U.S. Travel Executives Visit Forbidden Cuba

[Osolomia]

Sun October 19, 2003 02:14 PM ET
By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - Three dozen U.S. travel industry executives defied a Bush administration crackdown on American travel to communist Cuba and visited the island on Sunday to study its future business potential.

... "Coming on the heels of (President George W.) Bush's speech, this is a clear demonstration that interest in Cuba remains strong and the debate on ending the travel ban will continue," said Phil Peters, of the Lexington Institution, a Washington think tank that favors repeal of sanctions against Cuba.

... Bush, announcing steps to speed up political change in Cuba on Oct. 10, said Washington would crack down on unauthorized travel to the island.

The U.S. House of Representatives last month voted for a fourth year in a row to end the travel restrictions and the U.S. Senate is expected to follow suit. Bush has vowed to veto any move to end the travel ban, saying U.S. tourist dollars would prop up a repressive government in Cuba.

... Cuban officials say about 100,000 Cuban-Americans and 50,000 other U.S. citizens visited the country legally last year. Another 30,000 came through third countries without the Treasury Department's permission.

More...
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3642862

[Osolomia]

1. More Americans defying Bush

and still not a DUher in sight. Go figure!

[joshcryer]

4. Because you bash us every thread...

...duh...

[Osolomia]

5. So long as challenging lies amd bullshit with documented facts

is considered bashing by DUhers then this forum is a complete farce. What a shame!

[Osolomia]

7. And what does the Dem party have to offer voters like Ralph Kaehler

who want the trade and travel ban lifted but have this to say about their current representation (in this case Coleman (R)):

"I thought it would make sense to me when you're elected in MN that you check and see what's best for your constituents, and then go with that first, and then go to your national party and say 'you know what? I can understand where you're going with that, but here's what my people that elected me need," says Kaehler.

America's beef with Cuba
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=174514

So long as Dems insist on shooting the messenger instead of dealing with reality how do you expect to win Kaehler's vote for example?

[Judi Lynn]

8. Just looked around in google on Ralph Kaehler

and saw that he's been busy since he went to Cuba initially. He has sent more cattle, and also a pair of bison.

Looks as if he's totally committed to opening a steady line of trade there. A search shows over 200 entries for his name + Cuba.



Fidel Castro with the Kaehler father and sons, giving a bottle of milk to a calf.

It's necessary to reiterate that the man who got lucky when Paul Wellstone was killed, and got his Senate seat, Norm Coleman, USED TO SUPPORT opening travel with Cuba, until the White House told him to make an 180 degree turn, when he suddenly announced he's against it.

[Judi Lynn]

2. This is truly courageous. They are taking a risk

and bully for them!



(snip) Once the hottest American playground in the Caribbean, with Mafia-run casinos and prostitution rings, Cuba is banking on the return of American tourism to increase its main source of hard currency and shore up a cash-strapped one-party state. (snip)

The reporter, Reuters' Anthony Boadle, who has been working on Cuba stories for years, has bought the official propaganda and apparently doesn't know, or is encouraged not to disclose, that there are multiple political parties in Cuba. Once more Americans travel to Cuba, they'll find this out for themselves.

(snip) The U.S. House of Representatives last month voted for a fourth year in a row to end the travel restrictions and the U.S. Senate is expected to follow suit. Bush has vowed to veto any move to end the travel ban, saying U.S. tourist dollars would prop up a repressive government in Cuba. (snip)

[Osolomia]

3. Curbs on Travel to Cuba Feared

Tour and charter operators say Bush's push for restrictions will hit them hard.

By Rone Tempest,
LA Times Staff Writer
18 October 2003

SAN FRANCISCO — From her third-floor office in the weathered Mission District, Ana Perez has arranged for more than 6,000 Americans to travel legally to Cuba on education and cultural exchange tours in the last two years.

The Cuba "reality tour" program is the most successful of several operated by her San Francisco nonprofit organization, Global Exchange. But Perez said a recent Bush administration push to restrict travel to the island would cut her business to a trickle by the end of the year.

... Flake said he is also concerned about adding the enforcement of Cuba travel violations to Homeland Security's duties.

"We will now station customs officials in Canada looking for Americans with suntans," he said, "when a better use of their resources would be looking for terrorists."

More...
http://www.latimes.com/news/yahoo/la-me-cuba18oct18,0,2262648.story?coll=la-newsaol-headlines

[Judi Lynn]

6. Bush administration's so innovative!

(snip) In another recent development, letters sent by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control have announced plans to hold hearings under administrative law judges for Americans accused of violating Cuban travel rules. Alleged violators will be given the choice of an administrative trial or paying a $1,000 fine for each charge.

"The Bush administration has, in essence, barred travel to Cuba for ordinary Americans," said Nancy Chang, senior litigation attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. "Bringing in administrative law judges will convert the Office of Foreign Assets Control into a giant collection agency to go after grandmothers who take innocent bike trips to Cuba." (snip/...)

Hope our Senate can rescue American travel rights this year. Calls from Americans concerned about the issue can only help our Senators make up their minds.