• Submitted by: manso
• United States
• Politics and Government
• 08 / 08 / 2010

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An unnamed U.S. official told Bloomberg News that President Barack Obama will soon make an announcement further easing travel to Cuba. Also, Washington insider Al Kamen wrote in his Friday “In the Loop” column in the Washington Post to “look for Obama Administration action, after Congress leaves town, to loosen travel restrictions.”

The U.S. Congress will be in summer recess from Aug. 9 to Sept. 8.

The official didn’t provide any details, according to Bloomberg, but applications from cities such as Tampa, Key West, Fort Lauderdale, San Juan, P.R., and others to operate Cuba charter flights from their respective airports have been pending for years, in some cases.

The National Security Council, which reports to the president, is expected to discuss the applications soon, people close to Tampa’s application told Cuba Standard.

Currently, only the airports of Miami, New York and Los Angeles are allowed to host Cuba flights. The largest licensed charter providers are all based in Miami.

During a visit to Washington this week, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the archbishop of Havana who has led recent Church-state negotiations in Cuba that led to the release of political prisoners, met with National Security Advisor Gen. Jim Jones. Jones commended the church’s role in the talks.

Meanwhile, a bill that would lift the travel ban altogether in the U.S. Congress has not made any progress, despite strong backing. HR 4645 is winding its way through the House of Representatives, which is headed for summer recess Aug. 9 without having scheduled a floor vote. S 428, the companion bill in the Senate is expected to have a filibuster-safe majority; however, supporters said they might attach it to a larger bill instead of getting a floor vote as a standalone bill. This, in turn, would make it more vulnerable to elimination in conference committee.

Al Fox, a long-time lobbyist for normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, told Cuba Standard he believes there won’t be any vote on the bill this year.

“I see nothing that leads me to believe the travel ban legislation will pass this year. Nor will it pass next year,” he said. “No one likes to be wrong. But I do hope I am!”

Source: www.cubastandard.com/