A few reactions to White House remittance and travel policy announcement

A wealth of sources are giving feedback after the White House announcement (from several perspectives):

POV 1: the Obama administration made a big mistake in making these changes.

• Some Republicans in Congress, including Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, are angered by the decision to lift restrictions on remittances and family travel. They oppose the measures, arguing that they could bring income to the Castro regime while the state continues to repress individual freedoms.
• The Cuban Liberty Council’s statement was: “No one is against Cubans being allowed to visit their relatives for humanitarian reasons, but from a political stand point, President Obama has made a mistake by giving concessions to a dictatorship.”

POV 2: the new policy is a welcome step in the right direction.

• Many Cuban Americans, citizens across Latin America, and scholars who study Cuba applaud the announcement. For Spanish speakers, see Silvia Pisani’s piece in Argentina’s La Nación. For a report in English, check out Kevin Hagan’s editorial.
• The statement from the Cuban American National Foundation was: “Change is not going to happen from the hands of Fidel or Raul Castro. We cannot wait here as the Bush administration did for eight years… This is a first step that the President has taken to help us help our people in Cuba.”

POV 3: the changes are good, but do not go far enough.

• Petition to lift the embargo from Avaaz.org. The global group of campaigners will be sailing to Port of Spain, anchoring in the harbor where the Trinidad Summit of the Americas will be taking place this weekend, and painting on the lifted sail the petition to end the embargo.
• Fidel Castro is in this category, as well. His editorial comments congratulated the Obama administration for making headway, but said that much remained to be done to eliminate the ills of past policy.

The issue is complicated, and readers should keep in mind that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive, and indeed, probably should not be considered as such.