HAVANA: Cuba complained Friday that the United States' easing of restrictions on Cuban-Americans' travel and remittances was little more than a "cosmetic" change that leaves in place a US economic embargo.

US Treasury on Thursday eased restrictions on travel and money transfers to Cuba, five months after US President Barack Obama announced the measures in a bid to improve ties with the communist island.

The changes to US Treasury rules, which take effect immediately, focus on visits to the island by Cubans living in the United States, remittances by Cuban-Americans to their relatives, and telecommunications.

The 47-year-old US economic embargo on Cuba remains in place, however, as does the effective ban on travel by most Americans to the neighboring country.

"This is a cosmetic coat of paint slapped over brutal US sanctions," an editorial in the official Cuban media said.

"These new rules are just about what can be given as a gift, steps the White House announced 15 days ago and had not implemented," it added.

The US government has been encouraging Cuba -- the only one-party communist state in the Americas -- to make progress on human rights issues.

It could well be a moot argument, however, since the Cuban government denies that it has political prisoners, and claims it has democracy that is less corrupt than most.

When it first announced the planned changes in April, the White House said the move was intended to encourage expanding democratic and political rights in Cuba.

Cuba's communist regime has not allowed democratic or political opening in more than four decades since the July 1, 1959 revolution swept to power led by Fidel Castro, ousting US-backed Fulgencio Batista.