As we are sure many of you are now aware that yesterday, June 4, 2019, the United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has removed “group People-to-People educational travel” from the list of approved travel among other regulation changes. Effective today, June 5, 2019, U.S. citizens will not be permitted to travel to Cuba under this category. However, if you have “substantially planned” your trip by reserving accommodations or purchasing plane tickets prior to the publication of regulations on June 5, your trip will be “grandfathered in” and you will be permitted to complete your trip.
Unfortunately, many of the news reports regarding this change have been misleading and incomplete. We would like to clarify changes in the regulations to ensure people have accurate information for any future travel plans. We want to emphasize that ProximityCuba, along with many other agencies, will continue offering educational trips to Cuba for academic institutions and will continue organizing trips to support the Cuban people. The People-to-People category was the only category affected by the changes announced yesterday, and none of the other categories for travel have been affected. It is still legal to travel to Cuba and many types of authorized travel are still available, such as university-sponsored study abroad trips, journalistic activity (including freelance journalists), professional research and professional meetings, educational activities, religious activities, support for the Cuban people, humanitarian projects, and activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes. If you already have plans to travel under these categories or expect to in the future, you may continue with your plans.
While we oppose all restrictions on the freedom to travel to Cuba, we continue to work within the frequently-changing regulations to help U.S. citizens travel legally to Cuba and to fulfill their wishes to connect in constructive ways with the Cuban people. ProximityCuba and other travel providers are available to inform and help potential travelers.
We want to assure travelers that ProximityCuba continues in full operation and will continue organizing trips. If you have a trip with us that may be “grandfathered in,” contact us as soon as possible. If you want to plan a trip, we are here to help.
Rodrigo H. González
Executive Director
ProximityCuba
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