The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Obama’s Efforts to Ease US Restrictions on Cuba by webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Saturday March 19 th , 2016  at  12:57 PM Voice Of America 1 Share President Barack Obama aims to use his historic trip to Cuba starting Sunday to further his bid to restore ties after a half-century of acrimony. Though his visit will be one of the most visible symbols of the new approach, Obama already has been rolling back restrictions on Cuba, punching hole after hole in the U.S. trade embargo. Here's what the Obama administration has done to increase engagement with Cuba: - Loosened travel restrictions to allow Americans to go independently on educational, "people-to-people" trips instead of in organized groups. A formal tourism ban remains. - Eliminated a ban on Cuban financial transactions going through U.S. banks, which effectively had cut off Cuba from the global banking system. - Allowed Cuban citizens to open U.S. bank accounts and use th