U.S. Eases Restrictions on Travel to Cuba

Americans with "close relatives" in Cuba can visit the island as long and often as they would like under new rules, the U.S. Treasury said yesterday. The rules, effective immediately, fleshed out an announcement by Barack Obama, the U.S. President, in April to ease the U.S. trade embargo enforced on Cuba half a century ago.

But visitors can spend only $179 a day on visits to family members, including aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. That is the same amount as the U.S. State Department’s per diem rate for official visits, and will change when the State Department rate changes. Until now, Cuban-Americans had been allowed to travel to the island only once a year.