HAVANA, July 14th (Reuters) President Joe Biden’s review of Trump-era Cuba policy could lead to big changes in the U.S. posture toward the government in Havana as U.S. officials take stock of large protests in that country. Read more
Tag Archive for: White House
HAVANA, Oct. 8th During U.S. President Donald Trump’s first presidential term, Read more
HAVANA, Jan. 23th A Cuban government minister warned the U.S. State Department that plans to allow legal action over property in the country would create a big mess for both Cuba and the United States.
HAVANA, Dec. 1th General Electric Co. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit are among firms U.S. officials believe will secure agreements to operate in Cuba as the Obama administration presses Havana to complete pending deals Read more
HAVANA, Sept. 18 (Reuters) – The White House is drafting sweeping regulations to further weaken the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba that would ease restrictions on U.S. companies and make it safer for Americans to travel there, U.S. government sources said on Thursday.
The regulations could be announced as soon as Friday.
U.S. companies would be allowed to establish offices in Cuba for the first time in more than half a century, according to a draft of the new rules seen by Reuters.
The regulations make it easier for airlines and cruise ships to import parts and technology to improve safety in Cuba; loosen restrictions on software exports; and allow authorized companies to establish subsidiaries with Cuba, possibly via joint ventures with Cuban firms such as state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa.
However, they do not authorise private financing of trade nor change current rules on who can travel to Cuba, though it is possible regulations could still be modified by other agencies or updated later in the year, according to people familiar with the White House’s thinking on Cuba policy.
There was no immediate comment from President Barack Obama‘s administration.
“These are the most comprehensive expansion in U.S. trade and investment regulations with Cuba in decades,” said John Kavulich, head of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, who is familiar with the new rules.
“The result will be an exponential increase in interest towards Cuba by U.S. companies and pressure upon Cuba by those same companies to permit access to the marketplace,” Kavulich said.
The regulations expand on others that Obama announced in January to ease the 53-year-old embargo of the Communist-ruled island.
Those rules were an initial gesture after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Dec. 17 they would move toward normal relations between the former Cold War foes for the first time in more than half a century.
Although legislation seeking to promote commercial ties between the two countries has support from Democrats and some Republicans, efforts to pass bills that would ease trade and travel restrictions have been stymied by opposition from Republican congressional leaders.
Given the resistance from Congress, Obama is using executive powers to ease the trade barriers.
The administration was preparing the new regulations as Jose Cabanas, a veteran diplomat, on Thursday became Cuba’s first ambassador to the United States in 54 years.
Washington has yet to name an ambassador to Cuba.
Cuba is also preparing for a three-night visit from Pope Francis starting on Saturday.
One advocate of U.S. engagement with Cuba who has been briefed on the matter said administration officials first discussed the regulations with supporters of Obama’s Cuba policy in July.
“The focus is on ease of doing business, and (the regulations) have been in hopper to be released for a couple of weeks. Interesting that they’re choosing it to coincide with the pope’s visit,” said Felice Gorordo, co-founder of the Cuban-American group Roots of Hope.
Passengers board a jet bound for Miami at the Havana Jose Marti International Airport last month. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS
HAVANA, August 18 The Obama administration reportedly is working to reach a deal with Cuba that would allow regularly scheduled commercial flights between the two countries by the end of this year.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a possible agreement would allow airlines to establish service between the U.S. and Cuba as soon as this December. Administration officials tell the Journal that one aim of completing an agreement would be to make Obama’s thaw toward Cuba so much an extent of U.S. policy that it would be impossible for his successor to reverse.
If agreed to, the deal would constitute the most prominent exception to the five-decade-old congressional ban on Americans traveling to Cuba. Only Congress can fully repeal the travel and trade embargoes levied against Cuba in the 1960s after Fidel Castro took power. However, the president can make exceptions to them.
Late last year, for example, President Obama allowed Americans to use credit and debit cards in Cuba, which would have previously violated a rule against unlicensed monetary transactions in Cuba.
Currently, American citizens are only allowed to visit Cuba for specific purposes, such as business trips, family visits, or so-called “people-to-people” cultural exchanges, the last of which requires traveling as part of a tour group. Americans who are authorized to visit the island take charter flights. The Journal reports that Washington and Havana are working toward an arrangement that would allow authorized travelers to book through airline or travel websites.
Obama’s move to normalize relations with the communist country has been heavily criticized by the contenders for the Republican nomination, most notably Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose parents are from Cuba.
“In the eyes of Barack Obama … the Cuban people are suffering because not enough American tourists visit the country, when the truth is the Cuban people are suffering because they live in a tyrannical dictatorship,” Rubio told an audience in New York last week as the U.S. reopened its embassy in Cuba 54 years after diplomatic relations were severed.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/18/white-house-reportedly-pushing-for-deal-allowing-flights-to-cuba-by-year-end/