NAFSA Statement: U.S. Policy Toward Cuba

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2009 – Today NAFSA: Association of International Educators issued the following statement on U.S. policy toward Cuba:

NAFSA applauds President Obama for his action yesterday reversing the restrictions that the Bush administration imposed on family travel and remittances to Cuba and making it easier for families to send gift parcels to Cuba. The administration’s moves to open up telecommunications with the island also constitute a major step forward.

We now urge the administration to move quickly to rescind the rest of the restrictions on communications with Cuba that were imposed by the Bush administration—restrictions on educational travel. At a minimum, the Obama administration should restore the situation to where it was before the Bush administration: Americans should be able to study in Cuba and participate in educational travel to the island, and Cuban scholars should be permitted to attend academic conferences in the United States.

NAFSA further urges the administration to set a genuinely new direction in U.S. policy toward Cuba by reconsidering all of the limitations on travel to Cuba.