奥巴马放宽对古巴的旅游限制

AS IT IS 2016-03-17 Obama Eases Travel Rules for Cuba 奥巴马放宽对古巴的旅游限制

The Obama administration Tuesday took new steps to make it easier for Americans to visit Cuba.

Americans can now take “people-to-people” trips to Cuba on their own. It changes former rules that required most Americans visiting Cuba to sign up for costly¹ group tours.

Americans will still have to fill out a form, saying their visits to Cuba are for education, not just the beach.

The new rules should help fill new commercial flights to Cuba, according to the Obama administration. U.S. airlines seek to begin regular flights to the island country in the next several months.

The new rules will also help Cuba. U.S. banks may process financial transactions from Cuba. A previous ban made it hard for Cuba to sell its products internationally.

And the rule will allow Cuban athletes, artists and performers working in the United States to earn a salary. But they will be required to obtain a U.S. visa.

The new rules could add to the number of Cubans playing Major League Baseball (or MLB). MLB officials hope Cuban players could play for MLB teams without having to give up their Cuban citizenship³, as they do now.

The new rules are not all good news for Cuba. Not requiring Americans to sign up for expensive tours could cost the Cuban government millions of dollars annually⁴, according to the Associated Press.

The Cuban government controls the tourism industry. It requires American groups to stay in state hotels and travel on state buses and use government registered tour guides, the Associated Press said.

The announcement comes one week before President Barack Obama is set to lead a large U.S. delegation⁵ to Cuba. The visit will be the first to Cuba by a U.S. president in 88 years.

Treasury⁶ Secretary Jacob Lew said the new rules will make it easier for Americans to visit Cuba. And it will provide benefits to the Cuban people, he said.

“Today’s amendments⁷ build upon President Obama’s historic actions to improve our country’s relationship with Cuba and its people,” Lew said.

Republican presidential candidates Ted² Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida are both Cuban-Americans. They said the United States should not ease restrictions⁸ on Cuba until its government allows free elections and releases political prisoners.

Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump⁹ has said he favors better relations with Cuba.

The Democrats¹⁰' two presidential candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said they agree with President Obama’s moves to ease the U.S. economic embargo¹¹ of Cuba.

The embargo started in 1962 under President John Kennedy, as tensions increased between the communist government of Fidel Castro and the United States.

Words in This Story

beach – n. an area covered with sand or small rocks that is next to an ocean or lake

commercial – adj. related to or used in the buying and selling of goods and services

regular – adj. running at the same time, every day

previous – adj. in effect in the past

embargo – n. happening over and over again at the same time or in the same way

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。