average $600,000, and rooms at the 170-room hotel the complex will include may go for about $200 a night, a stark contrast in a nation where salaries average $20 a month.

Standing Feather said that to build a sense of community and provide the creature comforts of home among its clientele, the complex will include its own shopping center, selling North American products under relaxed customs regulations.

“It is in the area that Castro is from, in Holguin Province,” added Mr. Cooke, the golf course architect.

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New US rules promise legal Cuba travel for many

HAVANA – The forbidden fruit of American travel is once again within reach. New rules issued by the Obama administration will allow Americans wide access to communist-led Cuba, already a mecca for tourists from other nations.

Within months or even weeks, thousands of people from Seattle to Sarasota could be shaking their hips in tropical nightclubs and sampling the famous stogies, without having to sneak in through a third country and risk the Treasury Department’s wrath.

“This is travel to Cuba for literally any American,” said Tom Popper, director of a tour operator, which took thousands of Americans to Cuba before such programs were put into a deep freeze seven years ago.

But it won’t all be a day at the beach or a night at the bar. U.S. visitors may find themselves tramping through sweltering farms or attending history lectures to justify the trips, which are meant, under U.S. policy, to bring regular Cubans and Americans together.

So-called people-to-people contacts were approved in 1999 under the Clinton administration, but disappeared in 2004 as the Bush administration clamped down what many saw as thinly veiled attempts to evade a ban on tourism that is part of the 49-year-old U.S. embargo.

Some familiar voices on Capitol Hill are already sounding the alarm about the new policy.

“President Obama and the administration continuously say they don’t want more tourism and that’s not what they’re trying to do. But that’s exactly what’s happening,” said Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who was born in Ft. Lauderdale to a prominent Cuban-exile family. He argued that more travel does nothing to promote democracy on the island.

“The only thing it does is provide hard currency for a totalitarian regime,” he said.

If permission comes from Washington, it could begin trips in as little as six weeks, Popper said. Based on previous numbers, he believes he could take 5,000 to 7,000 Americans each year.

In the past, people-to-people travel has included jazz tours, where participants meet with musicians during the day and take in jam sessions at night. Art connoisseurs could visit studios, galleries and museums. Architecture aficionados could explore Havana’s stately, but crumbling cityscape.

“Soon Americans can go salsa dancing in Cuba — legally!” trumpeted a recent press release for one would-be tour operator.

“You can go on forever,” said Robert Muse, a Washington lawyer who represents several groups that have applied for licenses to operate the trips. “The subject matter is virtually limitless.”

Many approved tours will likely be run by museums, university alumni associations and other institutions. They will target wealthy, educated Americans who can afford to spend thousands of dollars on a 10-day tour.

Tens of thousands went each year under people-to-people licenses from 2000 to 2003. Anyone is eligible if they go with an authorized group.

Cuban officials say privately they expect as many as 500,000 visitors from the United States annually, though most are expected to be Cuban-Americans visiting relatives under rules relaxed in 2009. That makes travelers from the United States the second biggest group visiting Cuba after Canadians, with Italians and Germans next on the list.

Academic and religious travel from the U.S. is also increasing.

The guidelines published by the U.S. Treasury Department say people-to-people tours must guarantee a “full-time schedule of educational activities that will result in meaningful interaction” with Cubans.

But a previous requirement to file itineraries ahead of time is gone, possibly making it difficult to police whether tours will follow the spirit of the law.

“It’s more liberal than in 2000-2003 in a lot of senses,” Popper said.

Still, it’s a far cry from the pre-revolution days when Havana’s mob-controlled nightclubs and casinos were a playground for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Greta Garbo. Back then, cheap ferries and flights from Florida meant tourists could party through the night and leave in the morning without bothering to rent a room.

Academic visits already under way give an idea of what may be allowed.

A recent group of Iowa State University students who came to study sustainable food and development had an itinerary packed with activities like visits to farms, a coffee plantation and an environmental reserve. They also managed to stroll Old Havana on a guided tour, visit an art museum and take in a performance of “Swan Lake” by Cuba’s acclaimed National Ballet.

Agronomy professor Mary Wiedenhoeft said the cultural experiences were key for students to understand Cubans and therefore an integral part of their study.

“We didn’t come here to be on a Caribbean beach; we came to be on farms,” Wiedenhoeft said. “I didn’t even pack a bathing suit.”

When the Bush administration shut down people-to-people visits in 2004, it cited allegations the rules were being abused.

“You had these groups going down and they would miraculously end up in Varadero (a popular beach resort) or at Hemingway’s home, or they’d end up at cigar factories,” said John Kavulich, senior policy adviser to the nonpartisan U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. “It wasn’t something that was easy to defend when the State Department made inquiries.”

The Obama administration would almost certainly come under pressure from anti-Castro members of Congress if a rash of Americans start posting Facebook photos of themselves smoking Cohibas and sipping Havana Club on the beach, Kavulich said.

So college kids looking for a bacchanalian spring break should probably stick to standbys like Cancun and Daytona Beach.

U.S. officials vow to weed out frivolous trips.

“If it is simply salsa dancing and mojitos, no. That doesn’t pass the purposeful-travel criteria,” a State Department official involved with the policy said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

If the new travel rules are politically sustainable, they have the potential to be “a big business opportunity,” said Bob Guild, vice president of Marazul Charters, which offers licensed flights between Miami and Cuba and is expanding in anticipation of a surge of travelers.

“Hopefully (the U.S. government) will be issuing the licenses in a timely way and processing them quickly, and people will be able to begin going down. And we hope we can help them,” Guild said. “It’s a significant change.”

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Survey: 75% of U.S. consumers interested in Cuba visit

Sun Sentinel:

Would you consider a trip to Cuba if restrictions on U.S. travel to the island were lifted?

Visit Cuba, visit Havana with Marysol Travel Services

A U.S. consumer survey released Tuesday found that 75 respondents would visit or at least consider a trip to Cuba, if Americans were allowed to travel freely there.

Another 1.7 percent said they’d already traveled to Cuba, according to the survey of 953 consumers conducted  by the Travel Leaders travel agency network from March 10 to April 10 across the United States.

The survey comes as the Obama administration issues new rules that make it easier for U.S. religious groups and educational groups to travel to Cuba with U.S. government approval. Most Americans are effectively barred from travel to the island under Washington’s nearly 50-year embargo on Cuba.

“Culturally and historically, Cuba fascinates a large number of Americans.  Physically, it’s amazingly close to the Florida coast, yet so far away because of continued restrictions for most citizens,” stated Roger E. Block, president of Travel Leaders Franchise Group in a statement.

“Like the traveling public, our Travel Leaders experts would welcome the opportunity to experience the country for themselves – the food, the music, the architecture, the beaches and the people – and then assist their clients in realizing a trip of their own to this forbidden destination that has been off-limits for nearly a half century,” he said.

The study found that when asked, “If all travel restrictions are lifted, how interested would you be in traveling to Cuba?”  U.S. consumers surveyed had these responses:

I’ve already been:  1.7 percent.

I’d go immediately: 20.2 percent.

I would go as soon as I believed Cuba was ready for Americans: 21.8 percent.

I might consider going: 33 percent.

I have no interest in going: 23.2 percent.

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Port, ferry operators want to run a slow boat to Cuba

Orlandosentinel.com: WASHINGTON — Imagine boarding a deluxe ferry boat at Port Everglades or the Port of Tampa one evening, settling into a cabin or a reclining chair and sailing into Havana harbor as the sun rises the next morning, all for $150 to $300 roundtrip.

Florida port officials are planning for this tantalizing prospect, while ferry operators push the Obama administration to allow them to make it a reality.

For thousands of Cuban-Americans and other passengers scrambling for seats on charter flights to Cuba, ferry service would be a cheaper new way to get themselves and lots of luggage to the island. Some of them once fled to Florida on rickety boats; now, they want to return by water to bring money and goods to their families.

The ferry operators want a piece of the growing traffic to Cuba, which is overwhelming air charters. Port officials want to position themselves to tap a potential burst of leisure travel if the U.S. ban on tourist trips to Cuba is ever lifted.

The ferry operators and port promoters are also developing plans for ferry service to other destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean, potentially conveying some of the millions of visitors who pass through Central Florida’s vast vacation complex.

“The Cuba part requires government approval, but we are talking about ferry service throughout the Caribbean,” said Bruce Nierenberg of Orlando, a former cruise line executive who has applied to the U.S. Treasury Department for permission to establish a ferry line to Cuba from Port Everglades, Tampa and the Port of Miami.

He’s pitching it as a low-cost service for consumers, especially Cuban-Americans clustered in South and Central Florida, who can travel more frequently if they avoid airfares that cost nearly $400 roundtrip.

During a 35-year career in the travel industry, Nierenberg was CEO of Scandinavian World Cruises, started the one-day “cruises to nowhere” on Seascape and founded Premier Cruise Lines. He envisions well-appointed ocean-going ferries to Cuba carrying about 1,200 passengers who pay $150 for a reclining chair or about $300 for cabins.

He hopes to start with service to Cuba as early as this year to take advantage of a ready-made market and begin ferries to Mexico and other countries in 2012.

Ports gear up

“Eventually, somebody is going to make this happen. And Tampa would be the right fit,” said Wade Elliott, senior director of marketing for the Tampa Port Authority. “We’re ready. We have the terminal facilities. Whenever we get the green light, we will look for an opportunity to do it.”

Port Everglades also plans on a burst of business if ferries are allowed to make the 250-mile trip to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale. Port officials have talked with Nierenberg and contacted other potential ferry operators here and in Spain, France, Norway and Latin America who have shown interest in providing service.

“It could be an explosion in the market once people see the convenience of being able to drive to the port, get on a ferry and — after a nice dinner and a bit of sleep — arrive in Cuba,” said Carlos Buqueras, director of business development at Port Everglades.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, has joined the push. She cites census data indicating that 110,000 Cuban-Americans live in Central Florida, 71 percent of them within an hour’s drive of Tampa’s airport and seaport.

“We must continue to focus on creating jobs and diversifying Florida’s economy,” Castor said, “which is why I support the new business that is interested in launching a ferry service to Cuba and Mexico from the Port of Tampa.”

Traffic surge

President Barack Obama set off a surge of traffic to Cuba in 2009 when he allowed Cuban-Americans to make unlimited trips to see their families.

He ignited another potential burst of travel in January with new rules that allowed more airports to establish flights to Cuba and made it easier for non-Cuban-Americans — especially educational and religious groups — to visit the island.

Air-charter operators with service from airports in Miami, New York and Los Angeles estimate the number of passenger trips per year since 2009 has roughly doubled to about 400,000.

“Business is booming,” reported Tessie Aral, president of ABC Charters in Miami, which flies to Havana five times a week. “The flights are full. We have more demand right now than we have flights.”

The demand intensifies pressure to allow ferry service from Florida’s seaports, which already have Customs and immigration facilities to process cruise line passengers.

“We need to open more gateways. The desire to travel is such that with the new regulations there just are not enough seats,” Silvia Wilhelm of Miami said last week while packing for one of her frequent trips to Cuba to visit relatives and escort cultural and religious groups.

Wilhelm, a longtime advocate for unlimited travel, said passengers now arrive at a remodeled terminal in Havana, a sign the Cuban government would welcome more visits.

Political objections

Some Cuban-Americans are appalled by the rush to Cuba, which they say sustains the Castro regime with a crucial infusion of American dollars. They and other defenders of the five-decade U.S. embargo hope to choke the Cuban economy and force political reforms, much like what is happening in parts of the Arab world.

When asked about the prospect of a ferry, U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, cited a recent Cuban crackdown on human-rights activists. “Now is not the time to be giving unilateral concessions to this terrorist dictatorship,” he said. “The Obama administration should immediately rescind its recent lifting of sanctions and send a clear message that the U.S. will not tolerate Cuba’s lawless behavior.”

Sources with ties to the administration say the ferry proposal was considered when officials devised the new rules in January, but it was shelved for the time being because of security concerns.

Impatient to begin, Nierenberg said a ferry would simply offer consumers a different mode of transportation at a lower cost.

“The market is sitting there waiting to be activated,” he said, “and we would like to be the first.”

www.cubaluxuryrent.com

 

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.

www.particularcuba.com

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.

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