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U.S. allows unlimited visits to relatives in Cuba

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-04 05:22

WASHINGTON: Americans with "close relatives" in Cuba can visit the island country as often and as long as they would like under final rules easing some travel and telecommunications restrictions, the U.S. Treasury said on Thursday.

The new rules, effective immediately, fleshed out an announcement by President Barack Obama in April to ease the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.

But the Treasury said Americans could spend only $179 per day on visits to family members in Cuba, including aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. It lifted restrictions on U.S. monetary remittances to Cuban relatives, allowing American banks to set up exchange arrangements with Cuban institutions.