Cuban-American Travel Restrictions Lifted – Long-Range Bombers May be Based in Cuba
According to the Miami Herald, Bush era Cuban-American travel restrictions have all but ended.
Cuban Americans are now free to visit relatives on the island once a year and stay as long as they like, using a new license issued by the Obama administration. The rules now allow:
- A trip every 12 months with a general license that does not require an application process.
- Passengers wanting to travel again within the same year can apply for ‘’specific licenses.” Approval will be given case by case.
- A broader definition of who qualifies as family and can be visited.
- A per diem spending of $179.
Russia Considers Cuban Air Bases for Long-Range Bomber
As if we need another reason to move forward in normalizing relations with Cuba, General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force’s strategic aviation is considering placing air bases for Tu-160 bombers in Cuba. According to AFP:
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday.
“This is possible in Cuba,” General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force’s strategic aviation staff, told the Interfax-AVN military news agency.
The comments were the latest signal that Moscow intends to project its military capability in far-flung corners of the globe despite a tight defence budget and hardware that experts consider in many respects outdated.