President Barack Obama made good on a significant campaign promise to Cuban-Americans with an announcement on April 13, 2009, that he had taken steps to allow Americans to make unlimited trips to family members in Cuba, and to lift restrictions on money sent to them.

The formal announcement of this major shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba came from White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

"Today, President Obama has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights and to freely determine their country's future," Gibbs said at the beginning of the daily news briefing. "The president has directed the secretaries of state, treasury and commerce to carry out the actions necessary to lift all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit family members in Cuba and to send them remittances.

"He's further directed that steps be taken to enable the freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people. In taking these steps to help bridge the gap among divided Cuban families and ... to promote the increased flow of information and humanitarian items to the Cuban people, President Obama is working to fulfill the goals he identified both during his presidential campaign and since taking office.

"All who embrace core democratic values long for a Cuba that respects the basic human, political and economic rights of all of its citizens. President Obama believes the measure he has taken today will help make that goal a reality. He encourages all who share it to continue their steadfast support for the Cuban people."

The announcement came just days ahead of Obama heading to a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, and is intended to encourage dialogue and, ultimately, reform.

"It's very important to help open up space so the Cuban people can work on the kind of grass-roots democracy that is necessary to move Cuba to a better future," Daniel Restrepo, special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, said at the news conference. "The president promised us during the campaign, and he is making good on that promise today to extend his hand to the Cuban people to ensure that they have more independence from the regime, and the ability to start working down the path that we all want to see them succeed on. ... This is reaching out to the Cuban people."

The promise Restrepo was referring to came during a speech to the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami on May 23, 2008.

"It's time for a new strategy," Obama said then. "There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban-Americans. That's why I will immediately allow unlimited family travel and remittances to the island. It's time to let Cuban-Americans see their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers. It's time to let Cuban-American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime."

And as he said he would then, Obama has pledged to maintain the embargo as "leverage to present the regime with a clear choice: If you take significant steps toward democracy, beginning with the freeing of all political prisoners, we will take steps to begin normalizing relations."

Specifically, the policy will:

* Lift all restrictions on family travel to Cuba. The policy defines family members as persons within three degrees of family relationship (for example, second cousins) and will remove limits on the frequency and duration of visits. According to the Associated Press, about 1.5 million Americans have relatives on the island nation that turned to communist rule in 1959 when Fidel Castro seized control.

* Remove restrictions on remittances to family members in Cuba. The policy lifts limits on the frequency and amount of remittances to family members in Cuba, provided they are not currently prohibited members of the government of Cuba or Cuban Communist Party.

* Authorize U.S. telecommunications network providers to enter into agreements to establish fiber-optic cable and satellite telecommunications facilities linking the United States and Cuba.

* License U.S. telecommunications service providers to enter into roaming service agreements with Cuba"s telecommunications service providers.

* License U.S. satellite radio and satellite television service providers to pursue services to customers in Cuba.

* License persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to activate and pay U.S. and third-country service providers for telecommunications, satellite radio and satellite television services provided to Cubans.

* Authorize the the export to Cuba of donation of certain consumer telecommunication devices such as mobile phones, computers and software, and satellite receivers through a license exception.

* Add some humanitarian items to the list of donations eligible for export, including clothing, personal hygiene items, seeds, veterinary medicines and supplies, fishing equipment, and soapmaking equipment.

Obama was very clear and specific in his promise. And the policy announced by the White House wholly fulfills his pledge to grant Cuban-Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island. If any of the policy changes that Obama has directed be done get bogged down we reserve the right to revisit this issue. But right now, we rate it a Promise Kept.