Get the governor a cigar!
One month after the federal government announced that travel restrictions to Cuba would be eased, Gov. Cuomo’s office on Saturday said he plans to visit the island nation.
Cuomo plans to lead a trade mission to promote New York, spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa said in an e-mail.
She did not say when the governor would be traveling, although the trip is expected within the next few months.
The governor is expected to announce the trip during his State of the State address Wednesday.
DeRosa said the Cuba trip would be part of the Global NY initiative.
Cuomo had previously announced plans to make multiple trade missions during his second term as governor.
Cuomo rarely left New York in his first term. But now he’ll be among the first high-profile US politicians to head to Cuba since the Obama administration loosened travel and trade restrictions last month.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has beaten him to the rum punch, and is currently heading the first congressional delegation to visit Cuba.
Cuomo’s trip could lead to further criticism from some pols and expatriate Cuban community leaders, who argue that Obama’s new travel easements will enrich the Cuban government, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
“This is a windfall for the Castro regime that will be used to fund its repression against Cubans, as well as its activities against US national interests in Latin America and beyond,” said Cuban-American Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a presumed candidate for president, last week.
Cuomo has said he plans to boost New York’s economy in a series of five trade missions, and his Cuba junket will be his first of these trips, a source told the Journal.
His other trade destinations may include Israel, China, Italy, Canada and Mexico, he said last year.
Foreign travel is “essential to doing the job of governor,” Cuomo said.
New import and export deals can especially help upstate’s struggling economies, he said.
On Dec. 17, Cuba and the United States announced that the US embargo on Cuba would be eased, and that diplomatic relations would be normalized.
Under the new rules, a broad spectrum of Americans will be able to fly to Cuba without first obtaining a special license.
The new rules include relaxed restrictions on telecommunications firms, banks and agricultural businesses.