New pro-Cuba measures from the U.S.: real progress, or empty promises?

For the first time since taking office, the Joe Biden administration in the U.S. announced a set of measures this month to ease the country’s controversial Donald Trump-era sanctions against Cuba. The Democrat president had promised less-violent economic and migrant policies regarding the island nation, and the latest moves indicate the start of this shift. 

The list of modifications includes relaxing restrictions on Cubans sending money home from the U.S. — which pumps more than USD 3.7 billion into the island’s economy every year, according to The Havana Consulting Group. Before, Cubans in the U.S. were prohibited from sending more than USD 1,000 in the space of three months — a limit that has now been lifted. 

“More than 90 percent of the Cuban remittance-sending diaspora is settled in the U.S. Remittances make up Cuba’s third-largest source of dollar reserves, behind the service and tourism industries,” said Daniel F. Runde, Senior Vice President of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The U.S. Department of State also mentions facilitating tourism between the U.S. and Cuba, speeding up the process for visa applications, supporting independent Cuban business owners, and facilitating educational...