To us Canadians, visiting Cuba isn’t a big deal! Among Canadians, Cuba is a popular destination for reading week, a summer getaway, or any vacation for that matter. However, the same cannot be said for Americans. The USA and Cuba haven’t had diplomatic relations since Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1961, and this severance of diplomatic ties included a trade embargo and strict travel restrictions. “The only way [for an American] to legally visit [Cuba] is to fall under one of 12 tourist licenses, including family visits, religious activities, professional purposes, and educational reasons, to name a few” (Business Insider).
Even though Obama has planned to ease these strict travel restrictions, Congress has to agree, meaning that, unfortunately, Americans can’t go to Cuba just to vacation just yet (even Beyoncé and Jay-Z got a tourist license, despite what you might have heard).
Obama’s visit to Cuba is the first visit by a sitting President since 1928 (that’s 88 years!), making it a truly “historic” moment. The First Family arrived in Cuba on Sunday, March 20, 2016 and will be staying for a busy three days, during which Obama will meet with President Raul Castro, attend an entrepreneurial summit, attend a State Dinner, give a speech to the Cuban people, attend a baseball game, and meet with dissidents.
Obama and Castro have been attempting to restore and normalize Cuban-US relations since December 2014, but “critics of the visit charge that the Castro government has done little to reciprocate U.S. gestures,” the Washington Post wrote, citing the rise in political protests and the government’s crackdown on those protests.
Despite the critics, Obama had very optimistic words in his speech to US Embassy staff at a Havana Hotel: “It’s an historic opportunity to engage with the Cuban people” (The Guardian).
Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obama-cuba-baseball-robinson-1.3499801
http://www.cfr.org/cuba/us-cuba-relations/p11113
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-americans-can-visit-cuba-2015-4
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/treasury-eases-re…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/20/barack-obama-cuba-visit-us-…
Image obtained from:
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/styles/x_large/nprshar…