Mavis Anderson

President Obama today returned the right of Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba whenever they want and to support their families with remittances in whatever amount.  We applaud that action.  And we urge the President to do more.  Watch this video of Silvia Wilhelm, founder and executive director of Puentes Cubanos, asking for “travel for all” in addition to “travel for some.” 

Check out this Friday afternoon article with news from the White House on President Obama’s apparent intention to announce an end to all restrictions on Cuban-American family travel and remittances to Cuba . . . prior to the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in mid-April.  Momentum is building.  The world will notice.  The next move is congressional action on “travel for all.” here.

The nation’s policymakers woke up to this on the front page of the Washington Post:

Momentum Grows for Relaxing Cuba Policy, by Shailagh Murray and Karen DeYoung

Here is a snippet of the article:

At a Capitol Hill news conference scheduled for tomorrow, a wide array of senators and interest groups -- including Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman  Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.); Banking Committee Chairman  Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.);  Richard G. Lugar (Ind.), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and Human Rights Watch -- will rally around a potentially historic bill to lift the travel ban.

Last week the U.S.-Cuba Cultural Exchange released a letter from over 900 U.S. artists, arts presenters, arts educators and cultural scholars in support of cultural relations with Cuba and “travel for all.”

We have learned that Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) will speak on the Senate floor late this afternoon on Cuba policy, highlighting the absurdity of the policy by showing four photographs from LAWG/WOLA's photobook on family travel, Love, Loss, and Longing: The Impact of U.S. Travel Policies on Cuba-American Families.

Early news reports indicate major changes in the Cuban government. The Miami Herald reports "Cuba replaces top Cabinet ministers." 

Senator Dorgan (D-ND) along with Sen. Lugar (R-IN), Sen. Enzi (R-WY),  and Sen. Dodd (D-CT) introduced legislation in the Senate on Thursday (Feb. 12) calling for the lifting of travel restrictions so ALL Americans can travel freely to Cuba.

It takes persistence and patience to work to change U.S. policy toward Cuba – 50 years of it!  And we aren’t there yet.  But we probably have the best chance that we’ve had for decades.  We don’t intend to fail.  We’d like to count on you to join us in this effort, and then join us in the international celebration that will occur when the travel ban is lifted.