During the summer the media reported that the White House and State Department had approved new regulations for non-tourist people-to-people travel to Cuba.  At a minimum they returned to parameters for travel authorized by the Clinton Administration but shut down in the Bush era.  Some accounts suggested the policy would go further, in the same way that President Obama went beyond Clinton for Cuban Americans by approving a general license for unlimited travel and remittances.

Categories for legal travel cited by CNN were "academics, corporations, humanitarian groups and athletic teams...The new regulations would allow any U.S. citizen, as well as universities, churches and businesses, to send money or sponsor a partner in Cuba."

The new policy was to be announced around Labor Day.  However it was postponed until after the mid-term election due to intense pressure from old-guard Cuban Americans in Congress and their allies who argued misleadingly that any reform would hurt Democratic candidates.

While changes in travel policy by the executive do not have the breadth or permanence of legislation ending travel restrictions,  they can dramatically increase the amount of engagement between Americans and Cubans and stimulate further relaxation in Washington and in Havana.   Regrettably this is all we can achieve in the current session of Congress and possibly until 2013.  

At a minimum we want to encourage the 224 Representatives and Senators who cosponsored travel bills to individually or collectively press the White House to implement broad changes in non-tourist travel.  It should also be possible to obtain support from Members who were not willing to become cosponsors as people-to-people travel will not have the same substantial economic benefit for Cuba as commercial tourism.

The new regulations could allow travel agents and tour operators to partner with a wide range of educational and non-profit organizations so that all Americans who have a serious interest in learning about Cuba and sharing their personal and professional knowledge and values are able to do so.
 
Please feel free to modify the letter to reflect more directly your experience and views about travel and please ask friends and colleagues to send their own.

(The accompanying graphic is available as a button from director@ffrd.org.)