The following statement was issued today by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
As
President Obama said in his State of the Union address, we have sought
ways to increase opportunity for Americans and improve the lives of the
Cuban people, including
by opening the door to increased travel and commerce between our two
countries. Among other changes, today the Departments of the Treasury
and Commerce announced significant regulatory changes to make it easier
for Americans to travel to Cuba, expand access
to U.S. financial institutions and the U.S. dollar from Cuba, and
expand the ability for Cubans living in the U.S. to earn a salary. These
changes, coupled with the
arrangement recently announced by the Departments of State and Transportation
allowing up to 110 non-stop flights daily between the United States and
Cuba, will significantly increase the ability of U.S. Citizens to
travel to Cuba to directly engage with
the Cuban people.
The
goal of the President's policy with Cuba is simple: to improve the
lives of Cubans and to advance the interests of the United States. The
President fundamentally believes
that the best way to achieve that goal is by facilitating more
interaction between the Cuban and American people, including through
travel and commercial opportunities, and through more access to
information.
Engagement
and purposeful changes like those announced today will continue to
empower the Cuban people and advance our enduring objectives of
supporting human rights, improving
the lives of the Cuban people, and promoting closer ties between our
peoples. We have great confidence that this engagement will lead to a
better future for both the American and Cuban people.
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