New Cuban law waves goodbye to exit visa
After 50 years citizens can now get a passport and jump on a plane just like everyone else
They didn’t jump for joy, but they didn’t exactly pooh-pooh it, either. On Monday Cubans got their first taste of a reform letting them travel abroad without a reviled and costly exit visa.
As a vestige of the Cold War era vanished and most Cubans gained a long-sought right for the first time in 50 years, some called it the most far-reaching of changes President Raul Castro has undertaken since taking over from his ailing brother, Fidel, in July 2006.
But don’t expect a rush for the door.
People here earn on average US$20 a month. But an airline ticket to the Cuban magnet of Florida costs at least US$500, and Cubans still need visas to get into other countries, even if they no longer need one to leave the island, or a letter of invitation from people they want to see.
And on the first day the law came into effect, large crowds were notably absent from passport offices or embassy consulates.
But blips of relief, there were. Marta Piloto, a 50-year-old retiree, said she was delighted over the prospect of visiting her mother in North Carolina.