By LAURA MECKLER and AMY SCHATZ
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said it would allow U.S. telecommunications companies to set up shop in Cuba, a step that may be mostly symbolic in the short term, as the president moves to take a new tack with Havana.
The administration also said it was lifting, as expected, longtime restrictions that limited Cuban-American families' remittances and travel to the island. Under the new policy, they may visit Cuba as often as they like and send family as much money as they want.
A New Era of U.S.-Cuba Relations
The White House announces it will ease the way for U.S. telecommunications firms to do business with Cuba and allow family travel and and money transfers from the United States to Cuba.
Together, the policy changes are aimed at opening up Cuba to U.S. influences, both to family members living in the U.S. and to the broader world of TV, radio, the Internet and phone connections.
U.S. companies would need the permission of the Cuban government to beam satellite-TV and radio programs onto the island, and there was no indication that such permission would be forthcoming. Rather, the White House cast the moves as a way to challenge the Cuban government to open itself up to the outside world.
"All who embrace core democratic values long for a Cuba that respects the basic human, political and economic rights of all of its citizens," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "President Obama believes the measure he has taken today will help make that goal a reality."
Pressed on whether these moves represent a diplomatic overture to Cuba after nearly a half century of hostility, officials suggested they were taking the side of everyday Cubans who may resist the edicts of their government.
"This is a step to extend a hand to the Cuban people, in support of their desire to determine their own future," said Dan Restrepo, senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council.
That tone disappointed Julia Sweig, a Cuba expert at the Council on Foreign Relations who advocates more-open relations with Cuba. She welcomed the policy shift but worried that the public statements had a "regime change" tone that may push the Cuban government away.
"The Cuban government will need to get past the tone and focus on the substance," she said.
The policy announcement comes ahead of this week's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobego, where Barack Obama will likely be pressed on Cuba. The U.S. is the only nation in the hemisphere that doesn't have diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The administration is taking a step-by-step approach to Cuba, offering these moves early in President Obama's term and challenging Cuba's leaders to open their political system. If Cuba responds, more direct diplomatic overtures -- such as greater American tourism and direct talks on immigration -- could be in the offing.
Mr. Obama declined to make the announcement himself. But in another symbolic move, Mr. Restrepo translated the statement into Spanish from the briefing-room podium, hoping that the message reaches Cubans directly. It was believed to be the first time a language other than English was spoken from the White House press room.
In making the changes to telecommunications rules, the administration will essentially eliminate some of the red tape that prevents U.S. companies from teaming up with local providers to offer phone services in Cuba, as they do in other Latin American countries.
Telecommunications giants AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. are among a handful of phone carriers currently allowed to exchange phone and Internet traffic with Cuba, albeit indirectly.
The Obama administration is eliminating a traffic-routing restriction, which will make it easier for telecom companies to offer service directly to the island. The moves will also allow telecom providers to enter into roaming-service agreements with wireless phone providers in Cuba, to make it easier for Cuban-Americans to stay in touch with family.
Last year, the Bush administration announced a new policy that allowed Americans to send cellphones to the island, but it was of limited benefit to some Cubans because of technical difficulties in getting the U.S. phones to work on the local wireless providers' networks.
The Bush policy would continue under the Obama administration. U.S. residents would also be allowed to pay for phone, Internet, satellite-TV and radio services for people in Cuba under the new guidelines.
Alberto Gonzalez, a spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section, the Cuban government's representative in Washington, said Cuba didn't have an immediate response to Monday's announcement. He added, though, that in his opinion, implementation of the policies would require the U.S. to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Write to Laura Meckler at
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[email protected]Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A3
Topic: US telecoms behind Obama's move to open up Cuba (Read 539 times)