Wednesday, July 22, 2009

NAFSA and Seventeen Organizations Send President Obama Letter Urging Removal of Restrictions on Academic Travel to Cuba

Today, NAFSA: Association of International Educators and a diverse coalition of seventeen organizations sent a letter to President Obama urging him to remove current restrictions on academic travel to Cuba. Citing the many benefits of academic exchanges and their history of success in advancing democratic change and strengthening relations between the United States and other countries, the letter suggests that a policy of open academic travel between the United States and Cuba would align well with the President’s interest in expanding opportunities for exchanges between young people around the world. The full list of organizations in the coalition can be found in the official release, but NAFSA has teamed up with Orbitz for its Open Cuba campaign – the petition on their website has garnered more than 50,000 signatures.

You can view NAFSA’s press release here or read the letter here. NAFSA also has a summary up on their blog here. Additionally, here’s the White House blog entry from when they announced the easing of restrictions in April.

You can read previous IHEC Blog posts relating to Cuba here.

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