Fidel Castro, the former Cuban president, has described the move by the US to ease restrictions on travel to the island as "positive although minimal".
But Castro, 82, also criticised the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, for leaving the 47-year US trade embargo against Cuba in place.
"The measure of easing the restrictions on trips is positive although minimal. Many others are needed," Castro wrote in a column published on a Cuban government website on Tuesday.
On Monday, the US said it would ease restrictions on travel and money transfers to Cuba, and allow US telecommunications firms to operate there.
Castro had written in the first of two online columns that the US had announced the repeal of "several hateful restrictions," but had stopped short of real change.
"Of the blockade, which is the cruellest of measures, not a word was uttered," the former president wrote.
The former leader stepped down from the presidency in February last year, leaving Raul Castro, his brother, installed as Cuban president.
Strained relations
Previously, Cubans living in the US could travel to the isolated Caribbean nation only once a year and only send $1,200 per person in cash to family members there.
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Topic: Castro welcomes US Cuba moves (Read 2502 times)