• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 10 / 2011

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March 10, 2011. In what one hopes will be part of a trend, the government has approved eight more airports to schedule direct charter flights to Cuba. Until the rules were relaxed at the end of January, charter flights to Cuba had to originate and return from JFK in New York, Miami or Los Angeles.

Now direct flights can leave from any U.S. international airport approved by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This week Customs approved Chicago O’Hare, Baltimore, Dallas/Ft. Worth, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Atlanta and San Juan.

In a wrongheaded infringement on Americans’ right to travel where they please, we are the only people who cannot freely travel to and from Cuba. Americans cannot go to Cuba because they want to.

There are exceptions for certain classes of people: Americans with relatives there, journalists, academics, religious groups, humanitarian workers, performers and athletes, to name some. But they must obtain prior permission and a license from the Treasury to spend their own money in Cuba.

The exceptions show that the government thinks some Americans are more important than others. Sellers of American agricultural products and pharmaceuticals are welcome to apply.

These restrictions place an unnecessary burden on American travelers, indeed, the lack of contact probably has the reverse effect.

But Cuba is changing. Raul Castro recently announced plans to allow certain privately owned businesses and farms and to cut 500,000 jobs from the state’s bloated payroll, a step in the right direction.

Cuba will change and it would be nice if for once the U.S. were ahead of the curve on an international development.

Source: www.marconews.com/news/2011/mar/10/