Washington DC, June 5: The United States has announced on Tuesday a major travel restriction on American citizens traveling to Cuba, in a bid to ratchet up pressure on Cuba over its support to embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to an official statement by the US state department, the new implementations suspend authorization for the popular way the US citizens travel to the Communist Island, i.e., through organized tour team, also called as “people to people educational travel”.
Moreover, Washington would no longer allow visits to Cuba through “passenger and recreational vessels, including cruise, ships and yachts, and private and corporate aircraft”, according to ANI news reports.
The fresh restrictions imposed as Washington “hold the Cuban regime accountable for its repression of the Cuban people, its interference in Venezuela, and its direct role in the man-made crisis led by Nicolas Maduro”.
The statement read, “Despite widespread international condemnation, Maduro continues to undermine his country’s institutions and subvert the Venezuelan people’s region to self-determination. Empowered by Cuba, he has created a humanitarian disaster that destabilizes the region.”
The restrictions will into effect by Wednesday, according to media reports, and will not applicable for those citizens who have already booked their tickets for said methods of travel.
A department spokesperson for western hemisphere told CNN commercial flights to Cuba from the US will continue to be allowed as they “broadly support family travel and other lawful forms of travel”.
Cuba’s ministry of foreign affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla has labeled the new US travel restriction as an “attack on international laws”.
In a tweet, the minister said, “The tightening of the US blockade against Cuba and its extraterritorial implementation is and the sovereignty of all states. It is the main obstacle to our development and a flagrant violation of the human rights of all Cubans.”