Cuba's
government will eliminate much-hated travel restrictions in January,
making it easier for its citizens to leave the island, live abroad
longer and return to the island, in a long-awaited move announced
Tuesday.
Granma, the
newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, said Havana will end
expensive requirements to obtain an exit visa as well as a letter of
invitation from a person in another country to allow citizens to
travel abroad. The exit visa costs about $150, or about six months of
a typical Cuban's salary.
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People
wait in line at the Spanish Embassy in Havana on Tuesday.
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It is the
first reform of the stringent immigration regulations that have been
in place since 1961 as part of an effort to stop mass migration of
people fleeing the new revolutionary government, which came to power
in 1959. Now Cubans will just have to present a passport and a visa
from the country they plan to visit to leave the island.
As part of the
new regulations, Cubans will be able to live outside the island for
two years rather than the current 11 months without losing their
property and other rights. The change could spur greater remittances,
an important source of hard currency for the island, analysts said.
The U.S. State
Department described the announcement as a welcome step that won't
change any existing U.S. laws regarding migration with Cuba, but said
it is waiting to see how the measures will be implemented.
"We need
to see how it affects the flow of travel," said State Department
spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
While some
analysts praised the move, others said it would increase immigration
to the U.S. and may eventually result in a change in the so-called
"wet foot-dry foot" U.S. immigration regulations that allow
Cubans who reach U.S. shores to remain.
"This is
a legal, slow Mariel," said Jaime Suchlicki, head of Cuban
studies at the University of Miami, referring to the boat lift that
brought about 125,000 Cuban immigrants to the U.S. in 1980. Mr.
Suchlicki predicted Cubans would line up at foreign embassies in
Havana requesting tourist visas. But he doubted that foreign
countries would grant many such visas, as the presumption would be
that many of those seeking visas want to emigrate permanently.
Mr. Suchlicki
said many of those Cubans granted visas would eventually end up in
the U.S. "Nobody will stay in Spain, or Mexico or Venezuela,"
he said.
Mr. Suchlicki
also said the change in the policy could increase racial and social
tensions in the island, since those most likely to take advantage of
travel opportunities are white Cubans who have relatives abroad.
Not all Cubans
will benefit from the changes. Granma said the regime will maintain
restrictions to "preserve the human capital created by the
Revolution from the theft of talents practiced by the powerful
nations," apparently a reference to Cuba's doctors, whom the
U.S. has tried to woo, and other professionals. The state said it
will also restrict passports to people for reasons of national
security.
"The
question is going to be whether those other requirements are going to
continue to restrict the ability of the Cuban people to take
advantage of this change," said Ms. Nuland at the State
Department.
"The bars
on the island are falling, Huurraaaahh!!!," tweeted Yoani
Sánchez, a prominent blogger who has been prevented many times from
traveling abroad by the Cuban government. "I've packed my bags
and hope to get a flight on Jan. 14th, 2013," the day the new
regulations go into effect. In another twitter message, Ms. Sánchez
said she feared the regime would maintain travel filters through the
issuance of passports.
Cuba's travel
restrictions have long been a target for critics of the regime.
"This is
surely a step in the direction toward a more open Cuba," said
Michael Shifter of Washington-based think tank Inter-American
Dialogue. "Critics will point to the continuing exceptions to
the measure, but the move is positive and will be welcomed by most
Cubans."
Archibald
Ritter, a Cuba expert at Canada's Carleton University, said he
expected Cuba would lose many young people who want to leave the
island, but that economic constraints—the average Cuban salary is
about $25 a month—would prevent many from traveling."Cuba will
lose a lot of young people," said Mr. Ritter. "They are so
anxious to leave Cuba and see the world. They feel imprisoned there."
"Cuba
will lose a lot of young people," said Mr. Ritter. "They
are so anxious to leave Cuba and see the world. They feel imprisoned
there." Cuban President Raúl Castro suggested the removal of
travel restrictions after he came to power in 2008. But as with other
economic reforms, the Cuban leader has moved slowly on liberalizing
travel.
In
Washington, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, dismissed the move. "These
so-called reforms are nothing more than Raúl Castro's desperate
attempts to fool the world into thinking that Cuba is changing,"
she said.
