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Obama to lift some restrictions on Cuba

President Obama is expected to lift numerous restrictions on travel to Cuba next week in advance of a summit of Latin American leaders that begins on April 17.

The move comes after significant pressure from Latin America for Obama to signal a change in relations with Cuba, and is meant to break with the hard-line approach taken by the Bush administration.

Advocates on both sides of the debate over Cuba expect Obama to lift rules preventing Cuban-Americans from visiting relatives on the island. The rules were imposed by Bush's administration and are unpopular with many Cuban-Americans.

Obama is also expected to allow Cuban-Americans to send remittances to family members in Cuba, which would end another unpopular restriction imposed by Bush.

Obama is also expected to allow U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba for cultural, academic and humanitarian purposes, which would effectively return policies to the status at the end of the Clinton administration. The Cuban American National Foundation, a Miami-based dissident group that supports a trade embargo with Cuba, announced its support this week for allowing cultural visits.

The changes would leave the trade embargo in place, as well as restrictions meant to prevent U.S. citizens from going to Cuba as tourists.

Some supporters of a more open relationship with Cuba had feared the administration might back away from loosening rules to allow cultural, academic and humanitarian trips out of fear the steps might force Obama to spend political capital with powerful lawmakers who support a hard line with Cuba, such as Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who heads the Senate Democrats campaign arm.

These sources said administration officials were annoyed that conflicts over Cuba policy complicated efforts to move the omnibus spending bill last month.

A recent trip to Cuba by several House Democrats who met with Fidel Castro and offered kind words to the former leader was not helpful, several sources opposed to the Bush-era policies said. A pro-embargo supporter, noting that the lawmakers did not visit dissidents during their trip, said they had harmed the credibility of those pushing for changes to U.S. policy.

However, those closely tracking the issue said they believe the administration will move forward with steps to allow further travel to Cuba, partly to take the issue off the table at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago.