So remember how yesterday morning I sarcastically asked “how soon before the Obama administration is issuing visas to Cuba but not to Honduras?” The link went to an article from the end of August about how State had stopped issuing most visas to Honduras.
Looks they got to the Cuba thing before the close of business yesterday:
Americans with relatives in Cuba can send them unlimited cash and visit the island as long and often as they would like under new rules that fissured a nearly five-decade trade embargo on Thursday. The rules, made effective immediately by the U.S. Treasury Department, fleshed out an announcement by President Barack Obama in April to ease U.S. trade restrictions imposed on Cuba after Fidel Castro’s leftist revolution half a century ago.
The new Honduras guidelines mean you can only acquire a visa on an emergency basis, compared to the new Cuba rules which allow unlimited family travel. A few days ago the administration announced that they were looking to restrict visas to Honduras even further. Because the Cuban government is so much more democratic and legitimate than the entirety of the duly-elected and constitutionally-prescribed Honduran state (h/t: EW).
References:
* Breaking: US Cuts Off Aid To Honduras [MR]
* US Embassy in Honduras to stop issuing most visas [AP]
* U.S. allows unlimited visits to relatives in Cuba [Reuters]
* US likely to impose further visa restrictions on Honduras [Global Visions]
Previously:
* Shocker: Openly Anti-American State Dept Official Spent Decades Spying For Castro, Training Diplomats
* Obama: Screw Our Latin American Allies, Let’s Cozy Up To Cuba
* Obama Flip-Flops: I’m Now Supporting Zelaya Again Because My Critics Are Hypocritical Or Something
