A Cuba Omnibus Clarification

The media seems unable to escape hyperbole regarding the Cuba provision being discussed in the Omnibus Appropriations bill.

So without speculating on the end-result, here are some important facts:

First of all, the provision in question was first presented as an amendment to the FY'12 Financial Services Appropriations bill by U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and unanimously approved (without objection) during the June 2011 full-committee markup of the bill.

The language of the provision would revert the Obama Administration's April 2009 regulations, which made Cuban-American travel and remittances unlimited (going significantly further than the Clinton Administration's previous one-trip per year limit).

Legally, the provision would restore the Bush Administration's limit of one-trip every three years. However, since the Omnibus is a spending bill with a one-year duration, the practical effect of the provision would be to limit Cuban-American travel to only one-trip in 2012 -- both reasonable and humanitarian (and akin to the Clinton Administration's prior limits).

As for remittances, it would cap the amount of money sent to Cuba (of which the Castro regime takes 30% immediately off the top) at $1,200 per year, which is nearly ten times the average Cuban income. Once again, that is both reasonable and humanitarian, which is the Congressional intent of providing these exemptions in the first place.

From an overall policy perspective, this provision would effectively eliminate a main source of revenue for Cuba's brutal dictatorship. According to the Bank for International Settlements, since April 2009 -- when the Obama Administration first eased these sanctions -- the Castro regime's hard currency deposits in foreign banks have more than doubled from $2.8 billion to $5.8 billion.

Moreover, it would come at a time when repression in Cuba has also more than doubled. In September 2011 alone, the Castro regime arrested 563 known pro-democracy activists for political “crimes.” That’s the highest monthly number of political arrests in 30 years. And in the first two weeks of December, there have already been another 300 political arrests.

Finally, it comes as more than two-years have passed since the Castro regime has taken an American hostage, Alan Gross, without suffering any policy repercussions.

This provision and the consequent flow of unlimited hard currency it eliminates would send a strong message that the Castro regime's profiteering and brutal repression is absolutely unacceptable.