The Trump administration has moved to dramatically cut non-family travel to Cuba, an increasingly popular destination for U.S. travelers in recent years.
The Treasury Department said Tuesday it would end the most common ways for Americans to visit the island, halting cruise ships and an educational travel authorization, to prevent U.S. dollars from enriching the Caribbean nation’s military, intelligence and security services.
“Cuba continues to play a destabilizing role in the Western Hemisphere, providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up U.S. adversaries in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua by fomenting instability, undermining the rule of law, and suppressing democratic processes,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The new rules end visits to Cuba “via passenger and recreational vessels, including cruise ships and yachts, and private and corporate aircraft,” Mnuchin said.
Travel restrictions to Cuba were loosened under President Obama in 2016, with cruises quickly becoming a popular choice for Americans to visit the island. The other major category being banned is organized group travel, known as “group people-to-people educational travel.”
The new rules are part of a broader plan by the Trump administration to roll back Obama-era policies that critics saw as too easy on the communist nation. In April, officials placed new sanctions and restrictions on the island, limiting the amount of money families in the U.S. can send to their relatives in Cuba, among other measures.
The State Department described the newly banned travel forms as “veiled tourism” that served to “line the pockets of the Cuban military.”
“In Cuba, the regime continues to harass, intimidate, and jail Cubans who dare to voice an opinion different from the one the regime wants them to have,” the department said in a statement Tuesday.
About a dozen other travel categories are still allowed, including for family visits, public performances, athletic competitions, professional research, journalistic activities and humanitarian projects, according to the Treasury Department. Certain group people-to-people educational trips that were previously booked will also be allowed.
The changes were set to go into effect Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear how they would impact previously booked cruises.
“We are closely monitoring these recent developments and any resulting impact to cruise travel to Cuba,” Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said in a statement. “We will communicate to our guests and travel partners as additional information becomes available.”
It was still possible Tuesday afternoon to book cruises to Cuba on Norwegian’s website, where prices for a four-day trip to Havana start at $329.
The Cuban minister of foreign affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, condemned the changes in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.
“I strongly reject new sanctions announced by #US vs. #Cuba which further restrict #US citizens’ travels to Cuba, aimed at suffocating the economy & harming the living standards of Cubans in order to forcefully obtain political concessions,” he wrote. “Once again they will fail.”
Renee Radabaugh, president of Paragon Events, a company that organizes tours to Cuba, said her agency has not stopped booking trips.
“I think time will tell how impactful this is,” she said, while noting that the travel categories that will remain intact will still allow many U.S. travelers to visit the island.
