CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

US Activists Mobilize against Restrictions on Cuba Travel.

CUBA, 16 August 2011.- Cuban-born United States residents and nongovernmental organizations have sent thousands of letters, faxes, and e-mails to the White House expressing opposition to a bill that would restore restrictions on travel to Cuba, according to news reports Tuesday.

Despite all the messages, an amendment to a House budget law sponsored by Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart was "still a threat," according to commentator Alvaro F. Fernandez of Radio Progreso in Miami.

The Diaz-Balart amendment seeks to return to the Bush era, when Cuban-Americans could only travel to Cuba to visit their families once every three years, Fernandez added.

Last month, the White House declared it did not support the amendment and that President Barack Obama would veto it if contained language on Cuba, Fernandez said.

The amendment would also limit family remittances to $300 per quarter and strictly define who was a family member.

Following Diaz-Balart, other members of Congress such as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, David Rivera, and others, are insisting on the restoration of Draconian measures, Fernandez said. (Cubaminrex-PL)