Fulfilling the campaign promise that probably won Barack Obama the state of Florida, the White House announced on April 13th that the United States would be relaxing the economic restraints on interaction with Cuba. While Obama has only been president for three months, the embargo that he is ending has been in place for more than 50 years.

The embargo has taken many forms over the years, restricting travel to the tiny island as well as trade. One law passed in 1963 prohibited companies that did business in Cuba from doing business in the United States. The result of the blockade was decades of Cuban poverty as the economy adjusted from the shock of losing a major trading partner. It also led to the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Cubans to the state of Florida, including more than 10,000 people who left during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980.

The sanctions that are going to be repealed are numerous. All restrictions on remittances and travel by Cuban-Americans will be removed, allowing them to send money to the island for the first time. Certain businesses will be allowed to offer services to Cuba, such as telecommunications firms. These actions come days before the Summit of the Americas, which is expected to call on Mr. Obama to remove all sanctions on Cuba and to restore diplomatic relations with the country.

There are still many other restrictions for the United States Congress to change, including travel for other Americans and opening up trade for the entire business world. Hopefully these new moves push them in the right direction.

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