Bush Administration policies cut Cuban travel by more than half

From Rich Perelman at CigarCyclopedia:

Reports from the U.S. Department of State indicate that the Bush Administration’s policy against travel to Cuba is working as intended.

A dramatic reduction of 57.4% was reported in seats reserved for charter flights to Cuba since the new regulations became active in July: only 50,588 seats have been booked while during the same period in 2003, 118,938 seats were reserved. This does not measure the impact of travel to Cuba from third-country carriers, such as from the Bahamas, Canada and Mexico, but it is clear that the trend is downward.

Reservations for travel in December are down by 67% from last year.

All of these restrictions are designed to lessen the availability of hard currency to Cuba and weaken the financial standing of the Fidel Castro-led government. While doing so, it is also clear that no changes will come to the governance of Cuba until the 78-year-old Castro dies. Whether the Miami-based anti-Castro Cubans, or the U.S. government have a workable plan of how to work with pro-democracy elements in Cuba when that day comes is not clear. What is plain is that as long as Castro is alive, he will retain absolute power on the island.

Posted on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2004 at 4:13 pm.