By SALIM LAMRANI with contributions from WAYNE SMITH, Center for International Policy, Cuba Report, January 17, 2012
THE WAY may be opening for increased U.S.-Cuban ties. The United States has removed all restrictions on Cuban-American travel from the U.S. to Cuba and all limitations on Cuban-American remittances to families on the island. Coming at a time when the Cuban government is encouraging the establishment of small private enterprises, this opens the way for importantly increased ties between the two communities – as one observer put it: “for an inflow of capital from the U.S. to Cuba.”
There is, however, the proverbial “fly in the ointment” and that is the case of Alan Gross, arrested on December 3 of 2009 and since then representing a major obstacle to improved relations – along with the case of the Cuban Five on the other side (but more on that later). Continue reading