Cuba: Cuban-Americans will not need permission to travel to Cuba

[Say_What]

Cuban-Americans don't need permission to travel to Cuba, but embargoed 'Murikans, held hostage by anti-Cuba fanatics in South Florida, can't step foot onto the island. Yep, that's *free and democratic*!! LOL What a f*ck'n joke.

<clips>

MIAMI - Cuban natives living in the United States soon will no longer need permission from the Castro government to travel to the communist island if they hold a Cuban passport, a Cuban official said Tuesday.

Lazaro Herrera, a spokesman with the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, said the change will take effect early next year. Cuban exiles now wishing to visit their homeland must obtain special permission before making the trip.

The proposed change was announced by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque at a meeting with about 300 Cuban-Americans in New York on Saturday, Herrera said. The Cuban government is changing its policy to try to improve relations with Cuban exiles, Herrera said.

"For many years, we've been making steps with the Cuban community abroad that haven't been able to advance more because" of the opposition of Miami's Cuban-Americans, he said. "Now there has really been a generational change in Florida, where there is a majority of Cubans who support normal relations with the island."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6897834.htm

[mkregel]

1. Ummm....doesnt this violate the civil rights act?

This is racism PURE AND SIMPLE. Any preferential treatment...ANY...violates this.

Time for the ACLU :-D

[Say_What]

2. Amazing how in the dark

most 'muriKans are about US-Cuba relations. Sad, really. When it comes to anything about Cuba blinkers are ON. :eyes:

[joshcryer]

3. Wow, good point!

Someone should point this out and see where it goes!

[guajira]

7. I have reported this to ACLU many times over the years

I have told the ACLU many times that I will not renew my membership until they support my freedom to travel to Cuba. I asked them why they don't fight the blatant discrimination based on ethnic origin!

I've even questioned ACLU attorneys and officers at meetings I have attended. THEY DON'T CARE!! They're too busy defending the right of Miami Batistianos to demonstrate against Cuban artists from the island who come to the US to perform.

Likewise I have emailed many TV stations and news channels to ask them why they don't report the direct flights from Miami and New York to Havana. Again - NOTHING!!

If enough Americans refuse to join the ACLU until they take up the issue of freedom to travel, the issue will be in court in a very short time!

[Osolomia]

9. Point what out? What on earth are you 2 talking about?

Cuban-American "exiles" are free to travel back and forth across the Florida Straits but the US government won't let you!

If DUers and the rest of the Dem party don’t yank their heads out of the sand now, and pay attention to what Bush is actually doing in our own North American hemisphere as we speak, and support the bipartisan majority instead of wallowing in a cold war fantasyland, then we’re all gonna be phucked phorever imho, and Dems have no one to blame but themselves.

Apparently the historical context and significance of this thread’s article and others like it totally escapes most DUers to this day.

The plethora of ignorant stereotypes and lack of rebuttal to the obvious lies and bullshit of the US government on this issue on a forum such as this reeks of either complicity, or hypocrisy and bigotry to the core, or moronism the likes of which we’ve never seen before, imho.

American history in the making and you don’t even know it! Instead you all even go so far as to let Bush further restrict your freedom to travel even for educational purposes and do whatever the phuck he and his Batistiano “exiles” in Florida want without any awareness or opposition to the pretzel logic still being used to justify this immoral and unethical economic embargo and travel ban more than 10 years and 4 US presidential campaigns after the Soviets left Cuba!

What a revolting shame for crying out loud, especially considering the Bushistas’ record on “freedom” and “democracy” and “elections” and “nation building” and “regime change” and accusations of “WMDs” and denying visas etc. etc. etc., just so far, there’s still more than a year to go!

Under present circumstances, what kind of example does the USA’s relations with its own neighbors set for the rest of the world? What foreign policies do the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates have to offer that’s an improvement over the Bushistas?

Eh?

DUh!

[Mika]

8. How about equal protection under the law?

One of our fourth amendment rights.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Cuba's going to need tougher security, then!

Opening the gates to Cuban-Americans will make it far easier for the bombers to come and go without being noticed.

One of the most recognized ones, Luis Posada Carriles was interviewed by the New York Times:

(snip) Within militant Cuban exile circles, Posada is a legendary figure, celebrated for his tenacity and dedication to the anti-Castro cause. He has at various times also worked for Venezuelan, Salvadoran and Guatemalan intelligence or security agencies because, he explained, he wanted "to fight against the Communists, the people who helped Cuba."

But the Cuban Government regards him as a terrorist and a "monstrous criminal" responsible for numerous acts of violence against official installations and personnel, on the island and off, and has called on the United States to curb his activities.

Posada proudly admitted authorship of the hotel bomb attacks last year. He described them as acts of war intended to cripple a totalitarian regime by depriving it of foreign tourism and investment.

"We didn't want to hurt anybody," he said. "We just wanted to make a big scandal so that the tourists don't come anymore. We don't want any more foreign investment."

The bombs were also intended, Posada said, to sow doubts abroad about the stability of the regime, to make Cuba think he had operatives in the military and to encourage internal opposition. "People are not afraid anymore," he said. "They talk openly in the street. But they need something to start the fire, and that's my goal." (snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/071298cuba-plot.html

[Say_What]

5. Travel Felon Dan Snow--enough Cajones to take on both Bushies

<clips>

HAVANA - Austin resident Dan Snow can't vote. Can't own a gun. Can't even go fishing where he wants to.

His crime?

He hopped on a plane and went to Cuba, the forbidden island, land of Fidel Castro and rumbling '59 Chevys.

"I'm a travel felon," said Mr. Snow, 63, the only American to have served jail time for going to Cuba.

He's the most extreme example of a trend - people thumbing their noses at Uncle Sam and going to Cuba despite a decades-long ban and a recent Bush administration crackdown on travel to the island.

Most travel to Cuba from the United States is prohibited, although the U.S. government does allow some visits for business, educational and cultural purposes. Travelers range from musicians and artists to lawmakers and students.

http://www.nlg.org/cuba/banhasntslowed.htm

---

Dan's website answers plenty of questions about going to Cuba.

<clips>
We were the first American Agency to sign a contract with the Cubans after their Revolution. I (Dan Snow) have been to Cuba more than 150 times, more than 1500 days. The contract signed on July 4, 1977, was to bring bass fishermen to Treasure Lake, near the Bay of Pigs. In 1978, we expanded our operation to include bass fishermen at Lake Zaza, in Sancti Spiritus, Province. In 1979, we added Lake Cuyaguateje, in Pinar del Rio Province. In 1980, we added Lake Redonda, in Ciego de Avila Province. In 1982 we added Lake Hanabanilla, in Villa Clara Province a beautiful mountain lake.

During these same years we helped the Cubans start their Scuba diving program on the Island of Youth, bird watching in Matanzas Province near the Salinas Road. At the same time we were adding hunting trips for ducks, dove, quail, white-crowned pigeon and others.

As time went by, we added more lakes, eco-tours, biking tours, yachting, hiking-trekking, cigar tours, Hemingway tours, golf, tennis, etc.

Since May 15,1982, when the Reagan / Bush Administration banned the spending of money in Cuba, I (Dan Snow) have more or less become the leader of the effort to restore the "freedom to travel" for the American people. At the time of the travel restrictions, only between 4000 and 5000 Americans were traveling to Cuba each year, about 1,000 with us. Last year, about 80,000 went along with perhaps as many as 140,000 Cuban Americans.

http://www.cubatravelusa.com/about_us.htm

[Vogon_Glory]

6. Also Disgusted. Also Think Napoleon Lives in S. Florida

I agree with Say_What. This latest twist to the continuing travel restrictions for Americans wishing to visit Cuba is yet another example of CANF/George UU Bush/Republican Party hypocricy.

It's disgusting that our dear leader (the resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue)chooses to practice such hypocricies.

When I think about the privileged position of the Cuban exiles and their ability to dictate US policy in the Caribbean, I'm reminded of that delightful line from George Orwell's Animal Farm. In this case, Compañero Napoleon would again say that all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

--VG

[Chovexani]

10. Ya know

Ya know, it'd be nice if all Americans were allowed to go to Cuba!

Wtf kind of banana republic is this where our gov't tells us where we can and can't go? You'd think this was communist China or somethin'!

[Say_What]

11. Sun-Sentinel: Praise, criticism greet changes in Cuba travel rules

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HAVANA · Calling it an important goodwill gesture, Cuban-Americans favoring an end to economic sanctions hailed Havana's long-awaited decision to eliminate entry permits for émigrés visiting their homeland.

But those who favor the current U.S. embargo on travel and trade with Cuba called the move a ploy aimed at stimulating the island's sagging economy by boosting Cuban-American travel.

Under the new immigration rules, which take effect in the spring, Cuban émigrés no longer will need Havana's prior approval to travel to the island, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told about 300 Cuban-Americans in New York on Saturday.

"Everyone was on their feet, screaming and yelling. To say that this was well-received is an understatement," said Elena Freyre, executive director of the Cuban-American Defense League and a longtime anti-embargo activist. "I think there are a lot of people who have not gone back because it just rankles them to ask for permission."

<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-acuba01oct01,0,3087333.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean>

[Say_What]

12. The Cuba Fixation: Shaking Down American Travelers

<clips>

Why does our government want to prevent us from seeing and learning about what is happening in Cuba? It says its purpose is to deny hard currency to Cubans so that they will change the way they have organized their society. If so, it's the first time in history we've been forced to sacrifice one of our fundamental freedoms in order to implement a foreign policy objective.

From the beginning American courts have recognized and protected our right to travel to and in countries at peace with us, and our Supreme Court has repeatedly held this is part of the liberty we can't be deprived of without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. Moreover, because travel often involves learning and exchange of ideas, our First Amendment rights of speech and association are also implicated. As former justice William O. Douglas once observed, "Freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society, setting us apart...it often makes all other rights meaningful."

In spite of this, in 1982 the Reagan Administration promulgated administrative regulations regarding Cuba travel which require a license issued by the State Department (permitting only certain limited types of travel, excluding business and tourist) and penalties for violation of concurrent Treasury Department currency restrictions forbidding the unlicensed spending of money. In a 5-4 decision in 1984, Regan v. Wald, our Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of these restrictions on the basis of the State Department's assertion that Cuba had the economic, political and military backing of the Soviet Union, therefore the rights of citizens were overcome by national security needs. In other words due process was not violated because we were not "at peace" with Cuba.

In the 1990s when the Soviet Union no longer existed and our Defense Department had certified that Cuba posed no security risk, the restrictions were not being enforced, it being clear that no judge would uphold them. Nevertheless, they remained on the books because our presidents lacked the political will to terminate them and our State Department was using them to try to frighten Americans out of going to Cuba. In 2000 they were codified by a legally questionable maneuver in House-Senate Conference Committee on an unrelated bill. Each year the number of unlicensed American visitors increased, and the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council has estimated that last year there were over 100,000.

http://www.counterpunch.org/crumpacker09302003.html