Ease Cuba travel restrictions? Some Americans hope so

[honoluludaniel]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Growing up in America, Joshu Harris was captivated by the mystique, music and history of Cuba.

So before Harris started law school, he traveled to Santiago in southeastern Cuba -- something very few Americans can do today. While there, he played his trumpet with a local dance band, touring across the Cuban countryside.

"I wanted to see and experience the country for myself," says Harris, who is now an attorney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Harris visited Cuba in 2004 under the promise that he would stay with a Cuban friend and host. Such travel was legal at the time -- before former President George W. Bush imposed more stringent travel restrictions later that year.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/02/04/cuba.travel/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[asjr]

1. The best cup of coffee I ever had was

in Cameguay, Cuba in 1943 or 44.

[cobalt1999]

2. It's easy to go and visit for Americans.

Not admitting anything here, but options abound for traveling to Cuba. It's easy, relatively inexpensive, and safe. In fact, I'd recommend those who can, do so BEFORE the travel restrictions are lifted.

It's kind of nice without hoards of Americans.

[R Merm]

3. Recently returned

Recently returned from a trip, what an interesting place to visit, beautiful island friendly people, but they do have there problems. Did it as part of a Mission trip so it was legal, but go before it is only a tourist destination. Already Canadians are flocking to all inclusive resorts, many large hotels are being built, so go before or right after the restrictions are lifted.

[cobalt1999]

4. I wish I could have visited in the 1950's

Back when Cuba was a huge cultural influence. The music, the dances, the clubs, even the mob run casinos must have been a great experience.

[Mika]

7. Unless you were a poor Cuban.

Back then Cuba was referred to as the whorehouse of the Caribbean.

Cuba B.C., right? Must have been a great experience dodging Batista's death squads. Yeah. Right.


Before the 1959 revolution

75% of rural dwellings were huts made from palm trees.

More than 50% had no toilets of any kind.

85% had no inside running water.

91% had no electricity.

There was only 1 doctor per 2,000 people in rural areas.

More than one-third of the rural population had intestinal parasites.

Only 4% of Cuban peasants ate meat regularly; only 1% ate fish, less than 2% eggs, 3% bread, 11% milk; none ate green vegetables.

The average annual income among peasants was $91 (1956), less than 1/3 of the national income per person.

45% of the rural population was illiterate; 44% had never attended a school.

25% of the labor force was chronically unemployed.

1 million people were illiterate ( in a population of about 5.5 million).

27% of urban children, not to speak of 61% of rural children, were not attending school.

Racial discrimination was widespread.

The public school system had deteriorated badly.

Corruption was endemic; anyone could be bought, from a Supreme Court judge to a cop.

Police brutality and torture were common.

___



After the 1959 revolution

“It is in some sense almost an anti-model,” according to Eric Swanson, the programme manager for the Bank’s Development Data Group, which compiled the WDI, a tome of almost 400 pages covering scores of economic, social, and environmental indicators.

Indeed, Cuba is living proof in many ways that the Bank’s dictum that economic growth is a pre-condition for improving the lives of the poor is over-stated, if not, downright wrong.

-

It has reduced its infant mortality rate from 11 per 1,000 births in 1990 to seven in 1999, which places it firmly in the ranks of the western industrialised nations. It now stands at six, according to Jo Ritzen, the Bank’s Vice President for Development Policy, who visited Cuba privately several months ago to see for himself.

By comparison, the infant mortality rate for Argentina stood at 18 in 1999;

Chile’s was down to ten; and Costa Rica, at 12. For the entire Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole, the average was 30 in 1999.

Similarly, the mortality rate for children under the age of five in Cuba has fallen from 13 to eight per thousand over the decade. That figure is 50% lower than the rate in Chile, the Latin American country closest to Cuba’s achievement. For the region as a whole, the average was 38 in 1999.

“Six for every 1,000 in infant mortality - the same level as Spain - is just unbelievable,” according to Ritzen, a former education minister in the Netherlands. “You observe it, and so you see that Cuba has done exceedingly well in the human development area.”

Indeed, in Ritzen’s own field, the figures tell much the same story. Net primary enrolment for both girls and boys reached 100% in 1997, up from 92% in 1990. That was as high as most developed nations - higher even than the US rate and well above 80-90% rates achieved by the most advanced Latin American countries.

“Even in education performance, Cuba’s is very much in tune with the developed world, and much higher than schools in, say, Argentina, Brazil, or Chile.”

It is no wonder, in some ways. Public spending on education in Cuba amounts to about 6.7% of gross national income, twice the proportion in other Latin American and Caribbean countries and even Singapore.

There were 12 primary school pupils for every Cuban teacher in 1997, a ratio that ranked with Sweden, rather than any other developing country. The Latin American and East Asian average was twice as high at 25 to one.

The average youth (age 15-24) illiteracy rate in Latin America and the Caribbean stands at 7%. In Cuba, the rate is zero. In Latin America, where the average is 7%, only Uruguay approaches that achievement, with one percent youth illiteracy.

“Cuba managed to reduce illiteracy from 40% to zero within ten years,” said Ritzen. “If Cuba shows that it is possible, it shifts the burden of proof to those who say it’s not possible.”

Similarly, Cuba devoted 9.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) during the 1990s to health care, roughly equivalent to Canada’s rate. Its ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1,000 people was the highest in the world.

The question that these statistics pose, of course, is whether the Cuban experience can be replicated. The answer given here is probably not.

“What does it, is the incredible dedication,” according to Wayne Smith, who was head of the US Interests Section in Havana in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has travelled to the island many times since.

[cobalt1999]

13. I'm not saying Batista ran Cuba better.

You don't get thrown out of power via revolution if people are happy.

However, Havana itself was an incredible place for Americans to visit back then. It was Vegas with cultural, racial, and economic diversity.

Cuban dances and music swept America back then. The rich and famous flocked to Havana to experience and learn from the scene. From Sinatra to JFK to mobster. They all came.

I'd love to go back in time and visit.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Good god almighty. I wish you would go back in time and visit Cuba.

I can only stay a moment, will be back later, but HAD to drop this off, seeing you are continuing to yammer mindlessly on Cuba.

Back in 2000, at the old CNN US/Cuba policy message board, one of the outstanding, and very well traveled posters discovered a site which he shared with the rest of us and we (the non-fascists) nearly laughed until we collapsed:
http://cuban-exile.com/menu1/%21entertain.html

Take a good long look. Don't be superficial about it. Go ahead and have a good long look. Some of the photos aren't around any longer, which is a shame. I'd love the well balanced, Democratic posters here to have a chance to see them.

Have a fiesta, viewing the fabulous city of dreams you describe. Others at the time knew it as the "Whorehouse" of the Caribbean, just as Mika told you, if you'd only taken the time to acknowledge it. You will hear it referred to that way if you do a search, or even if you just happen to be watching documentaries, both American and British, where I've seen it described in that term long, long ago.

Diversity. Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick. It was one of the most filthy racist societies on the planet. Who they hell do you imagine you're talking to, and how stupid do you think we all are, anyway? You would find idiot clowns who might swallow that crap among the witless reactionaries who post at the Miami Herald message board, no doubt.

Try researching what black people who LIVED the hell there during those days have to say on the subject, why not?

If anyone ever needed a HUGE lesson on Cuba, it's gotta be you. You need to do your homework, and tons of it instantly, or wake the hell up from your opium dream at the very least, and don't post until you know what you're talking about.

I'll be back later. This is a subject which could become a real hobby: researching Havana before the revolution.

"It was Vegas with cultural, racial, and economic diversity." Amazing! I've never heard ANYTHING like that in my entire life. Gotta be a world's record for general silliness.

[honoluludaniel]

17. I think you're misinterpreting what he's saying

Cuba in the 50s was a paradise for tourists and had major influences on American culture, in spite of the conditions in which the Cuban population lived in. It was basically a smoke screen to cover up the real Cuba. But i understand what he's trying to say. I myself have wondered the same things about those times when i go to Cuba, that doesn't mean i'd wish for things to go back to the way they were back then.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Oh, right: a paradise for tourists. Gotcha. Here's a photo of one of the cultural highlights:

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/nightlife/SPresort52b.jpg

BETTY HOWARD
her bumps to the bongo packed Havana theatres

Page 53

Havana's reaction to American strippers like Betty Howard would come as no surprise to Harold Minsky. Impresario Minsky, who should know if anyone does, once pegged her as one of the top ten exotics in the business.

Living up to such praise can be pretty rough on a stripper. When you're billed as the best you gotta produce and that's just what the intense gyrations of Miss Howard are calculated to do. She's crowd pleaser and if the response of wide-eyed audiences at the Compoamar and Marti theaters in Havana are any indication, Minsky knew what he was talking about.

Says Betty about all this, "I like it."

This attitude is one of the things that's made her a top-runger in the doffing for dollars department. She's nuts about her work. There's nothing, but nothing, she'd rather be doing than peeling her way to the buff before the eager and enthusiastic gaze of an elated male audience. The cry, "Take it off," is music to her ears. Just a little encouragement of this king and the dainty garments go flying as thick and fast as the law allows.

But nobody cares how fast the wrapping comes off if the package beneath isn't a prize. And here's the second reason why she's at the top of the heap. The Howard package in the pelt is a pretty imposing bundle. The five feet five and a half of her curves in and out nicely to the tune of 40-25-37. And that's a very intriguing melody.

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/nightlife/SPresort54.jpg

More bounce to ounce is supplied by Betty in torrid routine which has her dispensing with costume of ostrich feathers. Famed impresario, Harold Minsky, recently named her among world's top ten exotic performers.

http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0203.html

Impressive. Too high-brow for some tastes, apparently! :sarcasm:

[cobalt1999]

28. So, Cubans had no culture beyond strippers?

They had no unique music. They had no unique dances. They had no unique style.

Jeez, you sure don't think much of them.

[honoluludaniel]

42. That's the point i was making

It was just like in other third world countries today. Tourists see one thing, an exotic paradise full of beautiful women, music, gambling etc... while the population gets nothing, except poverty and misery. Like i said in my post, a smoke screen to cover-up reality.

[cobalt1999]

24. Yes, it was an obvious hell hole.

That's the reason it was a major tourist destination for years. :eyes:

Using YOUR own links:

"The reason for this is simply that Tropicana is the largest and most beautiful nightclub in the world – at least, it has long boasted this, and no one has yet come forward to contradict it. Tropicana is located on what was once a 36,000-square-meter country estate. The nightclub proper today occupies 8,000 square meters, so this leaves 28,000 square meters of well-kept gardens for necking – or an adequate 28 square meters for each of the nightclubs 1,000 nightly customers."

"In addition, the nightclubs present top name stars from abroad in their shows. This year's performers have included Dorothy Lamour, Maurice Chevalier, Billy Daniels, Nat "King" Cole, Eartha Kitt, Edith Piaf, Ilona Massey, Cab Calloway, Dorothy Dandridge, Tony Martin, Ginny Simms, Connee Boswell and Vicente Escudero."


Yes, sounds awful. I wonder why people bothered to go.

You need to somehow (if this is possible for you), separate the tourist experience from the daily Cuban living experience. I NEVER said I wanted to LIVE in 1950's Havana, nor did I say there wasn't a bad side. Sheez.

You've done or posted nothing that would change my opinion, I would still jump at the chance to go back and experience the Tropicana or Hotel Nacional.

[honoluludaniel]

44. "I would still jump at the chance to go back and experience the Tropicana or Hotel Nacional."

No need to build a time machine, McFly, they're still there. :P

[cobalt1999]

45. I've been there

The Nacional even has a room off the lobby showing all the old pictures from the 1950's hey day.

It's definitely not the same now.

[roody]

53. Go!!! The Tropicana is still in business.

[Judi Lynn]

21. If you go back in time, you shouldn't miss taking this special airline:

NIGHT CLUB IN THE SKY

Patrons of novel high-flying bistro enjoy the show and
drinks while 10,000 feet above ocean on way to Cuba.

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/tourism/cab1957jan1a.jpg

MAMBO LINE is joined by customers as performers snake up and down the aisle in the plane, when party gets warmed up later.



PASSING OUT SONG CARDS, dancers Gloria and Rolando invite customers to join singing and dancing during flight.


By Henry Durling

THE DREAM of every night club operator is to create an atmosphere that will hold his customers, keep them from drifting out after a while and into the spot down the street, and nearly every trick from door prizes to knockout drops has been tried to accomplish this end through the years. The most effective method to date, however, has been adopted in Miami, where people are all up in the air about a new kind of cabaret that literally sets a new high in atmosphere by whisking its patrons 10,000 feet into the rarified regions where only birds usually go.

The fledgling nitery is Cubana Airlines' Tropicana Special, an innovation in cabaret enterprise that has eliminated all the problems of drifting patrons.

Jaded night club fans in the famed resort are finding that boredom banishes and drinks and entertainment have a new zest when enjoyed in cloudland. As a result, the new nitery in the sky is enjoying a booming business that is the envy of all its earthbound competitors.

The Special is designed primarily for bon vivants desirous of sampling the night life of nearby Cuba. It takes off every Thursday from Miami's international airport. An hour later it sets its happier patrons down in the balmy air of the land of daiquiris and sex at Havana's Aeropuerto Jose Marti. In between the bibblers are treated to excellent drinks, top-notch Latin music, and a floor show that fills the plane with song and laughter.



DANCING DOWN THE AISLE, vivacious Gloria carries show full length of cabin, making each patron feel he has a ringside seat as the plane wings across water to Cuba. Special decor designed for flight includes seat cloths bearing name and symbol of Tropicana night club.

Brainchild of Antonio Montero, stocky, dynamic promotion manager of the burgeoning Cuban airline, the flying saloon took two months of preparation before it was unveiled last year. It is currently being operated in a package deal with Havana's fabulous Tropicana night club, from which it takes its name.

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/tourism/cab1957jan3a.jpg

MINIATURE STAGE installed at front of cabin has arch like that at Tropicana night club, collapsible for easy removal from plane between special flights to Cuban capital.

Revelers who want to try the thrills of a night spot in the air pay $68.80 for a ticket which includes the night club flight, an evening with dinner and drinks at the Tropicana itself, an over-night stay in a Havana hotel, breakfast, and return flight.

Boarding the special, patrons find each of the 46 seats decked out in a specially-designed seat-cloth bearing the special's name and emblem. Up ahead, a gold curtain obscures the front of the cabin, which has been converted into a miniature stage, set off by a proscenium arch glowing with concealed lights.



OPENING SHOW, Gloria nd Rolando display form which makes them top attraction in Tropicana floor show, where patrons see them in adagio and ballroom numbers.

First come the drinks–frozen daiquiris made by a special Cuban recipe that includes a dash of grenadine, for a festive pink color. You can't drink too many of these man-sized potions, but you can have as many as you can drink.



Then as the cabin lights dim, Cruz gives a bilingual introduction to the show, welcoming the patrons aboard first in Spanish, then in English. Suddenly, the plane is filled with an infectious, rhythmic Latin tune.

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/tourism/cab1957jan4a.jpg

DANCING DOWN AISLE, Gloria leads band in riotous Conga line which is climax to show, draws patrons out of seats to join dance, leaves everyone exhausted. Tight-fitting costumes were selected to avoid catching seats, brushing patrons during hectic dancing.

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/tourism/cab1957jan4b.jpg

RETURNING TO STAGE, dancers are able to keep footing because special flight plan followed by plane crew minimizes lurching of plane, also reduces engine noise so music can be heard. The band includes specially cut-down piano hidden behind the stage.

The gold curtains whisk aside to reveal five musicians decked out in fiesta costumes, with trumpet, drums, guitar, maracas and piano. As the torrid Cuban music pours over them, the audience loses consciousness of the drone of the plane's four huge engines.

Up ahead, Captain Jesus Lopez Guerrero and his crew are following special operations plans for the flight –throttling back a little, bleeding air from the pressurized cabin to reduce engine noise. As the bright lights and music vibrate aft, they look out over the dark-blue gulf, scattered woolly clouds and the diamond chain of lights that are the Florida Keys moving slowly behind.

In the cabin, dancers Gloria and Rolando, an acrobatic dance team from the Tropicana floor show, have made their entrance. A diminutive, air-size performer, Gloria opens with a lively cha-cha dance. She bounces up and down the aisle, carrying the show the length of the plane, making each patron feel he has a floor side seat.

Some of the lucky males find their hair mussed, their cheek patted as she passes, and some return the favor. A few find her in their laps, smiling impishly and bounding out again before they regain their wits. One or two are invited to dance, and become part of the act on the tiny six-foot square stage, then return to their seats red-faced, flustered but immensely pleased.

Women, too, are drawn into the act in this intimate revue as Rolando escorts them forward to dance.

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/tourism/cab1957jan5a.jpg

WAITING FOR TAKEOFF, Gloria relaxes in tiny backstage space just aft of crew compartment in specially-converted plane.

Gloria varies the fares with a sweet-voiced rendition of "Siboney" and the whole band joins in roaring "El Rancho Grande." The patrons follow the Spanish songs on little cards distributed for their use, occasionally are urged to join in a community song.

Other numbers include a series of burlesque bits by a band member who mimics Maurice Chevalier with a battered straw hat and "Je Ne Sais Pas Why I Love You Like I Do."

While the show goes on, the plane approaches the Cuban shore, and in another ten minutes the entertainment reaches its climax. Gloria leads the whole crew along the aisle, singing and playing, and then Gloria and Rolando do flashy acrobatic bits as they range the length of the sky nitery alone. The curtain closes in a crescendo of music, the cabin lights come up, and another round of drinks is passed before landing.

Shortly, the voyagers have been ushered through customs and are on their way by special car to the Tropicana and a continuation of their fun.

The enthusiastic response of patrons was summed up by a Detroit machine shop operator who said: "It's like nothing that ever was before. Think of it–way up there, with a floor show and everything. The time went so fast you hardly knew you were flying."

More:
~~~~ link ~~~~

Who wouldn't want to attend this important Batista-era cultural event?

http://cuban-exile.com.nyud.net:8090/photo/nightlife/carmela4.jpg

CUTIE FROM CUBA ... CARMELA

One of the newest strippers is raven-haired Carmela, a native of the isle that was once a tourist's paradise. One paradox about strippers is that they loathe to pose in the nude. Modest Carmela is no exception.

~~~~ link ~~~~

[roody]

54. Today in Cuba black people can be professional dancers too.

[Mika]

35. I'd love to see someone make a post like that about 1930's Berlin, during Hitler.

Swinging town, Berlin was back then. A center of culture.

I mean. Holy shit! Never mind the slaves and Nazi death squads and starving kids on the streets. The rich a famous went there. From Henry Ford to Charles Lindbergh. They all went there.

Would you like to go back in time to Berlin too?

[cobalt1999]

36. As a history buff, I would like to see 1930's Berlin

It would be educational, but not entertaining like 1950's Havana would be.

There was a good reason why Americans weren't flocking to 1930's Berlin. There is also a good reason why Americans were flocking to 1950's Havana.

[Raskolnik]

46. I think it would be more comparable to 1920's Berlin, actually.

A vibrant (possibly even decadent) cultural scene set against economic turbulence, displaced by an austere authoritarian regime.

http://www.amazon.com/Before-Deluge-Portrait-Berlin-1920s/dp/0060926791/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233952168&sr=8-1

Now, I'm certainly not trying to make the point that Castro is even remotely comparable to Hitler, but you are the one that brought up the comparison between Berlin and Havana.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Here's a message from someone who lived in Cuba but didn't spend much time

admiring, swooning over "The music, the dances, the clubs." Apparently he didn't have the suave to which you've become accustomed.....

In this community on the "other" side of the tracks, I learned early on, that the only homes we were allowed to build were the shack-type homes with thatched roofs that defined our living quarters. Sewer, running water, electricity, schools, jobs, hospital or medical services were limited to people living on the "other" side of town.

What we did have was a pervasive infant mortality due primarily to preventible diseases that touched the lives of every family. There were rampant pre and post partum deaths; hunger and malnutrition seen predominantly in children with their disproportionate heads and distended abdomens, overflowing with such a variety of intestinal parasites sufficient to produce our own Atlas of Parasitology. Another common landmark was the infamous gully with its putrid drainage winding through our neighborhood.

The only schools in our community of approximately 8-10,000 people, were two or three mock-classrooms of 10-20 children in the living room of those slightly more enlightened members of our community. Two churches had what could be qualified as small schools, with approximately 40 children each. Because of our teachers’ own limited education, the level of training by those who were able to stay through the entire school program (3-4 years) was the equivalent of a low third grade.

But this vicious cycle gets even worse if we add that living in Cuba, a Spanish speaking country, the teaching was in English and everything that was taught to us, was either pertaining to England, Ireland, or Jamaica! We learned about Admiral Nelson but nothing about Marti, we learned about Pound, Shilling and Pence, but nothing about Peso, Peseta y Centavos. We learned about the Thames river but nothing our own Rio Cauto!

Unbelievable as it may sound today, most of the kids could not stay in school, either because their parents could not afford it or their helping hands were already required on the plantation. As a direct result of this horrendous environment, our community, and tens of similar ones dispersed through what was then the provinces of Camaguey and Oriente, did not produce in 60 years a single person who had achieved a mid level or higher education. An exception was a lady who was able to complete nursing school, only because her parents had the vision and could afford to send her back to Jamaica.

The only jobs available was in the zafra, the 4-5 months sugar harvest, which was virtually slave labor, because it was not only the lowest paying job, but it also kept the people in perennial debts: whatever income you made last year would be credited to debts incurred this year. This practice was so pervasive that thousands of workers never saw or received money, they would only receive promissory notes -VALES- from the landowners, who were often the same owners of the stores. That is why, 10-12 year-old boys went off to work in the fields, while girls in the same age group became maids.

I will be eternally grateful to my grandfather, George Jones. Pappi Georgy, as he was known, was a dignified man of enormous fortitude, respect and deep religious beliefs, who kept our family together in spite of the most difficult circumstances by instilling in us honesty and moral values. My grandfather was among the fortunate few, because, as an orderly in the United Fruit Company's hospital, he had a year round job paying 50 cents per day.

There were always people sitting in my backyard, waiting for Georgy to get off his job. Some suffered from diarrhea, vomiting, fever or any sort of injuries. He would cleanse their wounds or give them medication he stored in a coffin-like cabinet he kept in his bedroom. As I pieced these events together, I concluded that this honorable man, who preached values to us, was forced by the brutal society in which he lived, to steal from his workplace, in order to serve those who were deprived of the most basic means of survival.

What can we say about the psychological trauma endured by unfortunate mothers, trapped in abusive relations, domestic violence and occasional life threatening situations without anywhere to go, forced to live this hazardous existence as the only means of feeding their hungry children.

For these and so many other reasons, none of us had to flock to South Africa to see what Apartheid was all about. We were born, lived and many died in our own Soweto! That's why it is so painful to us, when we hear the likes of Diaz-Balart attempting to apply the content of the Human Rights Declaration, to their narrow and selfish, self serving interest.

Where were these demagogues, hypocrites and frequently active perpetrators of the terrible conditions previously described when young people were beaten, tortured, disappeared or murdered, and left by the side of the roads to rot by the military structure that they helped put in place to protect their illegal loot, stolen public funds, or immoral business practices?

More:
http://www.afrocubaweb.com/albertojonesdiazbalart.htm

These mothers of state-tortured and murdered young men in Santiago de Cuba apparently didn't have an appreciation of the finer things in life when they spent their time marching down the middle of the street to try to meet with U.S. Ambassador to beg him to speak with US butcher-puppet dictator Fulgencio Batista on their behalf and get him to end his terror campaign. When they got to Ambassador Earl Smith, they ran to him to beg his help, and the state police turned FIRE HOSES on them.

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org.nyud.net:8090/cuban-rebels/protest.gif

cesan los asesinatos de nuestro hijos

madres cubanas

Meaning: stop killing our children
(signed)
Cuban mothers

[cobalt1999]

25. Again, try and understand the difference between the tourist experience and living there.

No one ever said it was a great place to live.

I guess those hundreds of thousands of tourists annually were just masochists and sexual perverts. :eyes:

[Initech]

5. So how does one go about obtaining entry into Cuba?

I've always been curious to visit the country myself. Now that I have a passport I would really like to.

[honoluludaniel]

6. You just need to go through a third-country

You can take a flight to Cancun, and then from there book a flight to Havana. This Canadian-based website offers flights and the visa necessary to travel to Cuba. It's reliable, i've used it many times in the past and you don't have to use a credit card if you don't want to. http://www.nashtravel.com/cubahome.html

[Mika]

8. Going to Cuba is illegal for Americans and US residents.

Unless you have a US Treasury Dept OFAC permit, or have a direct relative in Cuba and that you haven't visited in the last 3 years.

There are a few exceptions..

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1097.html


There are illegal ways, but it is still illegal.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. My church has sent four groups legally

You have to get a license from the U.S. State Department, and your group can include only a certain number of people, all of whom must be members in good standing of the church for a certain period of time. (Some people wanted to take relatives, but the answer was a firm "no." You have to be a member, and you can't join the church just for the purpose of going to Cuba.)

Once the group is formed, you're allowed to add and subtract people ONCE.

Whether going legally or illegally, you have to go through a third country. The most common routes are through Mexico and Jamaica.

I've heard, however, that the U.S. government has agents in Cancun, looking for Americans who have traveled to Cuba.

[Mika]

18. Lydia, there are daily flights out of Miami to Cuba.

Ft Lauderdale and L.A. also.

Down from the over 200 a month before Bush instituted the latest restrictions.

This is the way the "exiles" who "escaped" Cuba return for a family visit or a vacation at Varadero.

The rest of us are legally banned (without a special permit).


on edit:

From the Miami Herald in 2002 (before Bush's newest restrictions).. Look at the numbers :wow:

Younger travelers send number of holiday trips to Cuba soaring

By Larissa Ruiz Campo. [e-mail]. Posted on Wed, Dec. 25, 2002

Cuba-bound U.S. flights and reservations are reaching historic levels during the holiday season this year, according to several travel agencies.

''This month of December has been extraordinary,'' said Armando García, vice president of Marazul Charters. "The number of reservations is almost double those in July and August, when there is also an increase in sales.''

Not only are there more travelers but they are younger.

''When I started my transportation business in 1991, the average age of people traveling to Cuba was 68 to 75 years old,'' said John Cabañas, owner of C&T Charters in Miami. "Now, the average age is 40 and below.''

The spike in reservations for this month is up an estimated 35 percent to 40 percent compared to December 2000, when Miami experienced bookings not seen since 1959, agents said.

Additionally, the actual number of flights to Cuba also has increased. C&T Charters, for example, has scheduled at least 27 flights to Cuba this month compared to its average of 16 monthly flights.

''All the flights are full,'' Cabañas said. "We are at a 93 percent of our capacity for all the month of December in airplanes that have 206 seats.''

That amounts to about 5,000 travelers in December, up from the average of 3,200 passengers on C&T Charters flights each month.

ROBUST NUMBERS

Overall, at least 26,500 passengers were booked on 240 flights out of Miami this month, agents said. At Miami International Airport, a total of 99 flights left between Dec. 16 and 24, and an additional 11 are scheduled for Christmas Day, an MIA spokeswoman said. Compare that to a total of 144 flights in the full month of November.

''In general, there has been an increase from year to year,'' said Zachary Mann, a spokesman for U.S. Customs in Miami. "As additional airlines have been given permission to travel, there are more flights and more travelers.''

National statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration were not available.

Analysts attribute the rise to a change in travel policy, as well as to a new breed of younger travelers.

''Most of the Cuban-American community that travels to Cuba nowadays is younger than it used to be,'' said Pedro González Munné, director of a Miami-based company that promotes travel to Cuba. "They are people who came to Miami in the past eight or nine years and also the second generations born here who are in touch with their families in Cuba.''

Cabañas also attributed the increase to newer arrivals.

''More people are in touch with their families in Cuba and that is something crucial to explain this growth. Family is family and it surpasses any political situation,'' he said.

Mariza Surribas is among the new, younger travelers.

The 29-year-old from Hialeah left to her native Havana from Miami on Christmas Eve. It was her first trip since she left the island four years ago. Traveling with Surribas to Cuba were cherished presents for her mother and grandmother: los nietos.

''I'm bringing the grandkids as the Christmas present for them,'' said Surribas, as her 2- and 5-year-old children scurried around the luggage at the check-in line. ''I'm very nervous but happy at the same time.'' Surribas' older son, Kevin Velando was only 1 when the family left Cuba. The younger, Kristian Velando, was born here.

GRANDPARENTS' TIME

''I'm going to see my abuelitos ,'' Kristian said, smiling and showing two fingers to indicate his age.

Junior Mauris also traveled Tuesday to Cuba for the first time since he left 2 ½ years ago.

''I'm a little bit nervous for the trip,'' said Mauris, 24, of Hialeah. "But I think it's worth it because I'm going to see my father and the family I left behind when I came to Miami.''

Surribas and Mauris are among 20,000 Cubans who are granted legal exits from Cuba each year as part of migration accords with the United States.

Family reunification is not the only reason people travel to Cuba. More native-born Americans also are starting to travel to the island, González Munné said.

"People are receiving more information about Cuba, its culture and reality, so they find it interesting and travel to learn more about its art, its music and everyday life.''

An estimated 180,000 Americans visit Cuba each year, and about 30 percent of those are not on the island to visit relatives, Cuban government statistics indicate. About 50,000 of the travelers go through third countries, circumventing the U.S. travel ban to Cuba.

Under current U.S. laws, legal travel to Cuba is restricted to people with relatives there, students, educators and such professionals as journalists, doctors and athletes. Cultural exchange programs count.

Bob Guild, Marazul Charters New York's organizer of trips for professors and students, agrees that this year there is a bigger interest among Americans in travel to Cuba. The agency sent 1,300 academic travelers to Cuba this year, compared to 800 last year.

''We found out,'' Guild said, "that Cuba is a particularly intriguing place for people to go compared to other destinations.''

[LanternWaste]

41. there's a thriving cash-only boat-charter business...

Having lived in Cancun (2003-2004), there's a thriving cash-only boat-charter business outside of the Hotel Zone that will get you there and back, and also act as a guide/chauffeur while there for the weekend.

If you actually know someone, it costs about $150 (US) (including hotel, half a dozen clubs and drinks), otherwise the price runs about $225 (US).

I feel compelled to state that I only know of this through hearsay... :evilgrin:

I can't speak to any U.S. agents looking for illegal tourists, though.

[roody]

11. Passport and money is all you need. You will be issued a visa upon

entry. Fly there from a sensible country.

[honoluludaniel]

15. Actually you need a visa before arriving, but the airline almost always provides it.

Just fly with Cuba's national airline, Cubana, and they automatically provide the Tourist Card, which is the official name of the visa.

[cobalt1999]

14. Just book a trip through Canada or Mexico or a 1/2 dozen Caribbean countries.

The Cubans won't stamp your passport if you are an American, so the US won't see a record of your visit.

If you can, go soon.

[Mika]

39. Actually that is not so.

The US and Canada have an agreement that Canada hands over passenger lists to the US of US travelers entering and leaving Canadian airports - and that included travel to/from Cuba.

There have been stories posted here about Americans who have been busted by this method.

Please be cautious of the misinformation about American travel to Cuba.

There are risks, and US legal implications - jail time and/or heavy fines.


Hey.. how about this idea :think: how about we just go ahead and ..

END THE SANCTIONS!

We did vote for change - and we won!

[honoluludaniel]

43. Even if you are busted, the likelihood of punishment is extremely small

I've been caught, usually by my own admission, a few times by US customs while going through Nassau in the Bahamas and the worst i got was a lecture about needing to get a license to visit my family, i had to explain to them that i already used the license within the last three years so i couldn't apply again, and they just let me through and told me to wait for the three year period to go again. I know alot of other Americans, including those with no family, who've gone through the same situation and have never had any problems with the Treasury Department. Of course, every once in a while they do send out letters requesting more information about your trip, but i've never received one myself. I say fuck it, just go.

But of course, all this "permission" crap wouldn't be necessary if Obama, with just a stroke of the pen, lifts the entire travel restrictions, but i'm not even sure how that's going to work out. Will he still have people filling out applications to visit Cuba, or will they just take your word for it that you have family there?

[cobalt1999]

51. Even if busted, go to trial.

There is a 4 year backlog on these cases because the US isn't bothering to even take them to trial.

[roody]

55. I received a letter years ago, after going as civil disobedience with

Pastors for Peace. My lawyer wrote them a letter, and I have not heard from them since. It is a civil infraction, not a criminal infraction.

[roody]

10. Any of us can if we have some cash.

It is very easy and millions of us do.

[roody]

12. You can team up with Pastors for Peace. They go

every summer. They refuse to ask permission or accept permission. www.ifconews.org

[Mika]

19. Just a reminder to professionals in Florida thinking about Cuba travel.

Not only is it a federal offense to travel to Cuba without permit, if you are a member of any profession regulated by the Fl State Board of Professional Regulation you can have your license suspended or revoked for traveling to Cuba.

Pandering to the extreme RW Miamicubano exiles by the Fl legislature knows no bounds.

[struggle4progress]

23. We've really got to eliminate family visit restictions. And some scientific exchanges wouldn't hurt

either: the Cuban infant mortality rate is about the same as ours, and they seem to be doing it much more cheaply

[Eryemil]

26. We're a hardy people. :p

Actually, to this date I still haven't figured out how the government managed to do so much with so little.

[Mika]

29. Why should Cuban expats have their full rights while the rest of us remain 2nd class citizens?

That is Obama's stance as of now.

Cuban-Americans and Cuban resident aliens get to be fully endowed with US constitutional rights, while the rest of us can fuck off.

And you agree with this?

[struggle4progress]

31. If you mean that the right to travel is a fundamental human right, I must

completely agree with you. But with the current composition of the Federal bench, I suspect we are unlikely to win that at the bar. The issue is therefore political

Certainly, one should neither abandon stands one considers principled, nor be content with minor reforms when major ones are needed. The embargo of the last half-century seems to have been counter-productive, at best. But the embargo has become entrenched by mere fact of long existence: like any other cultural habit, it will not change if no one has the courage to push, but too aggressive a change risks a backlash. My guess would be that relations cannot thaw instantly. That view is colored by prior experience -- it is certainly possible that the political climate has changed, without me noticing -- but I provisionally assume my reading of the political climate is approximately correct

Among voters, those most likely to know themselves to be affected by the travel ban are those who have elderly relatives on the island: if one seeks a thaw in relations, ordinary humanitarian considerations suggest allowing those people access to family; that is, of course, segment of the population that may not share my political views, but perhaps politics ought not be the basic consideration in such gestures

Further scientific and cultural exchanges ought to be promoted. For example, US has a major health care cost problem but excellent technology; Cuba, on the other hand, has various excellent health-scientists who have done good work on rather sparse budgets. Perhaps there are real possibilities there for cross-fertilization

Given the developing global economic crisis, it may also be a reasonable time to re-examine whether trade between US and Cuba might benefit both nations. If one does not expect an instant thaw, there are still businesses here seeking new markets, and Cuba might similarly find markets here

[Mika]

33. The severest travel restrictions are Bush's doing. Not 50 years old.

Obama's latest stance on this is that Cuban-Americans and Cuban expat resident aliens are 'the best ambassadors of freedom', paraphrasing his speech to a group of RW exiles in Miami.

Somehow, looking at their track record on free speech and democratic corruption here in S Fla, I doubt that. Where's Mr Obama getting this?

His plan is to limit travel to family (how direct/indirect family will fare isn't yet clear), in order to somehow show Cubans in Cuba just how well "freedom" has worked for their Miami family. ("Funny" thing about this is that their Miami relatives will be going to Cuba to get free health care. They'll be able to hop a plane whenever they need to get it in Cuba. Meanwhile the rest of us can fuck off without healthcare. This is already going on, but Bush restricted the family visits to once every 3 years. Do you realize just how well stimulated Cuba's economy would be IF Americans could go there to get low fee health care? But, No. Our for private profit healthcare insurance industries are embedded in our gov.)

He wants Cuba to make concessions before any significant changes are made to trade policy. IOW, yet again, the US wants a small Lat Am/Caribbean nation to bow down on its knees and kiss the ring in order to be granted nominal recognition.

I voted for change. This type of activity isn't change, and with Hil heading state its not looking too positive to me (so far. But, I'm willing to wait a while to see what happens).



I voted for change
End the sanctions now

[struggle4progress]

37. By way of response, I will merely make a philosophical remark:

when the psychological battlefield for a political issue has been established for a long time, the trick is to find some new ground, avoiding well-known territory

This means finding both new perspectives and involving new constituencies: otherwise, the stalemate persists

[Mika]

38. A perspective which makes Mr Obama's position more interesting

Instead of embracing the new younger and larger Cuban-American demographic that seeks a new road between the US and Cuba that includes travel rights for all not just expats, Mr Obama came to Miami and embraced the hard line 'exiles know best' old routine.

Aside from that, I think that the reality of the standoff isn't really based on a psychological battlefield, or even an ideological battle of any kind - that's a cover story. It's really about campaign funding strategies. Status quo rules. The standoff remains because it is a campaign cash cow for the mixed groups of Dems and repugs who are pro and con on the issues relating to their campaign funding constituencies. By keeping the issue in stasis, with a little tweak here and there by various admins to stir the pot, the cash cow remains, ever growing. By resolving it sensibly a large campaign funding plank is removed from supporters (poseurs) of their respective positions.

The US standoff with Cuba has little, if anything, to do with Cuba. Its 99.99% about corrupt US politics.


I voted for change.
End the sanctions now.

[struggle4progress]

40. Either one believes that popular pressure can affect the political class, or

one does not believe it. In the first case, one is interested to construct that popular pressure; in the second case, one dismisses it as a waste of time

Apparently some people believe that popular consent matters, since substantial capital and intelligence is invested in the mass reproduction of political ideas through the media industry. Of course, access to the media is determined largely by its owners, who have particular interests: if such interests benefit by ill-informed consent, more than by informed consent, then the media may mass-produce inaccurate fictions rather than facts

The political class, charged with decision making, is subject to similar systemic pressures. The social apparatus for applying that pressure is well-established: it is a business enterprise, and it pays its employees well

So regardless of the outcome of any election, the pressure exerted on popular opinion (by the media and the pressure exerted on the political class by the professional lobbyists and social theoreticians) remains approximately constant: discourse remains constrained within an "acceptable realm." Absent counter-balancing pressure, the political class (regardless of its inclinations) is unlikely to drift far from pre-existing policies: the forces, that created those policies originally, continue to reproduce them. The ability of any one person, or any small group of people, to resist that inexorable paid army, of advocates for existing interests, is limited. So I think you are correct to dismiss the political class itself as the primary "psychological battleground" -- for one knows in advance the direction in which Obama or Clinton will be forced

Against that constant pressure, on the political class by self-conscious interests, there is always the possibility of applied "people-power" but it does not arise spontaneously: it must be organized. But it cannot be effectively organized unless the "acceptable realm" of discourse is enlarged -- and that requires actually meeting and educating people and motivating them to take concrete action. The people who must be educated and motivated, however, have long been the target of mass-produced ideas, and they will usually be inclined (at first) to understand their world according to the mass-produced and pre-packaged concepts -- after all, the mass-produced and pre-packaged concepts were mass-produced and pre-packaged precisely to prevent critical thought. So to tap into "people-power" on an issue, it is necessary to convince people that there are useful interpretations outside the "acceptable realm" of discourse: that is, there is an important "psychological battleground" for the minds of constituencies that might affect the political class

[Mika]

52. Thank you for your considered response to my ravings.

I've got (s)kin in all of this. Very upsetting. :( Especially so considering that since the Clinton admin, things have been going in the wrong direction for more "normalization".

:hi:

[Blue_Tires]

27. i hope they finally open up trade as well

could help both countries

[Marrah_G]

30. I think all restrictions against Cuba should be lifted.

There is no reason for it.

[eilen]

32. I think the reason for restrictions

was that Cubans can come to this country without visa or other immigration process for sanctuary/escape from political persecution. If there is no reason for that, perhaps our immigration polices can be normalized and the Cuban people can apply for the immigration process like we expect Mexican, Chinese, Italian, etc? Then there would be no reason to limit tourism and people can go see their relatives without issues.

[Mika]

34. The US offers 20,000 legal immigration visas per year to Cubans

There are daily flights to and from Miami/Havana (and other Cuban cities) - with people going both ways.

You really can't be thinking that most Cuban expats came here by raft or boat - or do you?

Please. Inform yourself. www.google.com

[eilen]

47. I'm just repeating what I heard on the radio

most likely NPR when they were interviewing someone about this. I know that Fidel Castro allowed a large number to leave. The interviewee did not discuss the method in which we received most of our immigrants, only that they enjoyed a favored status in obtaining visas.

[Judi Lynn]

48. For those who imagine travel to Cuba is never treated seriously, do some research:

02/12/2002 - Updated 02:08 AM ET


U.S. tourists still drawn to Cuba

By Laura Parker, USA TODAY

Two years ago, Lila Irvine and Mary Rilei, both grandmothers who live in Des Moines, took a trip to Cuba set up by a local dive shop.

A few months after they returned home, they received letters from the U.S. Treasury Department accusing them of violating the Trading with the Enemy Act.

"I had to sign for it. It came registered mail," says Irvine, 72. "I thought it was from the IRS about my taxes," says Rilei, 89.

But the letters were from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the Treasury that tracks terrorists' money around the globe. The office also is responsible for tracking down, and fining, American tourists who violate the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba.

~snip~
Since the Bush administration took over, hundreds of tourists, teachers, artists, urban planners, public health workers and entrepreneurs who have traveled to Cuba are being contacted by the Treasury Department in an effort to staunch the flow of Americans visiting the communist island.

The crackdown has drawn the attention of Congress. In July, the House voted to maintain the travel ban, but lawmakers opposed to the ban say they have the votes to overturn it.

Monday, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., took testimony at a hearing in Washington from a retired teacher, fined for taking a bicycling trip in Cuba, and the son of a missionary, fined after a one-day trip to the island to scatter his parents' ashes next to a church they had built. Dorgan calls the travel ban "absurd" and suggests taxpayers' money could be better spent.

~snip~
Dan Snow, a travel agent in Austin, boasts that he has sent many Americans legally and illegally. "Maybe one in 100 have a license," he says.

Snow is the only American who was, as he puts it, "ever convicted for traveling."

In 1990, he spent 45 weekends in federal prison after he was convicted of violating the ban by taking eight fishermen to Cuba in 1987. He says he has since made about 50 trips.

But unlike other travel agencies that are fuzzy about the legalities of their Cuban tours, Snow is upfront. His Web site says straight off: It's illegal to go.

More:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/02/12/usat-cuba.htm

Dan Snow's website:
http://www.cubatravelusa.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Publication Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Guest Opinion: Expanded U.S. travel ban to Cuba strikes home in Palo Alto

by Eliot Margolies

We have a neighbor who was forbidden to see the uncle he admires and loves dearly, even as his uncle had lung cancer that metastasized into his brain -- he died in late March.

There was but one person who ordered that the two should be kept apart -- our President George W. Bush.

During the heated election campaign last fall, President Bush created new rules that further restricted visits to Cuba. Though a majority in Congress have voted to end the travel ban to Cuba in each of the past four years, a vocal minority of Cuban-Americans in Florida held more sway with the campaigning president.

Before last July, U.S. citizens could visit Cuba once a year if they had relatives there. Now it is restricted to once every three years and only to visit a parent, a child, or a sibling.

Tomas Moran, a Palo Alto resident, applied to the U.S. State Department for a dispensation to visit his uncle, but was turned down. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo tried to help, but was turned down as well. The State Department was not even swayed by the fact that Tomas was trying to take his 103-year-old grandmother to see her son for the last time.

~snip~
The revolution in Cuba drove a wedge through Tomas' formerly tight-knit family. His parents left Cuba for Puerto Rico in 1961. His father, an elevator engineer, was outraged when the revolutionary government decided to nationalize the schools and enroll all the previously excluded poor kids.

An aunt and uncle also left the island for Miami, where they are part of the virulently anti-Castro Cuban-American community -- uncle was an architect in Cuba and continues as one in Miami.

~snip~
The entire travel ban would have been history if the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate had their way. In 2003 both bodies voted to end it as part of a treasury appropriations bill, but President Bush threatened to veto the bill. In conference, the legislators agreed to drop the provision.

Cuba is now the only country that American citizens are prohibited from visiting. So much for our vaunted freedom of movement and travel.

More:
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/2005/2005_04_13.guest13eliot.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In one of the U.S. government's most extreme cases to date, two Key West sailing enthusiasts faced up to 15 years in prison for organizing a sailboat race to Cuba's Hemingway Marina. Michele Geslin, 56, and Peter Goldsmith, 55, were indicted on charges of acting as unauthorized "travel service providers" for organizing a 2003 regatta for about 15 sailboats. The event was reportedly the ninth annual such regatta to Cuba, and in no way represented a threat to our 'national security' as alleged by the Department of Justice. All charges were dropped against the couple.

Benjamin Treuhaft, a piano tuner from New York, has faced criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $1 million in fines for donating more than 200 pianos to Cuba since 1995. In 2006, Treuhaft returned to Havana with his tools and a dozen music lovers to help tune the second-hand pianos donated by U.S. citizens through his non-profit "Send a Piano to Havana" program. He risks fines and jail time for allegedly "trading with the enemy." OFAC has repeatedly threatened Treuhaft for his many humanitarian trips to Cuba. This case has received major media coverage in the New York Times and other publications. Treuhaft refuses to pay any fines and to date has not faced any charges.

Anara Frank was fined $10,000 for going to Cuba to visit a sick relative. Ordinary travel-related spending for visiting family members is permitted under a general license, but when Ms. Frank made a second trip to Cuba to visit the same ailing relative, OFAC claimed they had sent a "Requirement to Furnish Information"RFI to her home address demanding information about both trips. No copy was ever sent to Ms. Frank's attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights. OFAC issued a $10,000 administrative penalty against Ms. Frank, based solely on her failure to respond to the RFI. After fighting the penalty, OFAC agreed to drop all fines and charges against Ms. Frank.

Jennifer Kennelly of Massachusetts bought a ticket through Travelocity, not knowing that as a U.S. citizen she needed a "special license" to travel to Cuba. OFAC proposed to fine her $7500 and her case went before an administrative law judge in 2005. Her fine was reduced to $3000 after arguing that a traveler relies in good faith on a travel service provider to make the proper legal arrangements in order for them to make the trip. Craig Ostrem of Minnesota also faced a fine of $7530 for booking a trip to Cuba online. With the help of an attorney, Ostrem's fine was reduced by 90% to $780.

,b>Joni Scott, a teacher at a Christian school in Indiana, traveled to Cuba in 1999 to distribute Bibles with a church group. Scott was fined $10,000 for failing to return OFAC's Requirment to Furnish Information form, even thought she had informed U.S. Customs officials that she had been in Cuba, assuming that her trip was legal because of its humanitarian nature. After considerable bad publicity regarding the government's attempt to fine her, Scott's fine was reduced to $1,000, and she settled the case.
Andrea and Michael McCarthy, medical professionals from Michigan, traveled to Cuba in 2001 to provide medical care and distribute needed medicines as part of a Catholic Church missionary program. The McCarthys' fines were reduced from $7500 to $2,600 each and an appeal has been submitted.

Milwaukee's "Methodist 3" faced fines of $7,500 or more each for traveling to Cuba in 1999 to mark the 100th anniversary of their sister congregation, la Iglesia Metodista Central de Trinidad. The U.S. government maintained that the three had violated the ban on spending U.S. money (a total of $150) in Cuba without a license. The three Milwaukee residents, William Ferguson, Dollora Greene-Evans and Theron Mills, brought counter-claims based on OFAC's interference with their right to practice their religion, and the fact that OFAC had pursued racial discrimination/profiling by charging both African-Americans who were part of the six-person delegation, but only one of the four white delegates. All charges and fines were dropped.

Kip (73) and Patrick (58) Taylor of Michigan sailed to Cuba in 1996. Knowing that U.S. law prohibited spending money in Cuba, the Taylors stocked their sailboat with enough provisions to last for the duration of their three-month trip. While sailing back to Florida, their boat was caught in a storm and struck by lightning, destroying their mast. After being rescued by the Cuban Coast Guard, the boat was towed back to Cuba. When the Taylors applied to the U.S. Treasury Department for permission to repair it, they were told to abandon their boat and leave their two dogs in Cuba. After weeks of attempting to negotiate, and unwilling to leave behind their dogs and a sailboat worth more than the costs of repairs, the Taylors fixed their boat mostly by themselves and with the help of visiting sailors who donated parts.

Upon their return to the U.S., the Taylors faced a civil charges from OFAC for disclosing that they gave a band-aid to a Cuban cook who had hurt his finger. They were charged with providing "nursing services to a Cuban national," which is forbidden under the embargo. For the next four and a half years, the Taylors, who are on a fixed income, were unsuccessful in requesting a hearing or a reduction of the penalty. In 2001, the government froze Patrick Taylor's tax refund, which he needed to pay for urgent medical care, and applied it to his fine. In 2003, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed suit claiming that the Taylors were unfairly penalized under the Cuba embargo regulations. Lawyers also say the two were not informed of their Fifth Amendment rights which protect them from self incrimination. The suit was eventually settled.

David Heslop of North Carolina allegedly traveled to Cuba from Cancun and was pressured by a U.S. Customs Agent upon his return to the Charlotte airport to complete a document detailing his travel to Cuba, including information regarding his travel-related expenditures. A former U.S. Customs Agent testified that a traveler is not required to complete such a form during inspection at the point of entry. CCR lawyers argued that this evidence should not be allowed or relied on to prosecute him, since it was coerced. Heslop was fined $6,000 and his case is awaiting appeal.

Zac Sanders of Oregon allegedly traveled to Cuba without a license in 1998. He was charged with failing to respond to OFAC's Requirement to Furnish Information, (RFI) which requires details about travel, including expenditures, and names of fellow travelers and those who made his travel arrangements. Reminiscent of the McCarthy Era witch hunts, OFAC demands responses without advising of one's rights, and threatens people with penalties of $10,000 for simply failing to respond. Furthermore, OFAC requires people to answer within 20 days, making it difficult for Cuba travelers to find legal aid. CCR lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss, and a class action suit asserting that OFAC's rules conflict with our Fifth Amendment right to not have to give evidence against oneself. The class action suit was dismissed without prejudice.

http://www.righttotraveltocuba.org/defending/victories_vs_travel_ban

[roody]

56. Very interesting that nobody from Pastors for Peace has suffered more

than an obnoxious letter. The government is not ready to take on a group like that. We have to stick together.

[Judi Lynn]

58. It IS interesting, since Pastors for Peace is very clear they're not going to grovel for permission

to go to Cuba. I didn't know what the behavior from the government has been.

They do know Pastors for Peace is a damned serious group of responsible, direct people with consciences. They probably want to avoid crossing paths with them! So much of US behavior toward Cuba is conducted behind everyones' backs!

[defendandprotect]

49. Yes . . open Cuba to travel for Americans --- This 40 year war on Cuba has to end!!!

And, we could arrange charters so Americans can buy medicine in Cuba !!!

And check with health care professionals there --- !!!

[defendandprotect]

50. I'm not sure that we've noticed but many restrictions on American travel . . .

and regulations, requirements, etc which should be dropped now .

And hope that Ted Kennedy has finally gotten off the terrorist watch list!

"No fly!" --

[Judi Lynn]

57. House bill would end travel ban to Cuba

House bill would end travel ban to Cuba
Alexia Campbell
February 9, 2009 6:03 PM
Sun Sentinel
(MCT)

They didn't waste any time.

While most of the nation focused on the stimulus bill winding through Congress, nine representatives introduced a bill calling for an end to the 46-year-old ban on travel to Cuba.

The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 4 would allow American citizens unrestricted travel to Cuba for the first time since 1963. The bill by Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and eight co-sponsors would also lift limits on travel by Cuban exiles living in the United States. The president would not be able to regulate travel to the island unless an armed conflict or armed danger arises.

The bill has gone too far, said Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation. Cuban exiles should visit their families whenever they want, but tourists shouldn't spend money in resorts that Cubans are barred from. ''It's improper and should not be allowed until the Cuban government makes some reforms,'' he said.

Bay of Pigs veteran Miguel Reyes, founder of the Cuban American Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., thinks that the bill doesn't matter much at this point. He has no plans to travel to Cuba and doesn't care if other people do.

''As an American, I think I have the right to go wherever I want to without anyone stopping me,'' said Reyes, whose views are independent from the club.

More:
http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=NATIONAL&ID=565523949066518553