On or Off Cuba Ping.
Posted on 09/28/2005 7:43:35 PM PDT by freedom44
HAVANA Sep 28, 2005 — The number of Americans traveling to Cuba has fallen dramatically since 2003, and those who do visit the island without their government's permission are more likely to be fined, Cuba said as it lashed out against a decades-old U.S. embargo.
Vice Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla lamented the effects of the embargo, which has been steadily strengthened under President Bush and prohibits virtually all trade between the two countries except for the sale of some U.S. food and medicine to the communist-run island.
"We are talking about an economic war against our country," Rodriguez said Tuesday. "It is unfounded, unfair, and, moreover, deeply illegal."
U.S. officials defend the embargo, saying unfettered trade and travel to the island would prop up Fidel Castro's government. The imprisonment of dissidents and restrictions on economic and political freedoms justify the policy, aimed at forcing a change in Cuba's leadership, they say.
A Cuban report released ahead of an upcoming vote on the embargo at the United Nations said 57,145 Cuban-Americans visited their native country last year, compared with 115,050 in 2003 a 50 percent drop.
For other Americans, the number of visits fell from 85,809 in 2003 to 51,027 last year, the report said. The numbers continued to decrease in 2005, it said.
At the same time, those who defy U.S. travel restrictions are more likely to be fined under Bush's government, according to the report.
In the first quarter of 2005, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control fined 307 Americans for unauthorized travel to Cuba almost as many as the 316 people fined all of last year, the report said.
The typical fine for first-time offenders who travel to Cuba is $7,500 each, the Treasury Department office said.
President John F. Kennedy imposed economic sanctions against Cuba in 1963 during the Cold War with the aim of isolating the Cuban government economically and depriving it of U.S. dollars. Forty years later, President Bush has sought more stringent enforcement of provisions forbidding most travel here.
On or Off Cuba Ping.
Moreover, if communism had ever worked, no "economic war" against it would have any effect.
Funny when you consider Castro and his Communist goons never admit to their decades long domestic war upon the Cuban people and their freedom.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Would Komrade Rodriguez prefer another type of war? You know, the kind where we bomb the living HELL out of the target?
What more to want???
There is a simple solution to this conundrum. Get rid of Castro.
Why even bother going? The only reason to visit is to see what the world was like in the '50s.
I would love to visit Cuba. But only after Castro passes on. There are rumors that when the old man dies his son may move quickly to rebuild the bridges with the U.S. I have a particular fondness for Cuban jazz. Would love to take a peek at the island. Oh, well . . .
I didn't realize that many people went to Cuba to begin with. If I'd left Cuba, I'd be afraid to go back and visit family. And who are the "others" that go - besides Dan Rather and Les Moonves?
Steven Speilberg.
52 Chevies, great music, wonderful food, vacant beaches, cigars. I would retire there if I could strike a deal with Fidel to just let me drink, smoke 'gars and sit in the sun.
Cuba is not isolated from us, despite our lack of trade. It's 90 miles from us and thousands of very vocal Cuban exiles are in Florida. Different political landscapes.
Just go to New Orleans now. Same thing.
It keeps the Miami Cubans happy.
I'm sure it's a great place - or it would be if not for Castro. But who is going and how do they get in? Private yachts and planes? I'm sure you can't just show up in the harbor.
"I didn't realize that many people went to Cuba to begin with. If I'd left Cuba, I'd be afraid to go back and visit family. And who are the "others" that go - besides Dan Rather and Les Moonves?"
Medea Benjamin - famous Code Pinko wretch - sends groups to Cuba via her home-base org Global Exchange. Why are you not surprised?
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/cuba/ResearchDelegations.html
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/cuba/researchdelegations2.html
Current Research Delegations to Cuba
Global Exchange is currently facilitating licensed travel to U.S. Citizens that can qualify under the general license. We are also organizing delegations for internationally sponsored conferences. U.S. Citizens are able to travel to Cuba for conferences that relate to their field of work. Check bottom of page for details.
Cuban Medical System 11/6-11/13$2350
Architecture in Cuba 11/12-11/19$2350
Cuban Legal System 11/12-11/19$2350
Psychology Conference 12/2-12/9$2350
Cuban Education System 12/27-1/3$2350
Hey Cuba, getting hungry yet?
Like maybe some food or how about freedom?
Actually, you CAN just show up at the harbor in your boat. Marina Hemingway is a few miles west of Havana, and at anytime, you can see a number of US-flagged pleasure craft there. The Cubans welcome anyone with hard currency (read U S dollars).
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