Cubans will no longer need an exit permit to travel abroad from January, the communist regime said on Tuesday, in a major overhaul of a half-century-old policy despiised by the island's citizens The changes are the latest in a series of gradual reforms implemented in recent years by President Raul Castro, who took the helm from his ailing brother Fidel Castro in 2006.
Cubans will no longer have to apply for a "white card" to leave the island from January 14, and the period allowed for overseas stays will be extended from 11 to 24 months, according to decrees published in the official journal. A bureaucratic headache, Cubans are required to show a letter of invitation from a relative or friend abroad and a visa from the destination country to get the permit, costing up to $500 in a country where monthly salaries average $19.
While Cubans will only need a passport from January to travel, the government indicated that it would continue to impose some limits to avoid a "brain drain" that it blamed on the United States. Despite travel restrictions in place since the 1960s, Cubans have emigrated illegally in droves, often using rickety boats to embark on dangerous sea voyages to nearby Florida.
Around two million Cubans have left the country in the last half century. The population today stands at 11.2 million. The foreign ministry said the latest changes "take into account the right of the revolutionary state to defend itself against interference and subversion by the US government and its allies." Under the new rules, people who play "vital roles" in the country, such as soldiers, engineers, doctors and athletes, will need authorisation from their superiors in order to get a passport.