Cuba Travel Ban

What freaken right does Bush have to say we can't travel to Cuba?

We should be allowed to travel to any country.

Bush probably cane out with that order to placate the goddam Cuban
exiles in Florida so the Florida vote will be in his favor come next
November.

john wrote:

What freaken right does Bush have to say we can't travel to Cuba?

You can travel there, you just can't spend any money.

We should be allowed to travel to any country.

The theory is that citizens of the US shouldn't be able to economically
support national "enemies."

Bush probably cane out with that order to placate the goddam Cuban
exiles in Florida so the Florida vote will be in his favor come next
November.

Probably.

What freaken right does Bush have to say we can't travel to Cuba?

You can travel there, you just can't spend any money.


I'm from the UK, so I'm not sure about the situation. Are you saying that
you can't change US Dollars to Cuban Currency??
If so, what is to stop you changing your money to say Euros first then on
arrival changing then to Cuban whatever's???

"freeda" wrote in -
berlin.de:


What freaken right does Bush have to say we can't travel to Cuba?

You can travel there, you just can't spend any money.


I'm from the UK, so I'm not sure about the situation. Are you saying that
you can't change US Dollars to Cuban Currency??
If so, what is to stop you changing your money to say Euros first then on
arrival changing then to Cuban whatever's???

Changing money is not the issue. If an US citizen goes to Cuba as a
tourist, obviously he/she must spend money there. This is considered giving
aid and comfort to the enemy.

This rule is a way to get around that pesky "Land of the Free" business---
technically you are free to go to Cuba, but you must be able to stay there
for free.

PS It is not true that this rule existed continuously since Kennedy---
Carter relaxed it during part of his term to allow individual visits.

freeda wrote:

You can travel there, you just can't spend any money.

I'm from the UK, so I'm not sure about the situation. Are you
saying that you can't change US Dollars to Cuban Currency??
If so, what is to stop you changing your money to say Euros first
then on arrival changing then to Cuban whatever's???

No, that's not what I was saying. US dollars are commonly used by
tourists in Cuba.

The law that people refer to comes under the US "Trading with the enemy"
Act. It prohibits US citizens or people under the jurisdiction of US
law, from spending spending money that might benefit countries like
Cuba, Libya, or North Korea. The list varies from time to time,
depending on who is defined as being part of the "Axis of Evil."

In effect, that means US citizens cannot casually travel to Cuba, since
they will have to pay for hotel rooms, meals, internal transportation,
gratuities, and so on. They are not even allowed to buy prepaid tours
from third countries like Canada or Mexico, since a portion of the tour
fee would go to Cuba.

Some people are allowed to travel to Cuba on cultural or educational
exchanges, as members of the media, if they have close relatives in the
country, or on diplomatic missions. They have to get a license from the
US Treasury department prior to going, and there are restrictions on how
much they can spend.

Under the rules, a person can also travel without a license if they
spend no money to benefit the country. That means you, presumably a
British subject, could pay the entire expenses of a US citizen for a
trip to Cuba, and that would be legal, as long as that person didn't
have to repay you in any way.

Relaxed does not mean eliminated. As has been posted here, some US citizens
can travel to CUBA with permission of the government. That has always been
the case even after the tight restrictions of the early 60s.



"Chuckles" wrote in message
s.com...
"freeda" wrote in -
berlin.de:


What freaken right does Bush have to say we can't travel to Cuba?

You can travel there, you just can't spend any money.


I'm from the UK, so I'm not sure about the situation. Are you saying
that
you can't change US Dollars to Cuban Currency??
If so, what is to stop you changing your money to say Euros first then
on
arrival changing then to Cuban whatever's???

Changing money is not the issue. If an US citizen goes to Cuba as a
tourist, obviously he/she must spend money there. This is considered
giving
aid and comfort to the enemy.

This rule is a way to get around that pesky "Land of the Free" business---
technically you are free to go to Cuba, but you must be able to stay there
for free.

PS It is not true that this rule existed continuously since Kennedy---
Carter relaxed it during part of his term to allow individual visits.

You can travel there, you just can't spend any money.

I'm from the UK, so I'm not sure about the situation. Are you
saying that you can't change US Dollars to Cuban Currency??
If so, what is to stop you changing your money to say Euros first
then on arrival changing then to Cuban whatever's???

No, that's not what I was saying. US dollars are commonly used by
tourists in Cuba.

The law that people refer to comes under the US "Trading with the enemy"
Act. It prohibits US citizens or people under the jurisdiction of US
law, from spending spending money that might benefit countries like
Cuba, Libya, or North Korea. The list varies from time to time,
depending on who is defined as being part of the "Axis of Evil."

In effect, that means US citizens cannot casually travel to Cuba, since
they will have to pay for hotel rooms, meals, internal transportation,
gratuities, and so on. They are not even allowed to buy prepaid tours
from third countries like Canada or Mexico, since a portion of the tour
fee would go to Cuba.

Some people are allowed to travel to Cuba on cultural or educational
exchanges, as members of the media, if they have close relatives in the
country, or on diplomatic missions. They have to get a license from the
US Treasury department prior to going, and there are restrictions on how
much they can spend.

Under the rules, a person can also travel without a license if they
spend no money to benefit the country. That means you, presumably a
British subject, could pay the entire expenses of a US citizen for a
trip to Cuba, and that would be legal, as long as that person didn't
have to repay you in any way.

How are these laws enforced? Does Cuba object to US citizens visiting their
country? Surely then you could fly to Mexico, then on to Cuba?

john wrote:

What freaken right does Bush have to say we can't travel to Cuba?

Same right as the old Soviet era governments who decided who could be allowed
out of their countries and where they were allowed to go. When you have a
regime that declares a state of "war" and keeps the population in such a state
for years in order to give the regime greater powers and less interference by
opposition political parties, that is what you get.

What I find despicable is that a small group of activists in Florida could
have such a large influence on a country's international policies, to the
point of removing the freedom to travel outside that country's jurisdiction.

Now, to all americans who say those are exagerations: This is exactly what
happened during soviet era. People inside the soviet union saw government
propaganda that justified those measures, while people outside the Soviet
Union saw human rights violations.

Replace "Soviet Union" with "United States of America" in the above paragraph.

James Robinson wrote:
The law that people refer to comes under the US "Trading with the enemy"
Act.


When the Soviet Union disbanded (and abandonned Cuba), the USA had no problems
considering former "enemies" as new allies (Poland, Hungary and other former
Soviet era countries).

Unless Cuba still has nuclear missiles aimed at Washington, I frankly do not
see why Cuba would still be considered an "enemy".

Bush Jr may dislike Canada's prime minister to the point of canceling visits
to Canada, but Canada is not considered an "enemy". Bush Jr may dislike France
to the point of forcing restaurants to stop using "French Fries", but he
didn't prevent americans from visiting Paris.

Seems to me that the USA is unable to live without some enemy, and Cuba is
just the convenient easy scapegoat they keep for occasions when the media
tires of the other enemies.

It is really pathetic how no US president has enough intelligence and
leadership to declare the cold war over and stop considering Cuba as an ennemy.

noname wrote:
Relaxed does not mean eliminated. As has been posted here, some US citizens
can travel to CUBA with permission of the government. That has always been
the case even after the tight restrictions of the early 60s.

And in the 60s, 70s and 80s, some Russians citizens could travel to the USA
with permission of the government.