The government of the American president Joe Biden eliminated the restrictions imposed on flights to Cuba, measures that had been imposed during the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump.
The US Department of Transportation agreed to a request from the Biden administration about the island. “Through this order, the United States Department of Transportation, at the request of the Department of State, revokes previous actions that restrict some air services between the United States and Cuba,” says the text.
Since January 2020, all public charter flights between Cuba and the United States that did not have the José Martí International Airport in Havana as their destination were suspended, at the request of then-Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.
Trump argued that the measure was intended to “limit the possibility of the regime obtaining economic benefits that it uses to finance repression.” After taking office in January 2021, the Joe Biden government had promised to lift some of the restrictions imposed on Cuba by the Trump administration.
Since 2000, the embargo on the island began a process of relaxation after the Trade Sanctions and Increased Trade Actwhich allowed the export of food, agricultural products and medicines to Cuba.
In addition, the former president Barack Obama promoted an economic flexibility with respect to trips and the sending of remittances that arrive on the island. But these measures were tightened again during the Trump administration. The Republican president strengthened the embargo with sanctions since 2019, restricted travel, closed the US Embassy in Havana and placed Cuba back on the list of countries that support terrorism.