Published: Monday, January 10, 2011. The Times Picayune, New Orleans, on U.S. policy toward Cuba: Cubans who rely on cash sent by their relatives in the United States will benefit from the Obama administration's decision to allow Western Union to pay out the remittances in Cuban currency instead of U.S. dollars.">Published: Monday, January 10, 2011. The Times Picayune, New Orleans, on U.S. policy toward Cuba: Cubans who rely on cash sent by their relatives in the United States will benefit from the Obama administration's decision to allow Western Union to pay out the remittances in Cuban currency instead of U.S. dollars.">

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A bolder shift needed in U.S. Cuba policy

Published: Monday, January 10, 2011. The Times Picayune, New Orleans, on U.S. policy toward Cuba: Cubans who rely on cash sent by their relatives in the United States will benefit from the Obama administration's decision to allow Western Union to pay out the remittances in Cuban currency instead of U.S. dollars.

The change, adopted by the Treasury Department, will let recipients in Cuba avoid the 10 percent charge the Cuban government imposes to exchange dollars to a convertible peso. Until now, the Treasury Department had mandated that payouts be made in U.S. dollars.

The new policy means more of the money Americans are sending to the island will end up in the pockets of the Cuban people and less in the government's.

This is not the Obama administration's first step toward easing restrictions on Cuba. In 2009, the Obama administration made it easier for Cuban-Americans to visit Cuba and to send money there.

These are positive moves, but they are baby steps compared to the real shift needed in U.S. policy: ending the economic embargo against Cuba.

Source: http://www.newschief.com/article/20110110/NEWS/101105010/1013/opinion

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