Rumours rife in Cuba about lifting of travel restrictions

Dec 23, 2011, 17:19 GMT

Havana/Buenos Aires - Rumours were rife Friday that Cuban President Raul Castro might be about to lift travel restrictions and allow people to go in and out of the country more freely.

Cuban authorities, however, have not officially commented on any such plans. Castro himself admitted in August that communist Cuba was working to update its rules in this field, and no further developments have been known since.

'The rumour that Raul Castro might announce Friday a flexibilization of entry and exit restrictions is keeping me awake,' award-winning Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote Thursday.

Sanchez, a dissident, has consistently been denied the right to travel in recent years.

In order to legally travel abroad, Cubans need an invitation letter, a visa for the country they plan to visit, and also an official exit permit which they can only get - if it is granted to them at all - through a long process that will also set them back around 500 dollars. On top of that, they need a ticket to travel.

Those who have left the country may also face restrictions concerning their return.

Pro-government blogger Yohandry Fontana also mentioned the rumours. He noted that changes to migrations requirements might be announced Friday, although he stressed that he had nothing official to base his report on.

If they were indeed announced, more flexible migration requirements would add to a series of significant reforms enacted recently in Cuba.

Earlier this week, banks started granting loans to farmers and other workers of the country's small but growing private sector, after the communist state lifted some restrictions aimed at speeding up economic reforms.

There has also been an easing of restrictions on state-owned firms, allowing them a greater financial margin to subcontract private-sector firms for their services. Such operations were previously only allowed for very small amounts of money.

New rules set by the Cuban Central Bank and the Finance Ministry also allow banks to grant personal loans to stimulate private consumption.

Other reforms introduced over the past two years include allowing people to buy and sell their cars and homes for the first time in more than 50 years on the island of 11 million people.