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Karmadillo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 09:09 AM
Original message
US gives Cuba travellers until July 31 to return
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2953996a12,00.html

WASHINGTON: Bowing to protests from the travel industry and lawmakers, the United States treasury yesterday agreed to extend by a month to July 31 a deadline forcing thousands of Cuban Americans visiting relatives in Cuba to return to the United States.

The treasury department's office of foreign assets control on June 16 published rules which obliged thousands of Americans visiting relatives on the island to return before June 30 or face fines of up to $US55,000 ($NZ87,600).

The office, which enforces the four-decade long Cuba embargo, posted the extension on its website, authorising US citizens or residents who are in Cuba on June 29 to stay until July 31.

The ruling will "give people who are currently in Cuba and subject to the country's information embargo the necessary time to make appropriate travel arrangements off the island," said treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise.

more...
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Mika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 09:14 AM
Response to Original message
1. Too bad that Kerry supports the Cuban embargo and travel restrictions
Edited on Sat Jun-26-04 09:15 AM by Mika
One would think, after 45 years of failure and heartbreak, that the Dem party candidate would be just a little bit more progressive on this issue.... but, nope. Status quo reaps its rewards.



Kerry's stated policy on Cuba:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8848574.htm
  • Under Kerry Cuba will remain under US sanctions
  • Under Kerry we will still be travel banned unless our travel is deemed politically worthy by US gov jackboots

    Mr Kerry, Tear down the wall!
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    Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 10:41 AM
    Response to Original message
    2. Speaking of FLIP-FLOPPING, Bush walks away with the prize!


    From your article:
    Americans will be able to visit their relatives in Cuba once every three years instead of once every year, and take less money and baggage there.

    They will also be able to visit immediate relatives only, like parents and siblings, and their stay is capped at two weeks.
    Not all that long ago, George W. Bush sought to pleasure the Cuban "exile" extremists in Miami by changing the U.S. allowances for Cuban "exiles" to increase the amount of money they can send to their relatives in Cuba YEARLY, and to increase the amount of money they can take with them on their trips to Cuba.

    He also rearranged the restraints on their freedom to travel to Cuba by expanding the list of people they could claim they were going to visit to include up to 2nd cousins, or some such nonsense.

    I, as a non-Cuban American, along with others, noted these changes at the time with chagrin, as it seemed an "in your face" manuever to those of us who are travel banned from going there ourselves.

    His sudden 180º reversal, as the article points out, shocked and stunned people within the very community of voters he has been trying to court from long BEFORE he stole the White House. How DID they survive the whiplash?



    Bush has earned the very special "flip flop" award on this nefarious attempt to out think his target voters and his prey: the island of Cuba.


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    Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 11:07 AM
    Response to Original message
    3. The new terms of travel to Cuba are as following:
    Friday, June 25, 2004 · Last updated 10:44 p.m. PT

    List of U.S. government rules on Cuba

    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    New U.S. rules take effect Wednesday for U.S. residents visiting and making cash remittances to Cuba:
    • CASH REMITTANCES: Up to $300 per quarter can be sent to relatives in Cuba, but now limited to immediate family: children, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents, grandchildren. No longer allowed for cousins, aunts, uncles. No money may be sent to government or Communist Party officials.

    • VISITS TO CUBA: Travelers limited to 44 pounds in luggage and $300 in cash, down from previous $3,000. May spend only $50 a day in Cuba, down from $167. Visits limited to 14, compared to previous no limit.

    • PURCHASES: Travelers cannot bring back merchandise acquired in Cuba, except for informational materials such as books. Previous rules allowed $100 in total purchases for personal use.


    • "FULLY HOSTED" TRAVEL: Now barred. That category previously let U.S. citizens visit if they could prove they did not spend any money while in Cuba.
    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/aplatin_story.asp?category=1102&slug=Cuba%20Glance

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    The last one is very interesting, as it was the one possible loophole in which Americans had the chance of going to Cuba and staying with friends they had made who would be responsible for their transportation, food, and lodging.

    At some point our own government recognized it's too blatant to have an outright BAN on travel to Cuba, so it was arranged to make it illegal to spend any money while visiting in Cuba, using the explanation that putting money into the economy would "shore up" the economy some in our government have intended to destroy.

    So we have lived with this deception for ages, while Cuban "exiles" have been contributing hundreds of millions, and possibly as high as 2 billion yearly to that economy from sending money back to Cuba to their relatives, just as it happens all over Latin America.

    Bush has gone farther than any U.S. President in actually BANNING U.S. citizens from travelling to Cuba, by saying he won't allow trips to stay with Cubans who will handle all the expenses now.
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    Mika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 11:19 AM
    Response to Reply #3
    4. That means an end to the fully hosted medical ed for some Americans
    Its going to make it extremely difficult even for US medical charities that are fully hosted to do their work.


    Fuck Bush!


    Is Kerry going to be much different?

    Not according to him,

    Kerry's stated policy on Cuba:
    http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8848574.htm
  • Under Kerry Cuba will remain under US sanctions
  • Under Kerry we will still be travel banned unless our travel is deemed politically worthy by US gov jackboots



    A majority of Americans have six words for Mr Kerry.....

    Mr Kerry, Tear down the wall!





    ... because our Bonesman is better than their Bonesman?
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    Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 11:34 AM
    Response to Reply #4
    5. It's crazy that Bush, and apparently Kerry, fighting for the "exile" vote
    Edited on Sat Jun-26-04 11:45 AM by JudiLyn
    are running exactly OPPOSITE the direction and movement actually going on in our own House of Representatives and the Senate.

    Momentum is GATHERING in both places, in a completely BIPARTISAN manner, to drop the travel ban COMPLETELY, as well as the embargo.

    The State of Texas's own legislature, the very YEAR Bush left, passed its own resolution to eliminate the embargo on Cuba. This happened the very moment he did Texas the favor by moving to Washington. They stand in direct OPPOSITION to his intentions in his own home state, and they are joined by Americans in cities and states from coast to coast, north to south.

    To hear these two carry on, you'd think they have the full support of the Congress and of the American people. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Their rhetoric is aimed precisely at the overseers in Miami, the first wave of emigrants who fled, fearing the wrath of the Cuban Revolution to the U.S., as well as Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Spain. They've been riding herd on the entire Cuban community, and the power they've wielded over the Cuban community here is dissipating even as our own Presidential candidates STILL keep pandering to them.

    Some people believe this is the year the Congress is going to acheive that long anticipated VETO PROOF MAJORITY and go right over the head of the pResident, and drop the travel ban, anyhoo! Cool.

    On edit:
    Don't forget, even John Ashcroft, when he was still a senator from Missouri, in his last debate with Missouri's Mel Carnahan, the weekend BEFORE Carnahan was killed, advocated, as did Carnahan, DROPPING THE EMBARGO ON CUBA.
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    Mika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 11:47 AM
    Response to Reply #5
    6. It lends support to the theory that..
    Edited on Sat Jun-26-04 11:51 AM by Mika
    Both prez candidates endorsing empargoes and travel sanctions lends support to the theory that keeping the Cuba/Castro issue 'on the table' is a great magnet for campaign funding - on both sides of the issue. The closer "we the people" get to ending the sanctions (via our reps votes in both houses), the harder the full court press the Dems and repukes put on against our freedom, and Cuba's sovereignty.

    This time its Kerry's turn to pander to the ugliest elements of American politics - the Miamicuban extremist "exiles".

    Politicians on both sides of the issue will reap campaign funds on this issue, that's why there's nary a peep from the Dem party, despite the fact that they are not representing their constituants. For example, all you hear from all Dems seeking to replace Bob Graham is their embrace of the embargo on Cuba and travel sanctions on Americans in an all out effort to git tougher on Castro than the opponents


    Down with the lies!


    Mr Kerry, Tear down the wall!
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    Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 11:57 AM
    Response to Reply #6
    7. You're coming in loud and clear.
    Our more forward-thinking Congresscritturs have been thinking of their immediate constituents who most definitely favor losing the embargo and travel ban.

    At that level, a LOT of Democrats are involved, or have been, in making so many trips to Cuba and meeting people, from the "dissidents' to Fidel Castro, to the President of Alimport (importing food, etc.), Pedro Alvarez. Some prominent Republicans are making the trips regularly, themselves. Even Jesse Ventura went, on behalf of Minnesotan food producers.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Friday, June 25, 2004 · Last updated 10:44 p.m. PT

    Cubans brace for new U.S. restrictions

    By ANITA SNOW
    ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER



    A Cuban arrives from Miami Wednesday June 23,2004 at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba. According to the new US rules aimed at strangling Cuba's economy that take effect on June 30, travelers can carry no more than 44 pounds (a little less than 20 kilograms) in luggage and US$300 in cash, down from the previous US$3,000. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia)

    HAVANA -- Pedro Manuel Camos' firstborn was a babe in arms when the boy's grandparents met him last year during a trip back to their native Cuba from their adopted home of Florida.

    But under U.S. rules taking effect Wednesday, the grandparents likely won't see little Pedro Alejandro again until he is a walking, talking 3-year-old. The rules say Cubans in the United States can visit family here just once every three years, rather than the previous once annually.

    Aimed at strangling Cuba's communist economy and forcing out President Fidel Castro, the rules also cut the amount of cash visiting Cubans can bring to $300 from $3,000 and restrict them to bringing 44 pounds of luggage.

    In addition, the measures say cash can now be sent from the United States only to immediate family in Cuba, ruling out aunts, uncles, cousins and others not considered immediate family.The rules on visits are retroactive, beginning the three-year count from a Cuban-American's most recent trip to Cuba.
    (snip)
    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/aplatin_story.asp?category=1102&slug=Cracking%20Down%20on%20Cuba

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    Judi Lynn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 01:11 PM
    Response to Original message
    8. Donors protest policy on Cuba
    Edited on Sat Jun-26-04 01:12 PM by JudiLyn
    Donors protest policy on Cuba

    Rhode Island residents donate medical supplies and other items for residents of Cuba.


    01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 23, 2004


    BY TATIANA PINA
    Journal Staff Writer



    PROVIDENCE -- Let Cuba live. Lift the blockade.

    That's what the sign said on the school bus that rolled into Providence yesterday afternoon to pick up goods that Rhode Island residents donated for people in Cuba.The bus was filled with medical supplies, bikes, sewing machines and other items. It is one of about 100 vehicles that are traveling through the United States collecting items that will be shipped to Cuba as part of the 15th Pastors for Peace/Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization Caravan for Peace.
    The bus stopped at the Cuban Revolution Restaurant on Washington Street, owned by Mary and Ed Morabito, who plans to run as an independent for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by James Langevin. At the restaurant, organizers, participants and supporters ate Cuban sandwiches, rice and bean rollups and yuca while they talked about the trip and the reasons they were going to Cuba.
    (snip)

    At a time when the Bush administration has clamped down on U.S. travel to Cuba, the group was defiant and determined to deliver the donations to people they said had been squeezed economically for decades by the United States' embargo on the Communist island nation.

    Jeanne DiPretoro, who lives in the Mount Pleasant section of Providence, will drive a donated van that will take donations from Rhode Island to Tampico, Mexico. From there, the goods will be shipped to Cuba.DiPretoro's eyes welled with tears as she talked about the trip and the donations.The owner of a mattress factory in Fall River gave an industrial-strength sewing machine for making mattresses and remnants, she said.

    Then there was the donor in Chepachet, DiPretoro said. "Here is a woman on Social Security who took out the little money she had because she wanted to give us a sewing machine to bring," she said. A surgeon gave her $100,000 worth of surgical tools, she said."I knew if the American people knew what was going on, they would not abide it," she said. "Viva Cuba, but thank you Rhode Island."
    (snip)

    "It's a gesture of defiance. Rather than using economic strangulation, we think a dialogue is better. As we learn more about the people, we learn more about their indomitable spirit," she said.Bernstein described Bush's policy toward Cuba as a "regime change." She said that the administration is about to start implementing the recommendations of a report called the Presidential Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, which entails spending $36 million to try to organize an opposition movement inside Cuba with special attention to dissident groups, women, youth, the religious sector and Afro- Cubans.
    (snip/...)

    http://www.projo.com/metro/content/projo_20040623_pcuba23.25ef5e.html
    (Free registration required)
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    pfitz59 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 02:24 PM
    Response to Original message
    9. My wife is an EU citizen...
    She can go to Cuba whenever she likes. Her sister goes every winter. Bush blathers about freedom, then pulls shit like this. Life is an illusion here in these Fascist States of Amerika!
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    Mika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-26-04 03:41 PM
    Response to Reply #9
    10. If your wife is a resident alien in the US then travel to Cuba is banned
    The US travel ban is for all citizens and resident aliens (with the exception of Cuban descendants). If your wife is traveling to Cuba from the USA while residing in the US without a special permit then she is in violation of US law.
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