They Call Me Cuban Pete

Obama has lifted some travel restrictions to Cuba, but only for Cuban-Americans so far.

The decision, which comes days before President Obama leaves for the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, represents a significant shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba.

Several key components of America's nearly half-century embargo on the island nation, however, will be preserved.

Among other things, Americans still will be barred from sending gifts or other items to high-ranking Cuban government officials and Communist Party members.

Travel restrictions for Americans of non-Cuban descent also will remain in place.

Before he was elected, Obama promised to lower some of the barriers in Cuban-American relations.

Provisions attached to a $410 billion supplemental budget Obama signed in March also made it easier for Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba and to send money to family members on the island. In addition, they facilitated the sale of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba.

The provisions loosened restrictions enacted by President Bush after he came to office in 2001.

Several members of Congress see broader relations with Cuba as vital to U.S. interests. A group of senators and other supporters unveiled a bill March 31 to lift the 47-year-old travel ban to Cuba.

"I think that we finally reached a new watermark here on this issue," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, one of the bill's sponsors.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, another sponsor of the bill, issued a draft report in February that said it was time to reconsider the economic sanctions. Lugar is the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

It's a start, and the measures have pretty decent bi-partisan support other than of course a few Republican obstructionists.

This very much seems like the thingto do for a President interested in actual diplomacy.