Travel restrictions to Cuba will impact Miami starting March 10 (video story included)

The Trump administration’s latest restrictions on travel to Cuba will cap the number of charter flights starting in two weeks, on March 10.

The move is intended to inflict “economic pressure on the Cuban regime,” according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It will limit all charter flights to José Martí International Airport, located in Havana.

Some airline operators have already reduced flights. The U.S. Department of Transportation is implementing the measure.

With the elimination of many charter flights, thousands of Cuban Americans will face more difficulties when traveling to visit relatives in destinations outside the capital.

One Cuban American who will be affected is Annia Rosa Balcazar. Balcazar, who is from Holguin, a city in eastern Cuba, said driving from Havana can take more than nine hours on poorly maintained and often dangerous roads.

She had planned to visit family this summer but now is unsure. “It just made it harder and more expensive for us to be able to go,” she said. “We still have family that we want to go see and take things to.”

Yuselys Solis is a broadcast journalism student minoring in psychology and marketing. She is passionate about latino issues, but hopes to one day be an entertainment on-air talent.

Vanessa Maldonado is a senior broadcast journalism student at FIU. She was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Her passion for broadcast journalism began at the age of 10, when she realized she enjoyed writing and expressing herself. Vanessa looks forward to graduating and continuing her education into grad school.

Jessie Perez is a senior at Florida International University pursuing a Bachelors of Communications in broadcast media. She hopes to become a news anchor and have her own podcast.