The Government announced on Tuesday that it will prohibit travel to Cuba from tomorrow, June 5, which is a great blow to the Cuban economy and to that thriving industry that had grown since the thaw started in 2014.
The State Department specified in a statement that “US
it will not allow visits to Cuba through passenger vessels and recreational vessels, including cruises and yachts, as well as private and corporate aircraft. “
Despite the new restrictions, commercial flights may continue to operate with Cuba.
According to a spokeswoman for the State Department, the Executive has decided to keep commercial flights because they are usually used by Cuban-Americans to visit their families on the island, while cruises are used for sightseeing, something that Americans are prohibited by law.
Specifically, that source indicated that the country has decided to prohibit cruises and yachts, as well as private and corporate flights to prevent “the Cuban regime and its military services, which control the tourism industry in Cuba, from accessing dollars. Americans. “
In Cuba, many of the hotels are owned by companies controlled by the Armed Forces and managed under a mixed company regime by foreign corporations, such as the Meliá group, based in Spain.
The Department of Commerce had indicated in a statement that the measure would take effect today; but then he updated that note and explained that it will begin to be applied tomorrow, June 5.
The government also announced today that, starting tomorrow, the Americans will be prohibited from making cultural and educational trips of contact with the Cuban people, known in English as “people to people” and that had allowed thousands of people to visit the island since thaw started in 2014.
That approach promoted by the then president, Barack Obama, and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, facilitated trips to Cuba and boosted the business to airlines and cruise ships that began to make commercial flights between the two countries.
The government of President Donald Trump alleges that the new restrictions seek to address Cuba’s “destabilizing role” in Latin America, especially for its support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega.
Since he arrived at the White House in January 2017, Trump has tightened the policy toward Cuba with reductions of diplomatic personnel, the activation of a law that allows lawsuits in the country’s courts for expropriated property after the Revolution and sanctions on hotels in the country. island, increasing the scope of the economic and commercial embargo. (EFEUSA) .-
