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Posts Tagged ‘embargo’

U.S. Senators Want to Let You Travel to Cuba

10:16 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Cuba|Lifestyle|Politics|travel · 1 Comment

2 Apr 2009

visit-cuba-print-c100197302 While President Obama might not be ready to end the Cuban embargo, a bi-partisan group of U.S. Senators are on a crusade to lift the ban on U.S. travelers to the island.

“I think there’s sufficient votes in both the House (of Representatives) and the Senate to finally get it passed,” Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan said at a news conference.

Dorgan, whose home state of North Dakota could benefit from increased agricultural sales to Cuba, introduced the bill along with fellow Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd and Republican Senators Richard Lugar and Mike Enzi. Seventeen other senators also are sponsoring the measure. A companion bill introduced in the House earlier this year has 121 co-sponsors.

On Senate Republican in particular, Cuban American Senator Mel Martinez, says this is all wrong, as it will provide the Castro regime with a “resource windfall”.

Personally, I am not buying that. Years of isolation has made the Castro regime stronger, and tourism isn’t going to make a difference either way. Cuba is already overloaded with tourists from all over the world, and a few more coming by way of Miami International Airport isn’t going to drastically change anything.

Anyway, Americans have been traveling to Cuba illegally for ages. I’m more concerned about the U.S. making some kind of colonial move on the island, though that was more of a threat during our plumb loco previous administration.

At least one Republican Representative is for ending the travel ban; Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona makes his case for an end to the embargo in a video after the jump. Read more…

Did Arnie smoke a Cuban?

7 Jun 2007

In what may be the dumbest controversy in a long time, rumors are swirling about that Arnold Schwarznegger (also known as the governor of my state) smoked himself a Cuban stogie on a recent trip to Canada. And that is, of course, illegal.

The celebrity governor known for his love of premium cigars was headed to the Ottawa airport Wednesday when his motorcade made a detour to a hotel. There, Schwarzenegger picked up a Cuban Partagas cigar in a shop, with the $14.83 bill paid by an aide traveling with him, the Ottawa Citizen newspaper reported.

Under trade restrictions, U.S. citizens are prohibited from buying Cuban cigars anywhere in the world.

Oliver Stone fined for violating Cuba “embargo”

12:07 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Cuba|Politics · Comments Off

13 Dec 2006

Legendary filmmaker Oliver Stone has been fined $6322 for negotiating goods and/or services with the Cuban government and/or Cuban citizens during the filming of his documentary Looking for Fidel:

The penalty includes IXTLAN Corporation, Stone’s production company, and members of the crew that worked on “Looking for Fidel”, which premiered on HBO in 2004, reports El Nuevo Herald, citing sources “familiar with the case”.

The fine was imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the Department of Treasury, which informed that IXTLAN Corporation has arrived at an agreement to pay the sanction for “violations which occurred during the making of the documentary, between February 2002 and May 2003.”

According to 20 Minutos, OFAC fined Americans violating trade laws with Cuba over $250,000 last year.

Via / 20 Minutos

U.S. Embargo costs Cuba 4 billion

4:53 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Cuba|Money|Politics · 1 Comment

2 Oct 2006

According to AP, Cuba is recognizing that the U.S. embargo of the island has cost the nation over 4 billion dollars over the last year.

Cuba’s losses increased from July 2005 to July of this year because the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has steadily tightened the embargo at the same time Cuba’s economy is growing and spending more money abroad, Vice Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told a news conference.

He cited tougher U.S. scrutiny of Cuban nickel exports and of Cuban use of dollars in international transactions. The government claimed a loss of US$2.8 billion for the mid-2004-2005 period.

The Cuban foreign minister calls the embargo “a policy which causes suffering”.

In addition to lost trade revenue, Cuba is also missing out on the potential boon of U.S. tourism to the island. Visits made by Cuban-Americans also fell this year by half, from 200,000 to roughly 100,000.

According to the Cuban government, the island has lost over 86 billion dollars in trade revenue since the embargo was first imposed in 1960.

Via / International Herald Tribune

Cuban American filmmaker defies U.S. embargo

5:06 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Cuba|Movies · Comments Off

5 Jun 2006

The U.S. embargo of Cuba hasn’t worked, according to Cuban American filmmaker Luis Moro. And while for the most part Americans aren’t allowed to set foot on the island, Moro went to Cuba to make a movie precisely on this premise.

Now he’s being investigated by the U.S. government and fined:

The film, linked as it is to Moro’s personal crusade against the U.S. embargo, led U.S. officials to investigate Moro for possible violation of U.S. laws that make it almost impossible for most Americans to legally visit communist Cuba.

If officials act against him, Moro says he will refuse to pay any fines, even if it means jail time.

“It’s a farce — the embargo has not worked, and it is not going to work,” Moro said of the policy imposed since the early 1960s. “I’m committed to fighting this to the end.”

Moro, who left Cuba with his mother at the age of 5, says his campaign doesn’t mean he favors the Cuban government or its leader
Fidel Castro.

“I’m not pro-Castro. I’m anti-embargo,” he said by telephone from Los Angeles.

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