Cuban Cigars, Please! Washington Allows Travel and Trade with Havana

The move marks an official start to the thaw of a 50-odd year diplomatic freeze in ties between Washington and Havana. 

The new measures will allow travel to Cuba for certain purposes, increase the amount of money people in the United States can send to Cuba, allow U.S. financial institutions to open accounts with Cuban financial institutions, facilitate the use of credit cards for Americans traveling there, and allow limited import of Cuban goods.

Americans visiting the island nation will now be allowed to bring back up to $400 in souvenirs, including $100 worth of alcohol or tobacco, which means much-prized Cuban rum and hand-rolled cigars will soon be making their way stateside.

The move comes following confirmation that 53 people Washington considered political prisoners had been released according to a deal struck last month, which also included the high-profile release of American Alan Gross, who had served five of a 15-year sentence in Cuban prison for conspiracy to commit espionage, Cuban Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, who worked for the CIA, as well as the three members of the "Cuban Five" who remained in U.S. prison on spying charges.

"These changes will have a direct impact in further engaging and empowering the Cuban people," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement. "By increasing travel, commerce, communications and private business development between the United States and Cuba, the United States can help the Cuban people determine their own future."

Critics in Washington have argued that the deal goes too far in benefiting the Castro government and doesn't require a firm enough commitment for change in Havana.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has led the opposition to President Obama's policy, released a statement Thursday morning:

“This is a windfall for the Castro regime that will be used to fund its repression against Cubans, as well as its activities against U.S. national interests in Latin America and beyond. Given existing U.S. laws about our Cuba policy, this slew of regulations leave at least one major question President Obama and his administration have failed to answer so far: what legal authority does he have to enrich the Castro regime in these ways?"

“Yesterday I requested answers from Secretary Lew on how this new Cuba policy would be implemented without violating the letter and spirit of several U.S. laws, and without increasing the moral and financial risk to the American taxpayer and financial system of doing business through Cuba’s government-controlled financial system. While those questions remain unanswered, one thing that’s become even more crystal clear today is that this one-sided deal is enriching a tyrant and his regime at the expense of U.S. national interests and the Cuban people.”

President Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro announced the restoration of diplomatic ties on December 17.