Obama threatens veto of tigher Cuba restrictions

[RyanPsych]

In a move that took some Cuba-watchers by surprise, President Obama has threatened a veto of a House bill if it includes tightened restrictions on Cuban-American travel and aid to Cuba, among other things.

The president issued the warning in a Statement of Administration Policy on HR 2434, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2012.

Earlier, the Obama administration had lifted restrictions on the ability of Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba or to send money to their relatives in the island. This was part of a set of small steps to soften U.S. anti-Cuban measures that came into effect after the Cuban Revolution, which triumphed on January 1, 1959. The measures were greatly intensified by the Torricelli Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996. In addition to easing the restrictions on Cuban Americans, the Obama administration has been more willing to grant visas to Cubans to come to conferences and cultural activities in the United States.

But the major items in the blockade against Cuba still remain: The restrictions on trade with Cuba by United States citizens and those of other countries; the general travel ban on U.S. citizens going to Cuba without special permission; U.S. government financial support for Cuban dissidents and the continued listing, based on no evidence, of Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism;" and again this month, again on no evidence, of Cuba as a country that is not doing enough against human trafficking. In addition, ultra-right-wing Cuban exile reactionaries who have committed terrorist acts against Cuba live in the United States with impunity, while five Cuban patriots languish in U.S. prisons, after a highly criticized trial, because they tried to act against terrorist threats arising from U.S. soil (a petition is available on the People's World homepage calling for these five men to be released.

keep reading at: http://www.peoplesworld.org/obama-threatens-veto-of-tighter-curbs-on-cuba-travel/