Prospects for lifting the Cuban travel ban

I recently had a conversation with congressman Barney Frank - one of Washington's most powerful legislators - on the prospect of lifting the Cuban travel ban so that Americans could legally visit our Caribbean neighbor.  He told me that congress' mood, along with Barack Obama's recent speech regarding the subject, suggests that the travel ban would be lifted next year if Obama was elected president.  Interesting.  It's always confounded me that Americans could freely visit North Korea and Iran - two of the three Axes of Evil - but not Cuba.  I view the freedom to travel as a basic right of Americans that should not be abrogated.  One of the goals of my new book "Havana Before Castro" is to motivate Americans to see for themselves what has become of the most popular exotic destination for American tourists prior to the 1959 revolution.  Perhaps 2009 might be the year.