Cuba trip a challenge to U.S. law

[Judi Lynn]

Cuba trip a challenge to U.S. law
Americans plan visit to test tighter travel restrictions

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Posted: 1635 GMT (0035 HKT)

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- The question for Cindy Domingo, who has been to Cuba a dozen times without U.S. government permission, is whether trip number 13 be unlucky.

Domingo, a longtime Seattle activist dedicated to humanitarian and feminist causes, will accompany three other Seattle-area women on the trip Thursday, and plans to join hundreds of other defiant travelers in a "travel challenge" to test Washington's tight, new restrictions on visiting the communist country.

U.S. citizens must secure a license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to legally travel to Cuba. But the document has recently become increasingly difficult to obtain and, in protest, Domingo and her fellow travelers are ignoring the process.

"We want to let the U.S. government know that we have the right to travel to Cuba without their permission," said Domingo, an aide to King County Councilman Larry Gossett. "I'm uncertain what we'll face at the border. But I'm also excited to be joining hundreds of others who'll be going without licenses."

Cuba remains under a decades-long trade embargo imposed by the United States. Laws that have been in place since 1963 outlaw Americans from visiting the island as tourists. But limited visits to Cuba by journalists, educators, humanitarian aid workers, representatives of religious organizations and people visiting relatives are allowed. All applications are considered case-by-case.

Other nations have no such restrictions on Cuba travel. Last year, the island had more than 2 million visitors.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/07/20/cuba.challenge.ap/



It's what Ricky would want.