The United States should reinvigorate efforts to advance human rights and democracy in Cuba, Freedom House said today.  One key element of a strengthened policy would be the lifting of U.S. legal restrictions on American citizen travel to the island.

"Cuba remains one of the most repressive countries in the world," said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House.  "It is well past time to reassess a policy that impedes the ability of American citizens to freely interact with Cubans on a large scale and thus expose them to unfettered information about the outside world.  We call on the incoming administration of Barack Obama to reexamine the embargo and to immediately lift the restrictions on remittances and travel to and from the island."

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been an important mechanism for the promotion of democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since its establishment. Find out more about what it does.