Cuba Libre: Is travel to Cuba easing for some or all Americans?

by Brenda Yun on

[This slogan, the first one I spotted in central Havana, reads, “Revolution is: not to lie — ever — or violate ethical principles.” Is there room for compromise between the U.S. and Cuba? Only time will tell.]

On the heels of my own journey to Cuba, news has hit the fan with regard to lifting travel restrictions for Americans to Cuba. The latest news from Washington: Cuban-Americans are now allowed to travel back to their native island freely. This freer policy is designed to allow open communication between local Cubans and their relatives living in the U.S.. Therefore, in addition to freer travel, the U.S. is now allowing telecommunications companies to procure licenses in Cuba so that relatives can keep in touch.

For the rest of us Americans who are interested in traveling to Cuba as tourists, the embargo is still very much in effect: you can travel there (through Mexico or Canada), but you can’t spend money in Cuba. That is the biggest and longest-standing (50 years, to be exact) conundrum that likely still exists in the 21st century, but it basically means that Americans cannot yet travel to Cuba as tourists. They can, however, apply for a license to travel to Cuba for educational purposes or on business through the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The formal announcement of this slight (but not full) amendment to travel restrictions comes just days before Obama’s attendance at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, where the antiquated U.S.-Cuba trade embargo will certainly be a hot topic. Most Latin American countries want to see a normalized relationship forged between Obama and Cuba’s relatively new leader, Raúl Castro (Fidel’s brother). Since assuming the official role as Cuba’s President, Raúl Castro has already implemented his own freer policies such as cell phone use and television and DVD access, but most Cubans still cannot afford such luxuries.

I will be writing “Cuba Libre” posts for the remainder of the week, covering destination information and general observations and experiences from my recent trip to Cuba, so please stay tuned for more updates and travel information.

For a complete listing of my Cuba Libre posts, please click HERE.

[via The New York Times and Time.com]

Cuba door cracks slightly

by Tom Johansmeyer on

President Barack Obama has announced that restrictions on travel to Cuba are about to become looser. But, it’s not time for cigar smokers across the United States begin to rejoice yet. So far, the measure will only allow Cuban-Americans with family on the island to visit, and Obama has stated that he supports the embargo.

The change in travel restrictions is part of a $410 billion spending bill approved by the Senate late Tuesday. It had already passed the House of Representatives and was signed by the president yesterday. The new law permits annual travel (rather than once every three years, under the Bush Administration‘s program) and increases a visitor’s allowable daily spend from $50 a day to $179 a day.

This is a small move, but by virtue of its involving Cuba, it becomes substantial. Bringing families back together, at least once a year, is a step in some right direction, whatever it may be.

Clinton in the Cabinet: What this means for Cuba

by Brenda Yun on

While most of America seems awfully and overly excited about Hillary Clinton’s appointment as Obama’s Secretary of State, I think there is more to be nervous about. In particular, the implications Clinton’s new role will have on our relations with Cuba is as uncertain as what Washington’s relations have been with Cuba for the past forty years. While Obama has been open to ending the embargo that exists between the two countries and even shutting down Gitmo, Clinton has opposed change to this longstanding policy and has sided with Bush and McCain on how we should proceed with regard to Cuba and Castro’s communist regime.

The recent flurry of news coming from Cuba tells us that change will come, as Obama prophesied during his Presidential campaign. Despite a ban on American tourism in Cuba, the cigar country is doing far better than its Caribbean neighbors with regard to visitors – especially visitors from Russia and Canada.Then there’s the sudden “confessions” coming from the detained 9/11 prisoners at Gitmo, hoping for a final, martyr-like curtain call. And, of course, as I had mentioned in another article, there are rumors of a Castro-Obama peace talk that could end a near half-century standstill between the two countries with regard to tourism and trade.

Finally, where and how Clinton will fit into this picture come January is a perplexing question. My guess is that Clinton, despite her disagreements with Obama on Cuba, will follow her boss’s lead and try to usher in change, as Obama certainly expressed a need for in an op-ed article that he wrote in the Miami Herald back in August.

Cuba is an increasingly interesting place in the world right now. Fidel Castro has fought a long battle with America, and he pretty much single-handedly fended of the most powerful nation for nearly fifty years. I imagine, if and when Cuba’s doors open – which could be as soon as next year, that Castro’s country will be a much different place. Whether that is for better or for worse will be a fascinating thing to witness.

U.K. Travel Insurer: Cuba as Dangerous as Afghanistan

by Josh Lew on

U.K travel insurance company Direct Travel Insurance Services has a blacklist. If a traveler is headed to Sudan or Afghanistan, they will need to seek their insurance elsewhere. But Cuba?

That’s right, Cuba. The insurer will not cover British travelers headed to Cuba. Perhaps someone in the company thinks that it is still the 1950s. Or perhaps someone in the company was robbed during a recent vacation in Havana. But that’s unlikely. Cuba is, arguably, one of the safest destinations in the entire Caribbean. Crime is virtually not-existent. It is much more dangerous to vacation on more popular islands like Jamaica.

But there is a more probable reason that English travelers are not able to get coverage for Cuba: AIG. The American firm took over Direct Travel Insurance Services and has extended its practices of not insuring Americans in Cuba to its new British customers.

Because of an archaic trade embargo, US citizens are not allowed to visit Cuba. thus AIG does not cover them. But there is no such law in England. Luckily for UK residents, there are many other travel insurers willing to cover tourists on their trip to Cuba.

[Via Havana Journal]