Feds Ease Restrictions On Cuba Travel, Cash

WASHINGTON, DC (CBS4) - Traveling to Cuba, sending money to relatives, and improving communications to the island officially got easier Friday, with the formal announcement of new rules from the US Treasury.

Under the guidelines, which had been widely expected but had been awaiting publication, it is now easier for  U.S. schools, churches and cultural groups to visit Cuba. They will not need a special US Treasury Department license.

Americans can send up to $2,000 annually to Cuba, limited to $500 per quarter. Before severe limits imposed by the administration of George W. Bush, rules under the carter administration had limited the payments to $300 per quarter.

There will be a quarterly limit on the amount any American can send: $500 per quarter to "support private economic activity." The Clinton administration had set that figure at $300 a quarter.

The rules also make it easier to send communications devices to Cuba that are approved for export from the US, again, without getting a special license.

The Obama administration had already relaxed travel restriction to the island, allowing people with relatives in Cuba to travel more freely and more often.

The change in the amounts individuals can send family and friends on the island is expected to ease economic strive there, but not all members of the South Florida exile community are enthused.

Some see the additional funds and eased travel as a benefit to a Cuban regime that is struggling.