Former President Barack Obama may have begun normalizing relations with Cuba, but President Donald Trump will be re-tightening regulations regarding travel.
In a briefing to reporters, senior White House officials said Trump would announce changes to current Cuban policy that the administration hopes will prevent American dollars from hurting Cubans.
The officials said that the previous policy under Obama “was enriching Cuban military and intelligence services that contributed to oppression.”
The White House arrived at its new policy after consulting with Congress and numerous Cabinet secretaries, and concerns for human rights were a major factor. When asked, White House officials did not say why the administration did not hold similar thinking for Saudi Arabia, which also has a history of human rights abuse.
Changes for travelers
These changes will affect Cuba’s burgeoning tourist industry that has lured Americans who had long been attracted by the island just 90 miles from Florida but impossibly out of reach thanks to long-standing sanctions.
The Trump administration will keep 12 categories of acceptable travel that include family, journalism, and religious activities. However, the administration will take away what it considers a loophole: individual people-to-people visits that were considered educational under the Obama detente.
Coupled with the loose enforcement and self-reporting of Cuba travel, this policy was abused to enable unofficial tourism, the officials said. Under the Trump administration’s future regulations, only educational groups will be able to facilitate these people-to-people interactions.
The senior White House officials said Trump would direct executive branch agencies to ratchet up enforcement of this banned tourism through regulations. Though Trump will announce his new policy this Friday, nothing will change until the agencies implement those regulations. The White House did not give a timetable.
What you need to do if you go
For travelers, when this does happen, it means records of financial transactions and movements must be carefully logged and may be audited by the State Department to ensure the tourism ban is strictly enforced.
One important thing of note: You can still bring back cigars and other otherwise-banned Cuban products as long as the value is less than $100.
If you’ve already planned a trip, the officials said the new regulations will account for those situations, so those travelers may not be out of luck. More information will be available on the WhiteHouse.gov in the future, and will be delivered by Trump himself soon.