We’ve received a few messages inquiring about our trips to Cuba now that new travel regulations have been put in place by the government. We are happy to report that our trips remain unaffected by these regulations. The awesome team at Your Cuba Travels, who operates our trips to Cuba, was on the phone the majority of yesterday with government officials solidifying this. Below is a short message by Jordon Diaz, one of the owners of Your Cuba Travels. Please also note: Your Cuba Travel’s attention to our questions and concerns, as on the trips themselves, is phenomenal and we are so happy to be working with them!
(From Jordan): “With the announcement of new regulations yesterday we have received many questions and concerns, but happily we can report that our tours are completely unaffected by the changes. We have not used the category of “People to People” travel since 2017 when our government heavily restricted this avenue for visits to Cuba. Since that time, we have used the category of “Support for the Cuban People” which is not being restricted with the new changes. Commercial airline flights continue to operate unchanged and our Visa category and business license remain the same as well.
If you visit the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Asset Controls website: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/programs/pages/cuba.aspx
And click the top link for Frequently Asked Questions on Changes to the Cuba Sanctions Program as of June 4, 2019.
You can read all of the changes that are new for June. The sections directly related to travel to Cuba are Section 5: Where the 12 currently usable categories are listed, including the unchanged “Support for the Cuban People” which we will continue to use for our guests. In addition, in Section 20, the document explores what Support for the Cuban People travel entails, which mirrors how all of our tours are operated. Finally, in Section 39, the article shows that our General license allows us to continue to operate tours with our guests in Cuba as long as they follow our full-time itineraries with the intention of making positive capitalistic change for the Cuban People:
‘A general license authorizes persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction, including travel agents and tour group operators, to provide travel services in connection with authorized travel without the need for specific licenses from OFAC.’“