{"id":57174,"date":"2012-10-21T03:10:25","date_gmt":"2012-10-21T03:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=57174"},"modified":"2012-10-21T03:10:25","modified_gmt":"2012-10-21T03:10:25","slug":"cubas-state-media-announced-that-the-island-will-stop-being-a-de-facto-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cubas-state-media-announced-that-the-island-will-stop-being-a-de-facto-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba\u2019s State Media Announced That The Island Will Stop Being A De Facto Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>This week Cuba\u2019s state media announced that the island will stop being a de facto prison. Starting on January 14th, all Cuban passport-holders will be permitted to travel as they please<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of all the restrictions the Cuban state places on its citizens\u2019 lives, limits on foreign travel probably cause the most resentment. Cubans who want to leave the country have to spend weeks and several hundred precious dollars seeking a \u201cwhite card\u201d. Permission is frequently refused, and it is often assumed that those who are allowed to leave will not return.<\/p>\n<p>This week state media announced that the island will stop being a de facto prison. Starting on January 14th, all Cuban passport-holders will be permitted to travel as they please.\u00a0Ra\u00fal Castro, the president, has been implementing a cautious, incremental agenda of liberal reform ever since he succeeded his ailing brother Fidel in 2008. This decision is among his boldest steps yet. \u201cThis would never have happened under Fidel,\u201d says a diplomat based in Havana.<\/p>\n<p>Read more in the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/americasview\/2012\/10\/travel-cuba?fsrc=scn\/fb\/wl\/bl\/letmypeoplego\">Economist<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":2639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,3402],"tags":[5754,5753,5752],"class_list":["post-57174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-editors-choice","tag-cuba-de-facto-prison","tag-cuba-to-lift-travel-ban","tag-cubas-state-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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