Lawmakers
introduce bill to give US citizens unrestricted
travel to Cuba
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Thursday,
February 12, 2009/
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WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): Lawmakers in the US House
of Representatives have introduced a bill to
permit US citizens unrestricted travel to Cuba,
according to the Library of Congress website.
The "Freedom To Travel to Cuba Act," which would
overturn the 46-year-old US policy strictly
limiting travel to the Caribbean island, will be
subject to debate after being referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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Lawmakers introduce bill to give US
citizens unrestricted travel to Cuba.
AFP PHOTO |
The bill,
introduced by Massachusetts Democrat Bill
Delahunt and backed by eight other lawmakers,
states that "the President may not regulate or
prohibit, directly or indirectly, travel to or
from Cuba by United States citizens or legal
residents."
Currently US nationals are supposed to request
Treasury Department permission to visit Cuba.
They are not routinely allowed to spend money in
Cuba -- the Americas' only one-party communist
state -- creating an effective travel ban.
US President Barack Obama has said he would
speak with all foreign leaders in sharp contrast
to successive US administrations which have
sought to isolate Havana.
But he has offered few details on how far he
might be willing to go in reaching out to Cuba.
During his campaign for the presidency, Obama
said the Cuba embargo had not helped bring
democracy to the island, led by President Raul
Castro, 77.
But so far he has said only that he would end
some sanctions on Cuban-Americans traveling to
the island, and eliminate limits on their
remittances to relatives in Cuba.
The neighboring countries do not have full
diplomatic relations, and the United States has
an economic embargo on Cuba. |
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