WASHINGTON, April 13 President Barack Obama directed his administration on Monday to allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and to take other steps to ease US restrictions on the island.

With the changes, Mr Obama aims to lessen Cubans` dependence on the Castro regime, hoping that will lead them to demand progress on political freedoms, the official said.

About 1.5 million Americans have relatives on the island nation that turned to communist rule in 1959 when Fidel Castro seized control.

Obama had promised to take these steps as a presidential candidate. It has been known for over a week that he would announce them ahead of his attendance this weekend at a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

“There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans,” Obama said in a campaign speech last May in Miami, the heart of the US Cuban-American community. “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.”

Other steps taken on Monday include expanding the things allowed in gift parcels being sent to Cuba, such as clothes, personal hygiene items, seeds, fishing gear and other personal necessities.

The administration will also begin issuing licenses to allow telecommunications and other companies to provide cell and television services to people on the island, and to allow family members to pay for relatives on Cuba to get those services, the official said.

Sending money to senior government officials and Communist Party members remains prohibited under Obama`s new policy. Restrictions imposed by the Bush administration had limited Cuban travel by Americans to just two weeks every three years. Visits also were confined to immediate family members.

Francisco Hernandez, head of the exile group the Cuban American National Foundation, once a staunch supporter of travel restrictions, supported Obama`s announcement, saying he hoped it will inspire both sides to reconsider long-held positions.

Miami travel agent Tesie Aral said her phone has been ringing non-stop in anticipation of the announcement, with a tenfold increase last Friday alone.—AP