President Bush Tightens Rules on Travel To Cuba

President Bush tightened U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba on Thursday, saying that Fidel Castro's government has taken steps to destablize relations with the United States over the past year.

Bush signed an order to expand the government's authority to prevent the unauthorized departure of ships from U.S. waters bound for Cuba. He said U.S. authorities would be empowered to inspect any vessel in the territorial waters of the United States and take other steps if necessary

Bush's order would tighten enforcement of the U.S. embargo on Cuba by making it harder for unauthorized vessels to enter Cuban territorial waters.

He said Castro's government "has over the course of its 45-year existence repeatedly used violence and the threat of violence to undermine U.S. policy interests. This same regime continues in power today, and has since 1959 maintained a pattern of hostile actions contrary to U.S. policy interests."

Bush's move is likely to be welcomed by anti-Castro forces in the United States, particularly in Florida, a key state in Bush's re-election strategy.