After 50 Years, Cuba Drops Unpopular Travel Restriction
For the first time in five decades, Cubans will no longer need an "exit permit" to travel. The change, which takes effect Monday, is part of a broader immigration reform by President Raul Castro making it easier for Cubans to go abroad — and also to return.
But critics say the communist government continues to treat travel as a privilege, not a right, and a useful tool to punish dissent.
A block from the massive U.S. Interests Section in Havana is a place Cubans call "Embassy Park," even though Washington technically doesn't have an embassy here and there isn't much left of the park.
The place is more like a holding pen for the dreams and despair of Cubans trying to get to the United States.
Related NPR Stories
The Salt
In Farmers Market, A Free Market Rises In Cuba