Breaking slightly from decades of animosity and government imposed trade restrictions, the Obama Administration said Monday it will allow U.S. telecom companies to apply for licenses to do business in Cuba.
The move is part of a broader policy shift designed to open up access to the Caribbean nation for the 1.5 million Americans who have relatives there.
An Administration official said the licenses would allow companies to set up television and mobile phone services for Cubans and allow their U.S. relatives to pay for the services.
In addition, the Administration will allow Americans to send more types of humanitarian aid to Cuba, including clothing, personal hygiene items, seeds, fishing equipment and medicine.
President Obama had promised to take these steps as a presidential candidate. An announcement is set for Monday afternoon.
Other steps taken Monday include expanding the things allowed in gift parcels being sent to Cuba, such as clothes, personal hygiene items, seeds, fishing gear and other personal necessities.
"The announcement today is good news for Cuban families separated by the lack of freedom in Cuba," Senator Mel Martinez - R, Fla., said in a statement. "The President has expressed his commitment to freedom -- libertad -- for the Cuban people, and policy implementation should advance that objective."
In a speech a year ago in Miami, the epicenter of Cuban/American society, Obama promised to depart from what he said had been the path of previous politicians on Cuba policy -- “they come down to Miami, they talk tough, they go back to Washington, and nothing changes in Cuba.”
Obama has also promised to engage in direct diplomacy with Cuba, “without preconditions” but with “careful preparation” and “a clear agenda.”
Some lawmakers, backed by business and farm groups seeing new opportunities in Cuba, are advocating wider revisions in the trade and travel bans imposed after Fidel Castro took power in Havana in 1959.
But the President is keeping the decades-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba in place, arguing that that policy provides leverage to pressure the regime to free all political prisoners as one step toward normalized relations with the U.S.
Treasury Again Considering TARP Assistance for Life Insurers
Business Calendar
