US Threatens Travel Agencies over Cuba

HAVANA TIMES, March 21 — An agency within the US Treasury Department has threatened to suspend the licenses of operators that advertise trips to Cuba with suggestions of tours, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.

A statement from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) warned this week that “it is required that every traveler must have a full schedule of educational exchange activities. Advertising that seems to deviate from this requirement will be the object of verification.”

In January of last year, President Barack Obama began permitting airlines and travel agencies to organize trips by US citizens to the Caribbean nation, though these were restricted to those visits having cultural or educational purposes.