More than 150 Cuban artists have recently been refused visas to perform in the United States. “U.S. officials say the restrictions implemented in November are among a series of measures designed to further isolate the hemisphere’s only communist regime and pressure Cuban President Fidel Castro to make democratic reforms. The officials contend that Cuban artists are using concert tours in the United States to promote the sales of CDs and other products, with a majority of the profits ending up in Cuban government coffers.”