Even sport fishing benefits from better US-Cuba relations

HAVANA (AP) An annual sport fishing tournament is benefiting from the thaw in relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

U.S. crews are taking part in the 65th annual Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament, with authorization from the U.S. government for the first time in 35 years. The event started Tuesday and runs through the end of the month.

People seeking to travel by boat from the U.S. to Cuba require export licenses issued by the Treasury Department. The administration of President Barack Obama issued the licenses for about 20 U.S. crews taking part in the tournament as part of the historic detente that began in December. Jose Miguel Diaz Escrich of Cuba's International Nautical Club said the last time the U.S. issued the licenses for tournament was in the 1970s.