Reversing measures put in place by President Donald Trump, the Biden Administration this week announced it is easing flight restrictions to Cuba and restoring flights to Cuban cities other than Havana while re-establishing a family reunification program that has been suspended for years. President Biden’s decision comes following recommendations of a long-anticipated review of United States policy toward Cuba.
In addition, the administration will also allow group travel for educational or professional exchanges while lifting caps on money sent to families living on the island.
Facing the worst economic crisis since the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba is experiencing widespread shortages of food and medicines across the island, with thousands of Cubans attempting to reach the United States. The policy changes by the Biden Administration come following a months-long review that began after a number of protests shook the island nation last July 11. Those protests prompted a new round of U.S. sanctions on Cuban officials.
Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated following the policy change announcement by the President, “As the Diaz-Canel regime continues its ruthless persecution of countless Cubans from all walks of life for their participation in last year’s pro-democracy uprising, today’s announcement risks sending the wrong message to the wrong people, at the wrong time and for all the wrong reasons.
“I am dismayed to learn the Biden administration will begin authorizing group travel to Cuba through visits akin to tourism. To be clear, those who still believe that increasing travel will breed democracy in Cuba are simply in a state of denial. For decades, the world has been traveling to Cuba and nothing has changed. For years, the United States foolishly eased travel restrictions arguing millions of American dollars would bring about freedom and nothing changed. And as I warned then, the regime ultimately laughed off any promises of loosening its iron grip on the Cuban people and we ended up helping fund the machinery behind their continued oppression.
“In that vein, I have also been concerned to see the Department of Justice submit legal briefings in the last month that seem intent on undermining the implementation of U.S. law under the LIBERTAD Act. For decades, the Cuban regime has sought to profit off the properties it confiscated from thousands of Cubans and Cuban Americans. By weakening the legal liability for companies that partner with the Cuban regime to use these properties, it is increasingly likely that foreign companies will continue trafficking stolen properties without consequences.”
Chairman Albio Sires of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration, and International Economic Policy, stated, “The basic freedoms demanded by the Cuban people for over six decades have not been granted. On the contrary, human rights in Cuba have deteriorated sharply over the last ten months. Over one thousand artists, activists, and human rights defenders who fearlessly stood up for democracy last summer have been sentenced to decades in prison by the Diaz-Canel dictatorship. We are all obligated to honor the sacrifice they made for a chance at a better future for the next generation, and I have appreciated President Biden’s steadfast support for the Cuban people.
“However, I was disheartened to learn that the Biden administration will be paring back regulations on group travel to Cuba. I have long opposed measures that will create revenue for the Diaz-Canel regime without political concessions. Before we consider easing restrictions on travel and business operations in Cuba, we must demand that the regime free its political prisoners, cease its surveillance activities, and introduce reforms that create space for free press, assembly, and expression, especially online. Additionally, while I recognize the important role of remittances for many families, I am concerned that lifting the current cap will disproportionately benefit the regime rather than the Cuban people. The administration must proceed carefully to ensure it is not financing the violation of human rights, as much of the Cuban economy remains under the control of the regime and the military.”
Senator Menendez, however, did point to one aspect of the Biden Administration’s decision that he is in agreement with. “I am pleased, however, that the Biden administration will maintain the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List. Just like we have seen in Putin’s Russia, the Díaz-Canel regime is also using his stranglehold on power to perpetuate the rise of a new class of oligarchs with ties to the Cuban military and the United States must take significant steps to push for the demilitarization of the Cuban economy. I also welcome news that the administration is restarting the Cuban Family Reunification Parole program, an overdue step to strengthen the ties between Cuban families on the island and in the United States.
“All the empty hope for change can’t hide the brutality of the declaration Che Guevara made before the United Nations in 1964: ‘we have executed people, we execute people now and we will continue executing people for as long as we deem necessary.’ No words better sum up the true nature of this regime. For over sixty years, the tides of romanticism toward Cuba have come and gone, but they’ve always crashed hard against the rocks of reality. Today is another reminder that we must ground our policy in that reality, reaffirm our nation’s indiscriminate commitment to fight for democracy from Kyiv to Havana, and make clear we will measure our success in freedom and human rights and not money and commerce.”
Congressman Sires also supports the reunification of families, saying, “Despite my disappointment in this decision, I am relieved to see that the Cuban Family Reunification Parole program has been restored. This is a critical program for countering the intergenerational trauma that Cuban families face and strengthening cultural ties between American and Cuban citizens. Furthermore, I am grateful that the administration has pledged to sanction the rising class of Cuban oligarchs. I will continue to urge the administration to make significant investments in preserving the safety and health of U.S. diplomatic personnel dispatched to the region.
“There is no more critical objective in U.S. foreign policy than restoring and defending fundamental human rights when they are under threat. The Cuban people deserve nothing less than our full support and our maximal effort toward this goal.”
The Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, which has not taken any new cases since 2016 and left 22,000 pending applications in limbo, will be reinstated according to the White House. The administration also says the State Department will increase visa processing at the embassy in Havana, which resumed earlier this month.