Cuba set to ease migration rules

Cuba will "relax" its travel and immigration policies while continuing to protect the nation from the "brain drain" and foreign interference, Cuban leader Raul Castro said. Castro spoke on Monday after the Cuban parliament, the National Assembly, approved a wide range of economic and social reforms proposed by the Communist Party. "The country is modifying decisions that played a role at a certain moment and unnecessarily were never changed," the local media quoted Castro as saying. He said the former rules reflected the Communist nation's struggle against foreign influence and counter-revolutionary acts. "Today the overwhelming majority of Cuban immigrants leave for economic reasons and almost all of them maintain their love for family and the country where they were born," Castro said. The Cuban authorities have been sharply criticized both by citizens and immigrants for making visa issue formalities extremely complex and expensive. The Cuban leader said the new migration policies would improve the country's relations with the large immigrant community abroad and promote tourism.