In response to complaints by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) about “frivolous” people-to-people programs that do nothing to promote political change in Cuba, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has made some minor revisions in its regulations governing travel to Cuba.

Rubio had blocked Roberta Jacobson’s nomination as the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America until the White House addressed some of the senator’s gripes, such as cultural exchange programs that include salsa lessons, trips to the beach and meetings with top Cuban government officials.

Jacobson was finally sworn in last month.

“I think it’s progress, because the changes require closer reviews of the itineraries,” the Cuban-American lawmaker told reporters in Miami. “But I still have concerns about the program in general, because it is difficult to manage and avoid abuses.”

In his blog, “The Cuban Triangle” Phil Peters says that “in the absence of a plain English, side-by-side comparison of the old and the new,” his reading is that the change consists of adding the following:

* A clarification of an existing requirement that licensees have an employee or consultant accompanying each group of travelers; i.e., a licensee cannot send a group to Cuba to be led by a Cuban guide or a foreign national.

* A clarification that the program activities must serve one or more of these objectives: enhancing contact with the Cuban people, supporting civil society, promoting independence from Cuban authorities.

* A requirement that applicants (or licensees seeking renewal) explain, if their itineraries include meetings “hosted by” high-level government or Communist Party officials, how such meetings serve one or more of the objectives listed above.