CUBA: Cubans could again travel abroad

AFP - The Cuban government will allow, for the first time in more than 50 years, tourism trips abroad for Cubans, according to a reform plan released Monday by the authorities.

The government will "consider the provisions that allow Cubans to travel outside as tourists," said one of the 313 economic reform measures adopted in April by a historic congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.

The document released Monday gives no details on how to leave these trips abroad, but formalizes the decision to allow Cubans to travel as part of economic reforms launched by President Raul Castro.

Permission to travel is a key demand of the Cuban population. It is not forbidden to travel, but restrictions are so numerous that very few Cubans are able to do so.

Cubans must obtain such an invitation from the outside and ask for permission, which can be rejected without justification.All steps bureaucratic cost also very expensive for an average salary of around 15 euros per month.

The Cuban government does not publish statistics on travel by Cubans abroad.