Starting early next year, the Cuban government will eliminate the
requirement that citizens who are planning to travel to other nations obtain an
exit visa, official permission to go abroad. A notice in Granma, the island
nation's Communist Party newspaper, stated that once the policy takes effect on
Jan. 13, Cuban citizens will also no longer have to present a letter of
invitation to visit another country. They will have to show only their passport
and visas for their destination countries. President Ral Castro pledged last
year to get rid of the widely resented exit visas. The decision to do so is a
sign that the party is answering calls for reform without surrendering much
power. October marks the 50th anniversary of the 13-day Cuban missile crisis,
during which tensions between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union almost exploded into
nuclear war.
Notice: The Communist newspaper
“Granma” is named after the boat in which Castro and his fighters landed in Cuba from Mexico
to begin their invasion of Cuba
"Cuba
"
<http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2127186-3,00.html>.
