If Congress lifts the ban on Cuba --- Will you go?

[The Lone Liberal]

I will.

[La_Serpiente]

1. yes

I need to brush up on my Spanish.

Plus, the Cuban culture has always interested me. The music and the people - it is just so exciting.

[JanMichael]

2. Yep. If I've got the time.

I think it's important for some people to go there and not try to buy all of the property and people (Ie. Prostitution) that they can get their grubby little paws on.

[hlthe2b]

3. You betcha

I'd LOVE to go. And, I can only think that tourist dollars would do more to ultimately end communism there than any of the anti-castro faction's bans, embargoes, and efforts to destabilize Castro.

We've been played for chumps on Cuba...

[catzies]

4. Oh yeah. They have one of the last pristine Caribbean rain forests.

Which will be in jeopardy if the BFEE can develop it or strike oil there. :scared:

So I want to go see it before it's gone. Besides, I grew up in South Florida with the children of the second great wave of immigration, and the way their parents and grandparents talked about it, it was Shangri-La. I've always had a curiousity about seeing Cuba I would love to satisfy.

[soothsayer]

5. heck yes, especially early on, before it's despoiled

of its scenic beauty by unchecked development

[imax2268]

6. hell yea...

some of them cuban women are hot...!!!

[MasonJar]

7. Absolutely

Anywhere with pristine rain forests is okay by me. We went to Belize this summer; what a great country. Costa Rica is super too. Cuba could be next. I feel like going whatever Bush says.

[Lefty48197]

8. I'm going

I can't afford the cigars here.

[Hieronymus]

9. Yes,

I'd go. A woman I spoke to about ten years ago went to a wedding there, and said it was absolutely beautiful.

[greatauntoftriplets]

10. My alma mater, Northwestern University

months ago sent me a mailer on a cultural and historical exchange trip to Cuba from 11/28 - 12/4. It is about $4,000, and a tad too expensive for my budget. Otherwise, I would love to go.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

11. I would love...

To go largemouth bass fishing at Treasure Lake, in Cuba. Perhaps the best large bass lake left in the world.

[Judi Lynn]

30. If it's bass fishing you're after,

You'd really love talking to our own American bass fisherman, Dan Snow, who is the only American to have been thrown in prison for fishing in Cuba!

Here's info. from his site:

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

You can visit the Dan Snow for President 2004 site!
http://www.dansnow2004.com/

Dare to read Dan Snow's account of personal battle against the Bush family!
http://www.dansnow2004.com/dan_snow_vs_bush_family.htm

Dan has shared a bass fishing passion with George H. W. Bush, the issue which kicked off big problems.

Dan's a great guy.

[jmowreader]

12. Habanos Festival, baby!

Gotta go to the Habanos Festival--a celebration of Cuban puros (cigars rolled from tobacco grown in one nation).

I'll take some Dominican Punch to see how Habano Punch compares to DR Punch.

I'll have to sample the Criollo, Corojo and H2000 wrapper grown in Cuban vegas to see how it compares to the same wrapper grown in Central and South America.

I don't think I'll mess with the Cohiba Esplendido; as the most counterfeited cigar in the world, it has been said that between 10 and 25 percent of all of the cigars being sold as Cohiba Esplendidos really are. Besides, my favorite vitolas are all Lonsdales and the Esplendido is bigger than the halfshafts on my car.

[Padraig18]

13. In a heartbeat!

My b/f has family there, including a grandmother he's never met! :)

[ret5hd]

14. damn straight...

would probably completely chnge my schedule to get there.

[loudnclear]

15. Absolutely!

I've been waiting to visit Cuba for years.

[BurtWorm]

16. I'd go if they don't even lift the ban.

[Ronnie]

17. Yes!

...

[ForrestGump]

18. Is El jefe a Godless Communist Cheat and Liar?

Okay...bad choice of words.

Yep, I'd go - not go out of my way to go, but I'd head over there if the possibility entered my little world.

I can go now, though, if I want to - I'm special. :D

Kind of ridiculous, those sanctions, especially when the rest of the world's visiting the place.

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. Jesus Heavenly Christ!

I feel so damned guilty for having an opportunity to go to Cuba that I cannot afford at $4,000 for a week. So I guess I am in the same boat as the rest of you. Would love to go.

[bicentennial_baby]

20. Hell yes

I'm there

[Djinn]

21. how does the ban work?

is it just that there are no commercial flights from US to Cuba?

could a US citizen fly to a third country and THEN go to Cuba?

or is it the Cuban govt that wont let in US passport holders?

Basically what I'm asking is ignoring the ban difficult? impossible ? likely to lead to sanction?

[Osolomia]

25. Like this

There are direct flights from the US to Cuba but you have to have a license from Washington to get on them. To get a license you must be a Cuban-American, or a journalist or other with a professional reason for going.

Yes, you can fly to a third country and then go to Cuba but if Uncle Sam finds out about it you’re subject to a maximum $250,000 fine and 10 years in jail.

The Cuban government treats Americans the same as any other foreign visitor: with a warm welcome.

Ignoring the ban is easy, just do it! But remember to leave all your misconceptions about Cuba at home and go with the flow for the experience of a lifetime.

About 180,000 Americans visited Cuba last year. 120,000 of them were Cuban-American "exiles", another 30,000 managed to get a license, the rest went illegally via a third country.

[Djinn]

43. Thanks Osolomia

BTW - are any other countries on the banned list?

Banning travel to a country is a really weird thing for a democracy to do, were there ever these kind of restrictions placed on travel to Vietnam?

[Catholic Sensation]

22. i would, but...

this begs another question, what are the chances we will lift the ban?

[Osolomia]

26. Chances are excellent if Dems ever get their heads out of the sand

Last month the House voted 227-188 to lift the travel ban.

Last week the Senate voted 59-36 to lift the travel ban.

Lieberman and Graham voted with the minority to keep it, all the other Dem candidates were absent.

Bush threatens to veto it.

Other then Kucinich, the rest of the Dem candidates and their DU supporters are still silently complicit with the Bush Doctrine of regime change in Cuba.

[Osolomia]

27. What a pathetic SHAME eh?

DUh!

[ForrestGump]

23. After the ban's lifted, DU meeting at the Copa, Copacabana, the hottest

spot in old Havana...

Just doing my bit to ensure that DUers never have an excuse to not have this song going around in their heads.

[Osolomia]

28. Yuck. Hot 40 years ago maybe

Get thee to a travel guide:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/books/16893/ref=br_b_ts_mor/103-0289890-0709460

[ClintonTyree]

24. Considering...............

that it's only a few hundred miles south of me, I'd love to go. I remember when Havana had a minor league baseball team in the International League back in the '50's. I loved to watch their games against our team in Rochester, NY. I've aways wanted to go there, I hope I have the chance now without breaking the law.

[joshcryer]

29. Definitely. Can't wait for ferries to pop up (very cheap travel).

It'll be great.

[jumptheshadow]

31. Yes, I'll go

A few of my friends have foreign passports and have been going for years. They've had a good time and have recommended the trip to me.

[Piperay]

32. I would LOVE to go

I want to see what the place is really like after hearing so much about it all these years. :eyes: B-)

[Padraig18]

33. The travel ban

Maybe it made sense, at some point in the past (the Cold War, e.g.), but I can hardly understand how it makes sense now. If we are truly interested in seeing a democratic, post-Castro Cuba with friendly ties to the US (its closest neigjhbor), I cannot understand how trade embargoes, travel bans, etc., which only hurt the Cubanpeople, are a productive means to that end.

[Nlighten1]

34. It will be my next vacation

[Red_Storm]

35. Yes I will...........

Alot of history, culture and great music in Havana and lots of beautiful beaches........the lifting of this ridiculous travel ban is long overdue.........

[Meshuga]

36. I heard the beaches are beautiful.

n/a

[Red_Storm]

38. In Varadero............

beautiful beaches to rival any in the Caribbean..........

[RebelOne]

37. Hell, no. I saw enough Cubans when I lived in S. Fla.

Just go to SW 8th Street in Miami or Hialeah. It's just like being in Cuba.

[MaineDem]

39. In a heartbeat!

I have friends from Canada who've vacationed there many times. My husband was there with the Navy but they only saw the Gitmo part. I've been to a good majority of the Caribbean islands and I'd love to add Cuba to the list.

Hell, yeah, I'd go!

[Robb]

40. Yep a doodle!

My wife's grandparents always spoke about how beautiful it was, how wonderful the people. I've got a dear old friend who's some kind of sponsored artist there now, and speaks so highly of Cuba's population.

[Red_Storm]

41. My sister and one of my uncles have visited Cuba..............

and they've told me that the people in Cuba are really friendly and outgoing....

[YellowRubberDuckie]

42. Cuba is the Number One Vacation Spot for Canadians...

So we must be missing something great, and the senators decided to find out what. But I don't know if I'd go or not...I don't think Fidel likes Americans too much. WE may never come back.
Duckie