Obama lifts ban on Cuba democracy travel

[babylonsister]

Cuba democracy trips can resume, U.S. says

Organizations that receive U.S. funds to help dissident groups in Cuba can once again deliver assistance.

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
[e-mail]


The Obama administration has lifted its ban on trips to Cuba to deliver U.S. aid to pro-democracy groups, apparently toughening its posture after Havana's recent abuses, officials said Thursday.

Such trips were halted after the Dec. 3 arrest of Alan P. Gross, a U.S. Agency for International Development subcontractor who had delivered satellite communications equipment to Jewish groups.

The State Department this week notified organizations that receive U.S. funds for Cuban democracy programs that they can resume the trips, said three officials of groups involved in the programs.

snip//

Word that the travel could resume was accompanied, however, by a caution: Do not take to the island more equipment or money than you can explain if you're stopped by Cuban officials.

About a dozen groups had been sending two to five travelers per month to Cuba before Dec. 3 to deliver ``technical and financial'' assistance to activists, according to several knowledgeable people.

``This is a good thing,'' said Orlando Gutierrez of the Cuban Democratic Directorate in Miami. He declined to comment on whether he would send travelers to Cuba because it would ``put people at risk.''

State Department spokesmen did not immediately return calls seeking comment, but the Obama administration has long said it favors supporting peaceful civil society activists in Cuba.

more...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/08/1570454/cuba-democracy-trips-can-resume.html

[Cha]

1. KR

[boppers]

2. More will be arrested as "spies".

Can't have people communicating and all.