New York piano tuner defies US in Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

New York piano tuner defies US in Cuba

By Esteban Israel
7 minutes ago

HAVANA (Reuters) - Benjamin Treuhaft believes pianos are not a threat to U.S. national security even if they are played in Cuba.

Risking fines and jail for "trading with the enemy," the New York piano tuner has shipped 237 pianos to Communist-run Cuba since 1995 to replace old Soviet-made pianos damaged by tropical humidity and termites.

This week he returned to Havana with 200 lbs (100 kg) of tools and a dozen music lovers to help tune the second-hand pianos donated by Americans through his non-profit "Send a Piano to Havana" program.

The 58-year-old bandana-clad activist opposes U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba on humanitarian grounds and has been to Cuba 16 times defying a travel ban for Americans.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/us_nm/cuba_pianos_dc;_ylt=A0SOwlWcOGpE4vQASw8WIr0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

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More info. on Treuhaft from the St. Petersburg Times:

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/25/Floridian/The_Mirror_Piano.shtml

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For anyone who wants to see a great documentary on this terrific man, watch cable tv, the Bravo Channel, or Ovation, for "Tuning With the Enemy." Excellent film!

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From Benjamin Treuhaft:

Bush Attack on Cuban Music fails

Send A Piana To Havana was a quagmire for Clinton, now Bush stepped in it.
What began as a plan to confound the embargo by sending pianos to Cuba in spite of the blockade, became a tax-deductible project when the Department of Commerce unexpectedly licensed the shipments in 1995. The Office of Missile and Nuclear Technology gave final approval, under the sole condition that the pianos not be used for "torture or human rights abuse."

Treasury didn’t originally see eye to eye with Commerce. Occasionally the Office of Foreign Assets Control threatened Ben with fines and jail time for tuning Cuban pianos. In April 1996 they gave him thirty days to explain why he shouldn't be fined $10,000 for tuning in Havana. They didn't like the explanation and offered a hearing. When the hearing didn't materialize he told them he was going back to Cuba, and they raised the stakes to $1.3 million in fines against Ben and his Underwater Piano Shop, plus 10 years in jail. Ben traveled to Cuba on Halloween, disguised as a 1935 Tonk upright - costume by Hal Carlstad of Berkeley - wondering if he would be arrested as a piano on his return. Soon after that, Treasury offered to settle the whole thing for $3,500. Ben thanked them for offering to reimburse his long hours of work improving Cuban-American relations, but apparently they meant Ben should pay them. Treasury broke off relations.

The Bush administration cracked down hard on Cuba in the run-up to the 2004 elections. We were collateral damage. In 2003 they revoked our 7-year-old Treasury license to tune there. Then in February 2004 they decided to shut us down. Commerce declared pianos "not consistent with U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba." and they told us, "upon the advice of the Department of State," we could ship medical supplies only. Here’s their letter of intent.
(snip/...)

http://www.sendapiana.com/sphlegal.htm

[Tom Joad]

1. Piano tuners are a radical bunch.

I know one of those folks, and they not only care about Cuba, but also Palestine.

(and yes, it is too bad that basic caring in this country is considered "radical")

[Crunchy Frog]

2. Cuba has PIANOS???!!!!!

OH MY GOD!!! We're all gonna die!!!:wow:

[Bridget Burke]

3. I've seen the documentary on Ovation.

Truehaft was quite critical of Clinton & wondered what he thought of Bush. I'm not surprised. Parts of the film are heartbreaking--as talented Cuban youngsters try to make music out of termite-ridden pieces of junk.

(Truehaft's late mother, described as a "muckraking British author whose aristocratic family disowned her for marrying a Jewish-American Communist" was Jessica Mitford, of the famous Mitford sisters.)

[Tom Joad]

4. clinton pandered to the anti-cuba crowd. Pandering runs in the family

[Mika]

5. Example here

CANF founder and Clinton fundraiser Jorge Mas Canosa & Bill Clinton

Clinton promised to git tougher on Cuba than Poppy Bush and that Castro would go down during a Clinton presidency, so the CANF supported him.

[kineneb]

7. Mitford's son

now it makes even more sense! As a fellow pianist, tuner and general musician, I say "hurray" for his efforts. The world needs more harmony and less discord. (pun intended) :)

[Mika]

6. Here's a 2000 article on Treuhaft

He's a very dedicated person.


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