海角大神

Havana鈥檚 Old Town is a colorful though faded grid of dilapidated聽houses punctuated by chess games and 1950s-era American cars.聽Neighbors chat from their doorways, like Estrella, who sits on a聽knee-high box in front of her home.

鈥淚鈥檇 love to travel but it鈥檚 so expensive,鈥� Estrella says, declining聽to give her surname for fear of reprisals from the government.

Exit visas are one of the first hurdles Cubans have had to face when聽it comes to travel. But a new law set to come into force today scraps聽the requirement for the costly 鈥渨hite card,鈥� allowing Cubans to travel聽freely with just a passport.

鈥淐ubans, even if they鈥檝e never applied for an exit visa, have always聽felt they had to ask permission to leave, so it鈥檚 a big psychological聽change,鈥� says Emily Morris, fellow at the Institute of the Americas at聽University College London. 鈥淚t makes a difference to how they see聽their relationship with the state. It is no longer controlling them.鈥�

While doing away with one of the country鈥檚 most despised pieces of聽legislation is symbolically a huge step, in practice there may be聽little effect on people like Estrella.

鈥淚n reality, it鈥檚 not a change for me,鈥� she says. The cost of any聽flight and even the passport itself are prohibitively expensive for聽the vast majority of Cubans. And Estrella earns just $13.50 a month聽working for the state selling food. That鈥檚 well below Cuba鈥檚 average聽salary of $18 a month. 鈥淚t鈥檇 never be possible to go anywhere,鈥� says聽Estrella.

Revolutionary roots

The strict exit visa laws were enacted in 1961, two years after former聽President Fidel Castro鈥檚 revolution, in order to prevent a mass exodus聽from the island.

Now, as the government begins to relax its hard-line policies and聽Fidel鈥檚 younger brother, President Ra煤l Castro, enacts economic聽reforms, one more hurdle to Cubans鈥� freedom looks to be falling.聽Recent economic reforms have allowed small private businesses such as聽restaurants and guesthouses to grow, although they are constrained by聽heavy taxation and regulation.

With the new law, islanders have to apply only for a passport and the聽relevant entry visa for their destination. They will be allowed to聽remain out of the country for as many as two years before they lose聽certain rights in Cuba, such as health care and their property.

'More flexibility'

Estrella isn鈥檛 the only Cuban who feels that the new law will have a聽minimal impact on her life. Yoani S谩nchez is an activist and blogger聽who has been unable to travel outside Cuba in order to collect any聽awards for her activist work on the island. Ms. S谩nchez says that despite聽the lifting of the exit visas, travel outside the country won鈥檛 be a聽given.

鈥淭here will be more flexibility and a reduction in the bureaucracy and聽in cost, but it doesn鈥檛 give people directly the right to enter and聽exit this country,鈥� S谩nchez says.

The activist plans to line up outside one of the country鈥檚 195聽operational passport offices today. 鈥淚鈥檒l enjoy the illusion that I聽can leave,鈥� she says.

S谩nchez worries about a 鈥渘ational security鈥� clause, which could give聽the government the opportunity to prohibit travel to dissidents or聽anyone it deems a threat to the state. There are more obvious caveats聽in the wording of the law that say that those of value to the revolution 鈥� professionals such as scientists and engineers 鈥� will聽have a much harder time obtaining the necessary permissions to leave.聽This is in order to maintain the 鈥渉uman capital created by the聽Revolution.鈥�

Doing away with the travel visa "is significant, at least in theory,鈥� says Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank. 鈥淭he question is whether there will be new obstacles to leaving, and, if so, will they be applied to high-profile cases?鈥�