Man challenges Cuba travel ban

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Saturday, 07.25.09
Man challenges Cuba travel ban
An American is trying to get cited by U.S. Customs officials for making several illegal trips to Cuba in an effort to contest the U.S. travel ban on Cuba.
BY AMY TAXIN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- A U.S. citizen trying to challenge the ban on travel to Cuba on Friday bemoaned his inability to get arrested or cited -- even after having his passport stamped in Havana and bringing back Cuban memorabilia.

Mytchell Mora, a 39-year-old freelance entertainment news producer, said he told U.S. customs officials he broke the law after flying through Costa Rica home to Los Angeles early Friday.

Officials punched some information about him into a computer and sent him home without punishment, Mora said. They didn't even confiscate his Cuba T-shirt or postcards.

``I am just so surprised nothing happened to me,'' Mora, who lives in West Hollywood, said in a phone interview. ``What can you really do when you're saying, `take me to jail or give me a ticket,' and they do nothing to you?''

Mora hoped to get arrested or cited after his fourth trip to Cuba so he could challenge the country's travel ban, which he says discriminates against anyone who isn't Cuban American and punishes Cuba's people, not its government. Mora said he hopes he may still be cited so he can challenge the policy in U.S. courts.

Most Americans who travel to Cuba do so on the sly, sneaking in and back without permission from U.S. authorities.

But Mora is trying to make a point.

He traveled to Cuba without permission in 1999 and 2000. About six months after the second visit, he got a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control saying he had to explain why he went to Cuba, who he stayed with and how much money he spent -- and could face fines or jail time if he failed to respond within 10 days.

He wrote back asking to exercise his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and never heard back.

Mora returned to Cuba in 2002 and told the Communist Party newspaper Granma which flight he would take to return to the United States.

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, he was pulled out of line by U.S. authorities who said they were waiting for him.

After answering questions about why he went to Cuba, Mora was released and his bags were not checked.

On Friday morning, Mora said he immediately told U.S. authorities that he broke the law and should be subject to a secondary inspection and have his bags checked. Mora said a supervisor was called over and typed information into a computer, but let him keep his souvenirs and leave the airport.

The Associated Press left a message Friday for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

During his eight-day trip to Cuba, Mora spent about $50 in government-controlled stores on a green and red Che Guevara beret, a Cuba T-shirt, Cuban flag refrigerator magnets and postcards featuring a picture of Fidel Castro shaking hands with author Ernest Hemingway.

``They say if you buy these clothes or anything else, it goes to Castro's hands,'' Mora said in Havana. ``I don't think $30 for a shirt is going to make or break this guy. The money I spend goes to the people and their homes, not the government.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1156799.html