Sons of Iraq vet to leave Cuba for visit

[Judi Lynn]

Monday, October 17, 2005 · Last updated 4:59 p.m. PT

Sons of Iraq vet to leave Cuba for visit

By MATTHEW DALY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- A Cuban-American who won a Bronze Star in Iraq but was not allowed to return to his homeland to care for a sick son said Monday that his children are being allowed to visit the United States.

Under an agreement with the State Department and the Cuban government, Sgt. Carlos Lazo's two sons, 17-year-old Carlos Rafael Lazo and 19-year-old Carlos Manuel Lazo, will visit for three months. Lazo, a sergeant in the Washington state National Guard, plans to fly to Miami on Friday to meet them.

The family's plight had drawn national media attention and prompted lawmakers from both parties to complain about the strict limits imposed on travel to Cuba by the Bush administration.
(snip/...)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Cuba_Travel.html

[guajira]

1. Anything to Keep Americans out of Cuba!!!

The US State Dept. is determined to keep "Americans" - even Cuban-Americans out of Cuba. I'm sure their hope is that these sons will decide to stay in the US, after spending 3 months here.

The whole purpose of the Cuban embargo and travel ban against Americans is to keep Cuba as poor as possible and embarrass and discredit Castro.

American politicians get campaign $$ and votes from Miami "exiles" to support this disgusting and unconstitutional policy.

[Mika]

2. Sgt Carlos Lazo has been lambasting the travel restrictions all along..

.. and he's been getting near zero flak about it in Miami.

Sgt Carlos Lazo:

"First of all, I'm very grateful for the outcome of this," Lazo said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"On the other hand, I feel sad because there are thousands of Cuban-Americans - especially in Miami - who, due to these restrictions, cannot see their families," he said.

His main detractors are US military haters/destroyers/ & hypocrites Ileana Ros Lehtinen(R), Lincoln Diaz Balart(R) and Mario Diaz Balart(R) - all of whom marched, on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq, in a Miami pro war rally behind a banner that read: "President Bush - Today Iraq, tomorrow Cuba and Venezuela!". All three lobbied OFAC and the Treasury dept. hard to prevent him from being able to visit his family in Cuba before his deployment to Iraq.




GOP on the military: Use 'em and abuse 'em.


:mad:

[Judi Lynn]

4. Ordinarily you'd think it's impossible someone's own Congresspeople

would work to keep you from being able to go see your loved ones.

Right-winger simply defy understanding. They live in their own cold, power-hungry world. They can never, never get enough to satisfy them. They always want more.



From Left to Right: Mario Diaz-Balart, FIU President Modesto Maidique, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Lincoln Diaz-Balart

[pop goes the weasel]

3. So, just which is the free country?

The Cuban government allows Cubans freedom to travel to the US but the US doesn't allow Americans that reciprocal freedom? Is that the lesson the US government wants to teach?

[guajira]

5. Congratulations PGTW for knowing that

Most Americans are not even aware that Cubans travel to the US (by plane) and then fly back to Havana to their homes.

The US media wants us all to believe that the only way Cubans can leave Cuba is by raft! Meanwhile thousands fly back and forth on a regular basis to visit relatives.

[Judi Lynn]

6. It's definitely not commonly known outside Florida

and the Cuban-American community. People (American only) claim they are restricted to their island all the time on message boards!

[pop goes the weasel]

7. I learned that from a student

She was Cuban, rather recently come to the US, on a medical visa. Her father needed surgery and rehab not available in Cuba, so the entire family was permitted to leave Cuba and go to the US while he got his treatment. She had nothing but good to say about the Cuban government and shared a remarkable story about her parents' families very different backgrounds (one rich, one very poor). Essentially, she said that her mother's family was so wealthy they had many houses at the time of the revolution, while her father's family lived in shacks (much like migrant farm workers here). The revolution came, most of her mother's family fled the US, and the houses were distributed to the homeless. One of which was her dad's family. Her mother's parents stayed in Cuba and she grew up knowing the boy who moved into one of the family's old houses. Anyway, the daughter doesn't think much of the self-exiled family members. She sees them as selfish people who can hardly wait to leave her father homeless, much less without medical care.

[Mika]

8. Cubans travel to the US & Miami for visits regularly

As a matter of fact one of my employees has cousins and family visiting from Cuba right now.

Her Cuban family are all saying that everyone in Cuba is talking about the recent criminal smuggling operation out of Miami that drowned a 6 year old boy when the boat overturned. It costs about $5,000 per person to get smuggled into the US. Of course, the US's Wet Foot/ Dry Foot policy for Cubans only means that the second that any Cuban touches US soil they are suddenly legal entrants - even if they failed a legal US immigration application.

Her family is doing the usual routine for most visitors from the Caribbean and the Latin Americas.. going to the malls and flea markets looking for deals on stuff (clothing, electronics, etc) to bring back to home, to Cuba.