House bill would end travel ban to Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Sun Sentinel

House bill would end travel ban to Cuba
Alexia Campbell
February 9, 2009 6:03 PM
Sun Sentinel
(MCT)

They didn't waste any time.

While most of the nation focused on the stimulus bill winding through Congress, nine representatives introduced a bill calling for an end to the 46-year-old ban on travel to Cuba.

The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 4 would allow American citizens unrestricted travel to Cuba for the first time since 1963. The bill by Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and eight co-sponsors would also lift limits on travel by Cuban exiles living in the United States. The president would not be able to regulate travel to the island unless an armed conflict or armed danger arises.

The bill has gone too far, said Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation. Cuban exiles should visit their families whenever they want, but tourists shouldn't spend money in resorts that Cubans are barred from. ''It's improper and should not be allowed until the Cuban government makes some reforms,'' he said.

Bay of Pigs veteran Miguel Reyes, founder of the Cuban American Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., thinks that the bill doesn't matter much at this point. He has no plans to travel to Cuba and doesn't care if other people do.

''As an American, I think I have the right to go wherever I want to without anyone stopping me,'' said Reyes, whose views are independent from the club.

Read more: http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=NATIONAL&ID=565523949066518553

[Ghost Dog]

1. In that case Cuba would have to impose strict visa requirements,

though, in order to try to keep out the organized criminal elements, and the state-sponsored covert foreign political operatives and terrorists.

Otherwise, and in general a move to be welcomed, of course, were this bill to pass with no strings attached.

[Hippo_Tron]

4. I would imagine any state sponsored political operatives can get into the country regardless

And I would also imagine that the Cuban Police are perfectly capable of dealing with organized crime.

[Vogon_Glory]

6. I Suspect That The Old American Mob Would Be The Least Of Cuba's Worries

I suspect that the old American mob that ran Havana's casinos back in Batista's heyday is hardly much of a threat these days. The survivors are well into their seventies and eighties and I doubt they stood high in the ranks of the Mob back when they were in their teens or twenties. Like latter-day Willie Lohmans, I doubt that the American mobsters know anybody who still has any political or economic connections.

Cuba has more worrisome potential foreign visitors than geriatric American mobsters--like the Mexican or Colombian narco-syndicates. They're much younger, better organized, much more heavily-armed, and they're shaking the stability of numerous Latin-American governments.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. But Mexicans and Colombians are already free to travel to Cuba

like just about everyone else in the world, so if they're not there now, why would they come because of a few thousand American tourists?

[Vogon_Glory]

37. You Missed The Point About the Narcos

You missed the point about the narco-traffickers. As you said, Mexican and Colombian nationals already can visit Cuba. But Mexican or Colombian narco-traffickers wouldn't travel to Cuba either to revive old 1950's mob-owned casinos or brothels, they'd be far more interested in using Cuba as a staging area for shipping narcotics and cocaine to the USA. I don't doubt that such possibilities frighten Cuban security forces a lot more than old and creaking American mobsters puttering around with walkers or confined to their wheel-chairs or electric scooters.

Do you REALLY think that the large, well-armed narcotics and cocaine smuggling syndicates AREN'T a potential threat to the stability of the Cuban government just because they AREN'T owned by United Fruit or Exxon Mobil? If so, please feel free to sell that notion to thoughtful people across the political spectrum from El Paso/Juarez down to southern Peru, but I doubt that they'd buy it.

I remember reading that the original Simon Bolivar said something to the effect that gold and slavery were the two curses of Latin America. He didn't live to see what the cocaine and drug-smuggling cartels could do quite independently from Yanqui management or control.

The Mexican and Colombian drug cartels are, unfortunately, every bit as indigenous as those surviving guerillas.

[Usrename]

50. Maybe they are not owned by United Fruit or Exxon Mobil...

... but what about Halliburton and the Carlyle Group?

:shrug:

[Goldom]

2. Whatever the particulars of this case, what a disgusting viewpoint

that is, "As an American, I think I have the right to go wherever I want to without anyone stopping me".

[Hippo_Tron]

3. I think what he should have said was...

"As an American I think I have the right to travel to any country I want without my government stopping me."

[bigworld]

7. Well it shouldn't be OUR government doing the stopping.

[Vogon_Glory]

5. Maybe Mister Reyes Is Finally Getting It

Maybe Mister Reyes is finally getting it. He seems to have realized that part of freedom is the freedom to travel.

Apparently he's not the only one. It looks like Ron Paul's libertarian leanings have come through, too; he also supports repealing the Cuban travel restrictions. I wonder if any other Republicans will support the bill, or if they'll meekly fall into line behind the Republican Party leadership and vote against it.

For that matter, I'm wondering how many Democrats will remember that they're Democrats and will vote for ending the travel restrictions.

I like what I've read about the bill in this article. I hope it passes.

[Mika]

9. They've voted on bills like this before. They've won too. 4 times.

Only to have them stripped to the bone or completely removed in committee. That was when repugs ran the committees (namely, Lincoln Diaz Balart had the bills stripped). A few of us here on DU have been following these bills, and watching them get stripped out, for years.

Let's see what the Dems do (FYI, there's no shortage of anti Cuba Dems).

[ronnie624]

8. It's "improper"?

It's rather amusing, listening to these people as they struggle to justify violating the right of U.S. citizens to travel as they please.

[go west young man]

10. This would work great for me as I live in the South and my wife

is from Russia. It's difficult for them to get a U.S. visa. If this goes through we can meet them in Cuba and have a nice vacation at the same time.

[JFKfanforever]

13. Nice. It already works for thousands of Canadians who love Cuba

Cuba is called the "pearl of the Caribbean".  You
can have a safe and enjoyable vacation there on the
sugar-white sands.  Good pineapples, rum, tobacco/cigars, and
delicious Cuban food.  Anyone need a recipe for sofrito from
my American-Cuban frien Emilia Battista?

[immoderate]

11. ''As an American, I think I have the right to go wherever I want to without anyone stopping me,''

Exactly, Mr. Reyes. Well spoke.

--imm

[bluesmail]

12. Sounds like Reyes hasn't been bee through a humiliating TSA experience. eom

[yy4me]

15. Long overdue. The people of Cuba need foreign visitors, the

influx of capital and culture. Wouldn't it just be a good idea to get rid of this cold-war relic?

Then maybe I can go to Cuba and pick up an old '57 Chevy BelAire for the fun of it!

[Virginian]

72. It might be good for GM, too. BTW, Cute cat. n/t

[Soylent Brice]

16. cuban cigars here i come!!!!!!!

and 10 cent asthma inhalers.

sweeeeeeet!

[PatrynXX]

22. great.... now my bro gonna end up buying those

can never understand cigars. since I don't smoke cigar's are beyond me. He's got a humidoor (sp? ) full of them. O_O

[ImOnlySleeping]

32. I suspect

that the sanctions on trade would probably be removed either shortly after or as a part of the bill.

[mamameow]

17. Batista v castro

i am not from cuba but was in high school in fort lauderdale during Batista's reign and had many friends who escaped with their families from Batista. Batista was our dictator, our murderous dictator. one friend said it was not uncommon to wake up in the night to hear voices in your yard. it was very dangerous to look out but those that did watched Batista's army digging mass graves, sometimes hundreds of bodies. were buried. you did not speak about this.

castro was a liberator, he was for the masses, not like this country who supported Batista for the rich and riches of cuba. yet castro has been painted by our politicians as a criminal. all he did was give this government the "dirty bird". this country has been in a snit ever since. what has this embargo done for us? it gave the gop votes. i for one cannot wait to travel to cuba, maybe will have some surgery and dental work done there for a fraction of the cost than the u.s. my parents vacationed there and found the country and the ordinary people there wonderful. hooray!!!!!

[truth2power]

24. Thank you. It's amazing how many Americans have bought the propaganda ...

Castro was, indeed, a liberator, and most of those who have driven the anti-Castro line for all these years are the wealthy who lost out when Batista was overthrown.

The US Govt. propaganda line is very effective.

I would love to travel to Cuba.

[mamameow]

45. middle class

i do not think it was the rich who fled to this country as much as it was the middle class and anyone who was anti-batista. batista was as brutal as Saddam. the poor of cuba had no money to leave, they were instrumental in getting the power away from batista to castro. a lot of cubans, middle class, that were not openly against batista, had to sell everything to bribe their way out of cuba. my friend virginia Herrera was a child at the time said they only left with the clothes on their backs. cuba was the playground for the super rich in this country. my parents were tourists

[Jackpine Radical]

18. So now Cuba will have thousands of desperate, uninsured Americans

clogging up their health care system trying to get free services...

[Hippo_Tron]

28. I would imagine one has to be a Cuban citizen to be covered

[Jackpine Radical]

40. I was thinking of that paret of Sicko

where the Cubans took in the boatload of Americans in need of health care...

[Hippo_Tron]

49. Given how few Americans currently seek Cuban health care, I doubt they minded

But I'm sure that if this became a problem they would require Cuban citizenship to use the health care system.

[Jackpine Radical]

51. Let me mention that I wasn't entirely serious about my original post;

I was just struck by the notion of a sort of reverse boatlift.

[Omnibus]

67. If the travel ban is lifted, they can charge non-citizens for health care.

I'm fairly sure they could make a healthy profit off of us and STILL deliver better, cheaper health care than the uninsured could find in the US.

Maybe thousands of southern Americans flocking to Cuba for health care would shame southern Republicans into supporting health care reform.

(I can dream, can't I?)

[harun]

19. Agree, gov't shouldn't tell people where they can and cannot go.

People find something offensive about Cuba's policies they don't have to travel there. I on the other hand would love to go there.

[a la izquierda]

20. sweet.

I would love to go, three British friends of mine went about two months ago. They tried to get me to go since we're all in Mexico...I was too chicken. It's a big fine if you're caught.

[honoluludaniel]

23. Fine? Come on now.....

You know that about 130,000 Americans go to Cuba illegally every year, yet only a handful actually get fined. Literally, you can count the number in just a few seconds. The travel ban is all bark, no bite. I suggest you make up for the error of your ways and go as soon as possible. :P

[a la izquierda]

26. Hehehe. I'd be one of the handful...

that got caught. Seriously, I stand out like a sore thumb in foreign countries (I'm covered in tattoos). So, either I wear long sleeves and pants in the tropics (and stand out) or short sleeves (and stand out). Either way I'm screwn.

And since I'm only a grad student, the fine is pretty steep on the old pocketbook.

[honoluludaniel]

29. Well then just ride out the storm for now.

Congress will either pass this bill or end enforcement of the travel ban by the Treasury Department, if all goes well. If not, well, lets just say it never hurts to be a risk taker every once in a while. ;-)

[KamaAina]

53. Aloha! Welcome to DU!

We have precious few kama'aina (it means "local person") posters around here! :hi:

[honoluludaniel]

56. Aloha to you as well!

I'm still in Miami for a couple more months before i finally settle down in Honolulu, but since DU had a cut-off date for the name change, i decided to get a head start, hehehe. ;-)

[defendandprotect]

21. All circuits are "still busy" to Congress . . . open up more lines-!!

Obama has to get after the blockage in the communications to White House and

Congress --- too slow. Everything moves faster these days and there is a lot that

has to be fixed.

I'm presuming that Bush had shut down lines of communication cause I doubt he wanted

to hear what people were saying to him! And GOP certainly doesn't want to hear!!


PS: Use the direct lines which are usually on the Reps' website ---

in the cause of the Repug Leonard Lance who was elected in my area they had

the wrong phone number listed! These website pages for "contact" have to give way

to open e-mail. This is too time consuming to repeat all this info over and again,

AFTER locating the website!

[Redstone]

25. About fucking time. We need to stop all the other embargo crap, too.

Cuba's our neighbor. Time for us to start treating them like a neighbor.

Redstone

[xxqqqzme]

27. My grandparents, who frequently spent

December or January in Florida, would often go on to Cuba for a week or so. In 1959, they promised they would take me w/ them over Christmas break and we would visit Cuba. I was so excited, thrilled to be going 'out of the country' at age 11! Needless to say we did not go to Cuba. So I have been patient, hoping to see a promise fulfilled. Fifty years is a long wait.

Come on - lift that ban!!!!

[yorgatron]

31. I'm heading south with a suitcase full of sparkplugs!

and coming back with a suitcase full of cigars! :smoke:

[madrchsod]

44. old school ignition points, condensers, and voltage regulators....

[roody]

57. Disobey!! Go!

It is easy and there is no reason to get caught.

[rollingrock]

30. It's about time

no other country in the world except Israel recognizes the US embargo on Cuba as a legitimate one.

[LibertyLover]

33. I would love to see this bill passed and signed

It's way past time to end our ban on travel to Cuba and our kowtowing to the increasingly smaller number of anti-Castro Cuban-American groups as well. The Cuban government has instituted reforms, just not what some of the anti-Castro cliques wanted, like getting back their families' properties that had been expropriated after Castro came to power. I was watching the news on BBC America just prior to the election (OT - but if you get BBC America, their news shows are very interesting) and they interviewed a number of young Cuban-Americans who planned, not only to vote for Obama, but to also push for the normalization of relations with Cuba. Some of the older members of their families agreed and said that they thought it was just a question of time before normalization came and travel restrictions were lifted. However they were afraid to voice those sentiments aloud in certain quarters out of fear of what the anti-Castro groups can still do.

[Deep13]

34. What kind of plague of rationality is infecting this country?!

Has the whole world found its mind?!

[varelse]

64. you're making me miss the DUzy awards :/

:rofl:

[LeftinOH]

35. If it pisses off the Miami Mafia- I'm all for it.............n/t

[Frisbee]

36. About. Damn. Time! eom

[KG]

38. why americans, who boast of being 'free', put up with being told where they can and can't travel

outside the u.s. is something i've never quite understood.

[Ganja Ninja]

39. I could make weekend trips down there.

Cool!

[byrok]

41. And give these people

back their land. (Gitmo)

[geardaddy]

42. It's about time.

I mean China's still communist and we recognize them and they are one of our biggest trading partners. We had a horrible war with Viet Nam and we've normalized relations with them. Why the hell can't we end the embargo on Cuba?

[rollingrock]

65. Cuba has never announced free market reforms.

As soon as Vietnam and China announced and implemented their 'free market reforms,' the economic embargo was lifted from those countries.

[geardaddy]

76. That makes sense.

But we tried to establish relations with China long before they had free market reforms. Vietnam maybe, but I think China was a different animal.

[madrchsod]

43. wow all those rust free 50`s cars!

it`s about time someone decided to face reality.

oh yes.... the MUSIC!

[and-justice-for-all]

46. Good..

"would allow American citizens unrestricted travel to Cuba for the first time since 1963." There is nothing wrong with going to Cuba and it is about fuckin' time too.

[Hulk]

47. YEAH!!! Now we gringos can visit Cuba "legally"....

There are THOUSANDS of Americans who visit Cuba each year. The number may be much greater, or perhaps smaller, but I know of several gringos who have made tripS to Cuba. They simply don't stamp the passports to prevent problems with US Customs officials.

It will be good for the people of Cuba, who are really very good and honest people. I know this will drive the Cuban refugees nuts, but tough shit. Castro was a tough nut...but I'd say 45 years of the stick is enough. It's time to get real with our neighbors to the south.

I'm THRILLED that this may pass. If it doesn't we will just continue to travel there without a stamp on the passport. You can fly into Cuba from ANY country but the US. How stupid is that??

[Ishoutandscream2]

48. I would love to go to Cuba

Very, very cool!

[ghurley]

52. Is it legal to gamble in Cuba? My quick internet searches say no...

If I had a choice between Vegas, Atlantic City and Havana.... I know I would chose Havana.

[roody]

58. I doubt that it is legal.

[honoluludaniel]

59. Negative. Hasn't been legal since about '59. No casinos, no lotteries etc...n/m

[Vogon_Glory]

75. Nope

I don't believe that it's legal to gamble in Cuba, and it hasn't been since the early sixties. If you want to gamble in the Caribbean, you'll have to go elsewhere.

I don't gamble; I just don't find roulette or the slots that exciting, and people can read my body language like an open book. Nevertheless, one of my regrets from my 'things left undone' list is that I didn't bring along a pair of dice and roll them on the floor of the Havana Rivera's old casino back in 2003, just to say I'd done it.

[KansDem]

54. Ahhh..."Cubana Perfecto!"

[Judi Lynn]

55. Maybe ordinary Americans, instead of people like Tom DeLay will get their own

Hoyo de Monterrey ($25.00) opportunities, as well.

This photograph was taken of Tom DeLay in Jerusalem at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the King David Hotel.

http://www.guerillaimports.com.nyud.net:8090/delay.jpg

[KansDem]

77. Typical Repub: Denies for us what he takes for himself...(nt)

[Hardrada]

60. I'll go!

[inna]

61. just about time - in fact, it's long overdue - to end that monstrosity of a ban. nt

[inna]

63. in fact, what are the rationalizations behind the ban?? anyone knows?...

it seems like an extremely absurd and egregiously Big Brother-ish, McCarty-esque ban in the first place.

hey, we're a free country after all! that ban rightfullly belongs in the garbage pile of history.


go Obama~!! ~

[honoluludaniel]

68. Well, if you can call it a "rationalization".....

The argument is usually that the money from tourism will go to "repress" the Cuban people and will prop-up the Cuban government. Of course in reality its just been kept on the books due to the intense pressure of the Cuban-American lobby and South Florida politicians who support them. But it's important to note that Obama can simply remove the travel ban with an Executive Order, he doesn't have to wait for congress to act.

[Omnibus]

69. For the first ~25 years, it's because they were commies...

...since then, it's because Cuban ex-pats are a very strong lobby in a battleground state.

However, as the old anti-Castro refugees pass on, a new generation of Cubans think it would be great to be able to visit their cousins and reconnect with their parents' culture.

[Virginian]

73. From what I remember... The 5 yr old the fishermen found,

Elian Gonzales (sp) knew his Miami cousins because they had visited his home in Cuba several times.

[varelse]

62. It's about fucking time

:thumbsup:

[LeftofU]

66. I can't wait to go.

I hope it's not overrun by tourist.

[w4rma]

70. Good. (nt)

[New Dawn]

71. K&R - And to hell with Miami Fascism.

[NBachers]

74. Can Trade with Cuba be far behind?

They've played with this in the past, but the opposition was always too strong. I think it's waaaaaay past time.

Opening up trade with Cuba would be a big boost for agricultural and other products in the USA, too.