White House Announces Cuba Policy Change
The Obama administration, he said, will allow family members to make unlimited visits to their relatives in the country and to transfer money to them without restrictions. It is also easing other restrictions, such as limits on what can be sent to the country in packages.
"The president has directed the secretaries of state, treasury and commerce to carry out the actions necessary to lift all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit family members in Cuba and to send them remittances," Gibbs said.
He added that the president has "further directed that steps be directed to enable the freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people."
Gibbs was joined by Dan Restrepo, Senior Director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council, who translated the statements into Spanish.
"You have to extend a hand to the Cuban people in support of their desire to determine their own future," he said. "It's very important to help open up space so the Cuban people can work on the, kind of, grassroots democracy that is necessary to move Cuba to a better future."
Both Gibbs and Restrepo said the central premise of the policy shift is to make sure the United States and Cuba get out of the way of the Cuban-American families' ability to communicate and interact.
"We're getting the United States out of the business of regulating the relationship between Cuban families," Restrepo said. "We are getting ourselves out; the Cuban government should get itself out of the way and allow Cuban families to support Cuban families."
The press secretary was asked why he was appointed to make this important policy announcement rather than President Obama, who was sitting in the Oval Office down the hall.
"I'm standing in the White House briefing room, as the spokesperson for the president of the United States," Gibbs said. He added that "this is less about the so-called choreography of some announcement and more has to do with the fact that the president is taking some concrete steps today to bring about some much-needed change that will benefit the people of Cuba."
Asked if there might be diplomatic relations down the pipeline between the two countries, Gibbs said that any pending conversations depend on the actions of the Cuban government. He made clear that the president's announcement today only includes the lifting of some restrictions on travel and correspondence. The press secretary also said that President Obama is "not the only person in this equation."
While explaining the various ways increased telecommunications would be introduced to the island nation, Restrepo stressed that "the Cuban government could stop this. And they could stop part of this."
Asked for a White House position on lifting the overall ban on travel to Cuba, Restrepo indicated that today's announcement is a first step in the process of opening up communications.
"U.S. policy toward Cuba is not frozen in time. It's not frozen in time today," he said. "The president believes the place to start is with allowing Cuban-Americans to visit families members, to support them through remittances."
Gibbs later told the press that the administration does not have a timetable for this or further policy changes.
Here, according to a White House release sent in conjunction with the announcement, are the directives President Obama has given the secretaries of state, treasury, and commerce: