EEUU y Cuba hablarán de negocios, en La Habana
EFE
02/28/2015 4:25 PM 02/28/2015 4:50 PM
LA HABANA
Funcionarios de los Departamentos de Estado, Comercio y Tesoro de EE.UU.
viajarán a Cuba "próximamente" para reunirse con representantes de
ministerios y bancos como parte de los intercambios que sostendrán ambos
países en las siguientes semanas, informó el Gobierno de la isla.
"Entre las visitas que nosotros debemos recibir próximamente en Cuba
está una de los Departamentos de Estado, de Comercio y del Tesoro, para
que puedan reunirse no sólo con el Minrex (ministerio de Relaciones
Exteriores), sino con otros ministerios en Cuba, con los bancos
cubanos", indicó Josefina Vidal, directora general para EEUU del Minrex,
en declaraciones a medios cubanos publicadas el sábado.
El viaje de esos funcionarios estadounidenses se enmarcará en las
reuniones técnicas e intercambios de amplia gama que tendrán lugar en
las próximas semanas y que fueron anunciados ayer en Washington por los
Gobiernos de Cuba y EEUU al término de la segunda ronda de negociaciones
para restablecer las relaciones bilaterales.
Según informaron ambas delegaciones, que por la parte cubana encabeza
Vidal y por el lado estadounidense lo hace la secretaria de Estado
adjunta para América Latina, Roberta Jacobson, se llevarán a cabo
encuentros en marzo sobre trata de personas, aviación civil, derechos
humanos y telecomunicaciones.
En un aparte con medios cubanos en Washington, Vidal explicó que en
específico el viaje de esos funcionarios a La Habana, cuya fecha no
definió, responde a que las instituciones cubanas "necesitan más
detalle, más información, más claridad, sobre las regulaciones" que EEUU
publicó en enero para levantar parcialmente las sanciones del bloqueo
económico que aplica a la isla.
Entre esas medidas se incluyen nuevas flexibilizaciones en los viajes de
norteamericanos a Cuba y el levantamiento de sanciones para la
exportación a la isla de equipos de telecomunicaciones, informáticos y
telefonía móvil, entre otras.
Vidal añadió que Cuba necesita conocer "cuál es su real alcance y qué se
puede hacer con vista a llevar a vías de hecho algún tipo de negocio o
de operación concreta".
"Me parece que es una visita importante, porque hay dudas, hay preguntas
(…) hemos hecho un intento a través de nuestros abogados de tener este
tipo de clarificación, pero nada mejor que el contacto directo entre
esas personas que estuvieron encargadas de redactar las regulaciones y
las personas que en Cuba tentativamente estarían involucradas en la
concreción de esas operaciones", sostuvo.
Source: EEUU y Cuba hablarán de negocios, en La Habana | El Nuevo Herald
El Nuevo Herald -
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/cuba-es/article11530859.html
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Junto a la libertad, la justicia
Junto a la libertad, la justicia
El castrismo ha cometido crímenes contra la libertad, contra la cultura,
contra las esperanzas de un pueblo, contra los sueños de una sociedad.
sábado, febrero 28, 2015 | Vicente P. Escobal
MIAMI, Florida -¿Existe alguna exageración o parcialidad ideológica al
afirmar que el régimen castrista superó todos los errores cometidos
durante las primeras décadas después de la formación de la República de
Cuba?
Un repaso retrospectivo de nuestra historia más reciente nos impone a
todos una conclusión sobrecogedora: el castrismo ha sido una catástrofe
para los cubanos. Fraccionó a la familia bajo absurdos postulados
ideológicos, destruyó las bases de una economía frágil e imperfecta pero
en vías de alcanzar su plena solidez, convirtió al ciudadano en una
diminuta pieza dentro del engranaje totalitario de forma tal que
experimentara la más absoluta indefensión ante las arbitrariedades,
entregó el país a una ideología absurda rechazada por la razón y la
historia, liquidó el sentido de constitucionalidad y legalidad, y
concedió a los cuerpos represivos el poder absoluto al eliminar todo
vestigio de legitimidad jurídica y equidad.
El régimen castrista se inserta en una parte del tiempo histórico
nacional desbordante de tragedias. Constituye, incluso, uno de sus
momentos más dramáticos y sombríos. El castrismo, ese fenómeno
destructor del aparentemente breve siglo XX, comenzó en 1959 y se ha
prolongado por más de medio siglo. Se trata de un régimen inspirado en
dogmas aparecidos en el escenario internacional mucho antes que el
fascismo y el nazismo y que alcanzó prácticamente todos los continentes.
¿Qué es lo que clasificamos justamente bajo la categoría de castrismo?
La categoría de castrismo no es, examinada con rigor, una tesis
filosófica, ni una ideología, ni un modelo económico. Es un dogma
totalitario que puso a funcionar una gigantesca maquinaria
propagandística e implacable hasta llegar a erigir el terror y la
represión como una forma de gobierno.
Algunos idealistas podrían argumentar que el castrismo no tiene nada que
ver con el comunismo, pero la historia desmiente categóricamente
semejante argumento. La Unión Soviética y el resto de los países de
Europa sometidos al estalinismo aún conservan las huellas de aquel
experimento. El recuerdo del terror sigue gravitando sobre millones de
seres humanos.
En Cuba aún no se han desclasificado los archivos, pero ahí están los
testimonios de las víctimas. Testimonios que muestran que el terror ha
sido desde su ascenso el poder la dimensión natural y primordial del
castrismo. Y son esos testimonios los encargados de verificar la esencia
criminal de ese régimen
El castrismo ha cometido crímenes de todo tipo: crímenes contra el
derecho, contra la libertad, contra la cultura, contra la fe, contra la
vida, contra las esperanzas de un pueblo, contra los sueños de una sociedad.
El castrismo cercenó las ideas de los fundadores de la República de
Cuba. No es difícil distinguir entre los ideales de aquellos ilustres
patriotas y las acciones de estos aberrados sinvergüenzas.
Paraliza el corazón la forma fría y calculada de los crímenes cometidos
por el castrismo y no existe la más mínima justificación para ellos. Se
ha pretendido su excusa a través de insólitos argumentos, sobre todo
cuando se presenta a
Cuba como una víctima de la agresividad estadounidense. Pero esa
agresividad no ha llegado desde el vecino norteño: la ha promovido y
ejercido el castrismo. La propaganda castrista – como una forma de
esquivar su responsabilidad – se refiere insistentemente a los
cuantiosos daños humanos y materiales derivados del embargo y a
hipotéticas acciones terroristas ejecutadas por miembros del exilio cubano.
Los muertos como consecuencia de la irresponsable y aventurera
intervención castristas en numerosos países, los asesinados frente a los
pelotones de fusilamiento y los desaparecidos en el mar no aparecen en
las estadísticas ni tampoco los nombres de las víctimas del terrorismo
practicado por elementos del Movimiento 26 de Julio en la etapa
comprendida entre 1952 y 1958.
¿Cómo justificar los pueblos cautivos, las deportaciones masivas, los
juicios sumarísimos, los campos de trabajo forzado, las redadas
policiacas contra los homosexuales, la censura en los medios, la
"parametración" a la que han sido sometidos muchos intelectuales
cubanos, la discriminación racial e ideológica, la ilegitima
exclusividad política del Partido Comunista, las golpizas a los
defensores de los derechos humanos? Serian interminables las
interrogantes sobre los crímenes del castrismo.
La responsabilidad por esos crímenes lleva aparejada también la
responsabilidad por la complicidad. El más criminal de los sistemas
necesita cómplices para su continuidad. Muchos cubanos, impulsados tal
vez por la propaganda castrista, por iniquidades éticas y morales o por
la preservación de algún cuestionable privilegio tendrán que responder
cuando la justicia se reinstale en Cuba. Muchos alegarán que lo hicieron
movidos por el miedo, tal vez obligados por las circunstancias o porque
no estaban debidamente informados. ¿Podría créeseles?
Cuando se juzgue a los represores, a los despiadados agentes de la
Seguridad del Estado y a los depredadores del patrimonio moral de la
nación cubana, ¿cómo quedará la responsabilidad de sus cómplices?, ¿cómo
quedarán ante las futuras generaciones de cubanos los integrantes de
esas turbas miserables que hoy lanzan insultos y piedras?, ¿cómo
quedarán los organizadores y dirigentes de las Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida?
Nadie desea que por las calles cubanas corran ríos de sangre ni que los
cuerpos de los verdugos cuelguen en los árboles. Nadie juzgará al cubano
que no se rebeló contra los abusos y los atropellos. Nadie censurará al
indiferente ni calificará de cómplice al que alguna vez llevó en su
cuello infantil la pañoleta de pionero. Nadie invalidará al obrero que
sustrajo de su centro de trabajo un poco de comida para alimentar a su
hijo ni condenará a la mujer que se prostituyó para mantener a su familia.
Lo que se juzgará será la complicidad intelectual y material, incluso la
de muchos que hoy viven entre nosotros. Serán juzgados por traidores a
la Patria porque jamás aceptaremos la existencia de un conflicto entre
la ideología y la ética, entre la política y la moral.
La complicidad de los traidores fue totalmente consciente y voluntaria.
Sus motivaciones fueron marcadamente criminales. No quebrantaron ningún
código porque el régimen castrista es intrínsecamente ilegítimo y en él
solamente impera la ley de la selva.
Ha llegado el momento de las definiciones, el momento de dejar a un lado
las ambigüedades y las justificaciones. Queremos libertad y junto a ella
la justicia
Source: Junto a la libertad, la justicia | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/colaboradores/junto-a-la-libertad-la-justicia-2/
El castrismo ha cometido crímenes contra la libertad, contra la cultura,
contra las esperanzas de un pueblo, contra los sueños de una sociedad.
sábado, febrero 28, 2015 | Vicente P. Escobal
MIAMI, Florida -¿Existe alguna exageración o parcialidad ideológica al
afirmar que el régimen castrista superó todos los errores cometidos
durante las primeras décadas después de la formación de la República de
Cuba?
Un repaso retrospectivo de nuestra historia más reciente nos impone a
todos una conclusión sobrecogedora: el castrismo ha sido una catástrofe
para los cubanos. Fraccionó a la familia bajo absurdos postulados
ideológicos, destruyó las bases de una economía frágil e imperfecta pero
en vías de alcanzar su plena solidez, convirtió al ciudadano en una
diminuta pieza dentro del engranaje totalitario de forma tal que
experimentara la más absoluta indefensión ante las arbitrariedades,
entregó el país a una ideología absurda rechazada por la razón y la
historia, liquidó el sentido de constitucionalidad y legalidad, y
concedió a los cuerpos represivos el poder absoluto al eliminar todo
vestigio de legitimidad jurídica y equidad.
El régimen castrista se inserta en una parte del tiempo histórico
nacional desbordante de tragedias. Constituye, incluso, uno de sus
momentos más dramáticos y sombríos. El castrismo, ese fenómeno
destructor del aparentemente breve siglo XX, comenzó en 1959 y se ha
prolongado por más de medio siglo. Se trata de un régimen inspirado en
dogmas aparecidos en el escenario internacional mucho antes que el
fascismo y el nazismo y que alcanzó prácticamente todos los continentes.
¿Qué es lo que clasificamos justamente bajo la categoría de castrismo?
La categoría de castrismo no es, examinada con rigor, una tesis
filosófica, ni una ideología, ni un modelo económico. Es un dogma
totalitario que puso a funcionar una gigantesca maquinaria
propagandística e implacable hasta llegar a erigir el terror y la
represión como una forma de gobierno.
Algunos idealistas podrían argumentar que el castrismo no tiene nada que
ver con el comunismo, pero la historia desmiente categóricamente
semejante argumento. La Unión Soviética y el resto de los países de
Europa sometidos al estalinismo aún conservan las huellas de aquel
experimento. El recuerdo del terror sigue gravitando sobre millones de
seres humanos.
En Cuba aún no se han desclasificado los archivos, pero ahí están los
testimonios de las víctimas. Testimonios que muestran que el terror ha
sido desde su ascenso el poder la dimensión natural y primordial del
castrismo. Y son esos testimonios los encargados de verificar la esencia
criminal de ese régimen
El castrismo ha cometido crímenes de todo tipo: crímenes contra el
derecho, contra la libertad, contra la cultura, contra la fe, contra la
vida, contra las esperanzas de un pueblo, contra los sueños de una sociedad.
El castrismo cercenó las ideas de los fundadores de la República de
Cuba. No es difícil distinguir entre los ideales de aquellos ilustres
patriotas y las acciones de estos aberrados sinvergüenzas.
Paraliza el corazón la forma fría y calculada de los crímenes cometidos
por el castrismo y no existe la más mínima justificación para ellos. Se
ha pretendido su excusa a través de insólitos argumentos, sobre todo
cuando se presenta a
Cuba como una víctima de la agresividad estadounidense. Pero esa
agresividad no ha llegado desde el vecino norteño: la ha promovido y
ejercido el castrismo. La propaganda castrista – como una forma de
esquivar su responsabilidad – se refiere insistentemente a los
cuantiosos daños humanos y materiales derivados del embargo y a
hipotéticas acciones terroristas ejecutadas por miembros del exilio cubano.
Los muertos como consecuencia de la irresponsable y aventurera
intervención castristas en numerosos países, los asesinados frente a los
pelotones de fusilamiento y los desaparecidos en el mar no aparecen en
las estadísticas ni tampoco los nombres de las víctimas del terrorismo
practicado por elementos del Movimiento 26 de Julio en la etapa
comprendida entre 1952 y 1958.
¿Cómo justificar los pueblos cautivos, las deportaciones masivas, los
juicios sumarísimos, los campos de trabajo forzado, las redadas
policiacas contra los homosexuales, la censura en los medios, la
"parametración" a la que han sido sometidos muchos intelectuales
cubanos, la discriminación racial e ideológica, la ilegitima
exclusividad política del Partido Comunista, las golpizas a los
defensores de los derechos humanos? Serian interminables las
interrogantes sobre los crímenes del castrismo.
La responsabilidad por esos crímenes lleva aparejada también la
responsabilidad por la complicidad. El más criminal de los sistemas
necesita cómplices para su continuidad. Muchos cubanos, impulsados tal
vez por la propaganda castrista, por iniquidades éticas y morales o por
la preservación de algún cuestionable privilegio tendrán que responder
cuando la justicia se reinstale en Cuba. Muchos alegarán que lo hicieron
movidos por el miedo, tal vez obligados por las circunstancias o porque
no estaban debidamente informados. ¿Podría créeseles?
Cuando se juzgue a los represores, a los despiadados agentes de la
Seguridad del Estado y a los depredadores del patrimonio moral de la
nación cubana, ¿cómo quedará la responsabilidad de sus cómplices?, ¿cómo
quedarán ante las futuras generaciones de cubanos los integrantes de
esas turbas miserables que hoy lanzan insultos y piedras?, ¿cómo
quedarán los organizadores y dirigentes de las Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida?
Nadie desea que por las calles cubanas corran ríos de sangre ni que los
cuerpos de los verdugos cuelguen en los árboles. Nadie juzgará al cubano
que no se rebeló contra los abusos y los atropellos. Nadie censurará al
indiferente ni calificará de cómplice al que alguna vez llevó en su
cuello infantil la pañoleta de pionero. Nadie invalidará al obrero que
sustrajo de su centro de trabajo un poco de comida para alimentar a su
hijo ni condenará a la mujer que se prostituyó para mantener a su familia.
Lo que se juzgará será la complicidad intelectual y material, incluso la
de muchos que hoy viven entre nosotros. Serán juzgados por traidores a
la Patria porque jamás aceptaremos la existencia de un conflicto entre
la ideología y la ética, entre la política y la moral.
La complicidad de los traidores fue totalmente consciente y voluntaria.
Sus motivaciones fueron marcadamente criminales. No quebrantaron ningún
código porque el régimen castrista es intrínsecamente ilegítimo y en él
solamente impera la ley de la selva.
Ha llegado el momento de las definiciones, el momento de dejar a un lado
las ambigüedades y las justificaciones. Queremos libertad y junto a ella
la justicia
Source: Junto a la libertad, la justicia | Cubanet -
http://www.cubanet.org/colaboradores/junto-a-la-libertad-la-justicia-2/
NJ business look to Cuba for a market, find difficulties
NJ business look to Cuba for a market, find difficulties
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
* Telecom company, travel agency and tech-life science executives test
waters, but experts tamp down expectations
President Obama's actions late last year, beginning the process of
normalizing the United States' long-frozen relationship with Cuba, lit a
fire under some New Jersey business leaders eager to tap into a new market.
A Newark-based telecom company has already made a deal with Cuba's
telecom agency on long-distance phone service. A group of New Jersey
tech and life science executives, intrigued by the potential of Cuba's
educated population, will visit the island in April. And a North Jersey
travel agency with extensive experience planning trips to Cuba has seen
a dramatic increase in calls.
Yet experts say low income levels in Cuba, where the average worker
makes about $20 a month, the communist government's tight control of the
economy, and America's continuing, stringent trade embargo put the
island 90 miles from the U.S. coast a long way from becoming more than a
negligible part of the nation's or New Jersey's economy.
"This is just the first step," said Lawrence Diamond, a Newark attorney
who specializes in helping companies do business with Cuba. "This is not
something that's going to change in any great extent doing business with
Cuba. It's going to take time before American companies will be, on a
broad scale, able to do business in and with Cuba."
The possibility of closer business ties with Cuba is a sensitive issue
in New Jersey, home to the second-largest population of Cuban exiles —
after Florida — who have historically opposed better relations with Cuba
out of a belief that isolating the country would help spur the downfall
of former President Fidel Castro, and now his brother, President Raul
Castro.
That sentiment reaches the top political echelons — Sen. Bob Menendez is
a fierce critic of Obama's initiative. And it continues to divide the
Cuban community, said Carlos Medina, chairman of the Statewide Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, which met on Thursday night in
Lyndhurst to explore Cuban business possibilities.
"It's somewhat generational," said Medina, whose father and
mother-in-law are Cuban. "My mother-in-law is 82, and she still doesn't
want anybody to have any interaction with Cuba. And then you see more
folks in their 40s and 50s a little more open" and asking questions
about Obama's initiative, Medina said, adding, "Just the fact that they
are asking means they have some sort of desire. 'What can I do there? Is
it safe to invest?' "
Medina said he organized Thursday night's event after the chamber
received many member calls seeking information on what businesses could
and couldn't do in Cuba as a result of Obama's announcement.
Most of the changes are the result of executive orders announced by
Obama in December as the first step toward normalizing relations with
Cuba. Included were new regulations governing business and travel
between the U.S. and Cuba. Obama also said he would open an embassy in
Havana.
The overall effect was to limit, albeit in a modest way, the impact of
the 50-year-old embargo, which only Congress can remove.
Even with its limitations, Obama's action clearly allows more business
opportunities than in the past. Until the changes, U.S. laws allowed
American companies to do business in Cuba only in three areas that gave
humanitarian help to the country's population — pharmaceuticals,
agricultural products and health care devices, Diamond said.
According to the U.S. Treasury, the executive orders allow American
companies to create telecommunications links with Cuba, to travel and to
forge banking links with Cuban institutions, which will include allowing
the use of U.S.-issued credit cards in Cuba.
The orders also allow Americans to be involved in "certain
micro-financing projects and entrepreneurial and business training," and
the importing into the U.S. of "certain independent Cuban
entrepreneur-produced goods and services," the Treasury said.
IDT, the Newark-based telecom company, said it has reached an agreement
with Cuba's national telecom provider, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de
Cuba S.A., to exchange international long-distance voice traffic between
the United States and Cuba directly.
A statement by Bill Pereira, CEO of IDT Telecom, said the company had
been in contact with the Cuban agency for years, and then last year it
expressed a "desire to move forward on an agreement with us."
The agreement would allow IDT to route international long-distance calls
to Cuba directly into the Cuban provider's network, instead of a
third-party network, he said. The toughest part, he added, was
developing the relationship with the agency "to the point where they
were comfortable moving forward with us."
The deal fits IDT's business of providing prepaid and other call
services to first- and second-generation immigrants in the U.S., Pereira
said.
Perhaps the most lucrative area in the short term will be travel. Delta
Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways have
expressed interest in starting regular flights to Cuba, which now
receives only charter flights from the U.S. Since Obama's announcement,
Marazul Charters & Travel Agency in North Bergen, which has arranged
trips to Cuba since 1979, has been deluged with calls, said Robert
Guild, a company vice president.
The executive orders have dramatically reduced the amount of red tape
involved in traveling to Cuba, which previously required trip organizers
to give a detailed report on their itinerary before and after the trip.
The rules lifted the requirement that travelers obtain a license from
Treasury to visit the country, and only requires travelers to read, and
ensure that they meet, the requirements of one of 12 categories of
travelers' licenses allowed to go to Cuba, Guild said.
In the past, he said, it could take four to six months to get a license.
Now, "any organization can sponsor a trip," and no licenses are needed,
he said. Although Americans are still not allowed to visit Cuba solely
for tourism, travel to professional meetings and conferences, and to
complete "certain authorized export transactions" are allowed, according
to the Treasury rules.
"We already have requests from organizations through 2017, for hotel
space in Cuba," he said. The increased demand for travel to Cuba means
that Marazul, which has a headquarters in Miami and a workforce of 100,
of whom 20 are in New Jersey, expects to add at least 15 new employees
companywide, Guild said.
The trip by the tech and life science executives will be led by the New
Jersey Technology Council and is aimed at assessing opportunities for
hiring Cuban workers, said James Barrood, president of the NJTC, a
support and advocacy group for the tech industry.
"Cuba is one of the most-educated countries in the Western Hemisphere,"
said Barrood. "And there are a lot of smart people, especially in the
tech areas."
While workers there may not have state-of-the-art IT skills, Barrood
said, Cuba has a strong health industry, the country is well-known for
producing a large number of doctors, and the country's free education
system produces workers strong in math and science basics, who could be
trained, he said.
"There is a tech talent shortage" in the U.S., said Barrood, who visited
Cuba last year with a student group from Fairleigh Dickinson University,
where he was head of the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurship. "And
it's only going to get worse. We want to make sure that our companies
can partner, collaborate or employ this talent in the near or long term."
The trip is being organized with The Latino Institute, a Newark-based
non-profit group that advocates for education among Hispanics.
The scope of business opportunities in Cuba will depend in part on what
happens next in Cuba, where independent businesses are a relatively new
phenomenon.
A description of doing business in Cuba drawn up by the Embassy of
Canada, which does not have an embargo on doing business in the
Caribbean country, makes the difficulties clear.
"The Cuban market is challenging and complex, and not suitable for the
novice exporter," the embassy statement said. "However, for those with
experience exporting, in particular to developing and emerging markets,
the medium- to long-term prospects look promising."
Although "the Cuban government has been gently reforming and
liberalizing the economy over the past few years," the embassy said,
"all imports to the country remain controlled by Government of Cuba
import agencies."
Cuban importers can deal only with "established companies" with at least
five years' experience, and "individual entrepreneurs or newly created
companies will not generally be considered." Companies seeking to sell
goods in Cuba cannot open an office there until they have three years of
selling in the country, and $500,000 in sales there, the Canadian
Embassy said.
Herb Ouida, director of the Global Enterprise Network at Fairleigh
Dickinson University, which has put together an April conference for
local businesses on "Opening the Door to Cuba," said he expects Obama's
move to be followed by other initiatives that will expand the areas of
business open to U.S. companies.
"It's incremental, I agree, it's very incremental," Ouida said. "But
it's in the right direction in terms of opening the door. … You go now
to do your research, to determine what changes will be prospective as
well as what changes are in place today."
Email: morley@northjersey.com
Source: NJ business look to Cuba for a market, find difficulties -
Business - NorthJersey.com -
http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/nj-business-look-to-cuba-for-a-market-find-difficulties-1.1280459?page=all
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
* Telecom company, travel agency and tech-life science executives test
waters, but experts tamp down expectations
President Obama's actions late last year, beginning the process of
normalizing the United States' long-frozen relationship with Cuba, lit a
fire under some New Jersey business leaders eager to tap into a new market.
A Newark-based telecom company has already made a deal with Cuba's
telecom agency on long-distance phone service. A group of New Jersey
tech and life science executives, intrigued by the potential of Cuba's
educated population, will visit the island in April. And a North Jersey
travel agency with extensive experience planning trips to Cuba has seen
a dramatic increase in calls.
Yet experts say low income levels in Cuba, where the average worker
makes about $20 a month, the communist government's tight control of the
economy, and America's continuing, stringent trade embargo put the
island 90 miles from the U.S. coast a long way from becoming more than a
negligible part of the nation's or New Jersey's economy.
"This is just the first step," said Lawrence Diamond, a Newark attorney
who specializes in helping companies do business with Cuba. "This is not
something that's going to change in any great extent doing business with
Cuba. It's going to take time before American companies will be, on a
broad scale, able to do business in and with Cuba."
The possibility of closer business ties with Cuba is a sensitive issue
in New Jersey, home to the second-largest population of Cuban exiles —
after Florida — who have historically opposed better relations with Cuba
out of a belief that isolating the country would help spur the downfall
of former President Fidel Castro, and now his brother, President Raul
Castro.
That sentiment reaches the top political echelons — Sen. Bob Menendez is
a fierce critic of Obama's initiative. And it continues to divide the
Cuban community, said Carlos Medina, chairman of the Statewide Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, which met on Thursday night in
Lyndhurst to explore Cuban business possibilities.
"It's somewhat generational," said Medina, whose father and
mother-in-law are Cuban. "My mother-in-law is 82, and she still doesn't
want anybody to have any interaction with Cuba. And then you see more
folks in their 40s and 50s a little more open" and asking questions
about Obama's initiative, Medina said, adding, "Just the fact that they
are asking means they have some sort of desire. 'What can I do there? Is
it safe to invest?' "
Medina said he organized Thursday night's event after the chamber
received many member calls seeking information on what businesses could
and couldn't do in Cuba as a result of Obama's announcement.
Most of the changes are the result of executive orders announced by
Obama in December as the first step toward normalizing relations with
Cuba. Included were new regulations governing business and travel
between the U.S. and Cuba. Obama also said he would open an embassy in
Havana.
The overall effect was to limit, albeit in a modest way, the impact of
the 50-year-old embargo, which only Congress can remove.
Even with its limitations, Obama's action clearly allows more business
opportunities than in the past. Until the changes, U.S. laws allowed
American companies to do business in Cuba only in three areas that gave
humanitarian help to the country's population — pharmaceuticals,
agricultural products and health care devices, Diamond said.
According to the U.S. Treasury, the executive orders allow American
companies to create telecommunications links with Cuba, to travel and to
forge banking links with Cuban institutions, which will include allowing
the use of U.S.-issued credit cards in Cuba.
The orders also allow Americans to be involved in "certain
micro-financing projects and entrepreneurial and business training," and
the importing into the U.S. of "certain independent Cuban
entrepreneur-produced goods and services," the Treasury said.
IDT, the Newark-based telecom company, said it has reached an agreement
with Cuba's national telecom provider, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de
Cuba S.A., to exchange international long-distance voice traffic between
the United States and Cuba directly.
A statement by Bill Pereira, CEO of IDT Telecom, said the company had
been in contact with the Cuban agency for years, and then last year it
expressed a "desire to move forward on an agreement with us."
The agreement would allow IDT to route international long-distance calls
to Cuba directly into the Cuban provider's network, instead of a
third-party network, he said. The toughest part, he added, was
developing the relationship with the agency "to the point where they
were comfortable moving forward with us."
The deal fits IDT's business of providing prepaid and other call
services to first- and second-generation immigrants in the U.S., Pereira
said.
Perhaps the most lucrative area in the short term will be travel. Delta
Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways have
expressed interest in starting regular flights to Cuba, which now
receives only charter flights from the U.S. Since Obama's announcement,
Marazul Charters & Travel Agency in North Bergen, which has arranged
trips to Cuba since 1979, has been deluged with calls, said Robert
Guild, a company vice president.
The executive orders have dramatically reduced the amount of red tape
involved in traveling to Cuba, which previously required trip organizers
to give a detailed report on their itinerary before and after the trip.
The rules lifted the requirement that travelers obtain a license from
Treasury to visit the country, and only requires travelers to read, and
ensure that they meet, the requirements of one of 12 categories of
travelers' licenses allowed to go to Cuba, Guild said.
In the past, he said, it could take four to six months to get a license.
Now, "any organization can sponsor a trip," and no licenses are needed,
he said. Although Americans are still not allowed to visit Cuba solely
for tourism, travel to professional meetings and conferences, and to
complete "certain authorized export transactions" are allowed, according
to the Treasury rules.
"We already have requests from organizations through 2017, for hotel
space in Cuba," he said. The increased demand for travel to Cuba means
that Marazul, which has a headquarters in Miami and a workforce of 100,
of whom 20 are in New Jersey, expects to add at least 15 new employees
companywide, Guild said.
The trip by the tech and life science executives will be led by the New
Jersey Technology Council and is aimed at assessing opportunities for
hiring Cuban workers, said James Barrood, president of the NJTC, a
support and advocacy group for the tech industry.
"Cuba is one of the most-educated countries in the Western Hemisphere,"
said Barrood. "And there are a lot of smart people, especially in the
tech areas."
While workers there may not have state-of-the-art IT skills, Barrood
said, Cuba has a strong health industry, the country is well-known for
producing a large number of doctors, and the country's free education
system produces workers strong in math and science basics, who could be
trained, he said.
"There is a tech talent shortage" in the U.S., said Barrood, who visited
Cuba last year with a student group from Fairleigh Dickinson University,
where he was head of the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurship. "And
it's only going to get worse. We want to make sure that our companies
can partner, collaborate or employ this talent in the near or long term."
The trip is being organized with The Latino Institute, a Newark-based
non-profit group that advocates for education among Hispanics.
The scope of business opportunities in Cuba will depend in part on what
happens next in Cuba, where independent businesses are a relatively new
phenomenon.
A description of doing business in Cuba drawn up by the Embassy of
Canada, which does not have an embargo on doing business in the
Caribbean country, makes the difficulties clear.
"The Cuban market is challenging and complex, and not suitable for the
novice exporter," the embassy statement said. "However, for those with
experience exporting, in particular to developing and emerging markets,
the medium- to long-term prospects look promising."
Although "the Cuban government has been gently reforming and
liberalizing the economy over the past few years," the embassy said,
"all imports to the country remain controlled by Government of Cuba
import agencies."
Cuban importers can deal only with "established companies" with at least
five years' experience, and "individual entrepreneurs or newly created
companies will not generally be considered." Companies seeking to sell
goods in Cuba cannot open an office there until they have three years of
selling in the country, and $500,000 in sales there, the Canadian
Embassy said.
Herb Ouida, director of the Global Enterprise Network at Fairleigh
Dickinson University, which has put together an April conference for
local businesses on "Opening the Door to Cuba," said he expects Obama's
move to be followed by other initiatives that will expand the areas of
business open to U.S. companies.
"It's incremental, I agree, it's very incremental," Ouida said. "But
it's in the right direction in terms of opening the door. … You go now
to do your research, to determine what changes will be prospective as
well as what changes are in place today."
Email: morley@northjersey.com
Source: NJ business look to Cuba for a market, find difficulties -
Business - NorthJersey.com -
http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/nj-business-look-to-cuba-for-a-market-find-difficulties-1.1280459?page=all
US and Cuba a step closer to normal diplomatic relations
US and Cuba a step closer to normal diplomatic relations
28/02 03:39 CET
The United States and Cuba both said good progress was made at the
second round of talks aimed at restoring diplomatic relations that were
severed 54 years ago after Cuba's revolution.
These latest discussions at the state department in Washington followed
the first round of talks in Havana in January.
"I can say that we had a good meeting today", said the head of the Cuban
delegation Josefina Vidal. "We made progress in our discussions."
One priority for Cuba is its removal from the US list of state sponsors
of terrorism, but diplomats would not be drawn one which issues were
causing any division.
"I don't feel that it would be appropriate for me to go into specifics
about which issues we made more or less progress on, some of them quite
honestly are close to resolution", said US assistant Secretary of State
Roberta Jacobson.
The negotiations signify a dramatic change in policy by the United
States towards its communist neighbour and some political analysts think
President Obama is looking for a legacy.
For over 50 years there has been a relationship of sorts between the two
countries, but it has always been through a third party, even though
they do have diplomats working in each other's capitals.
At present Cuba's interests in the US are represented by a division of
the Swiss embassy, but if these talks ultimately succeed, that could
soon change and embassies could be re-established in the respective
capitals.
Source: US and Cuba a step closer to normal diplomatic relations |
euronews, world news -
http://www.euronews.com/2015/02/28/us-and-cuba-a-step-closer-to-normal-diplomatic-relations/
28/02 03:39 CET
The United States and Cuba both said good progress was made at the
second round of talks aimed at restoring diplomatic relations that were
severed 54 years ago after Cuba's revolution.
These latest discussions at the state department in Washington followed
the first round of talks in Havana in January.
"I can say that we had a good meeting today", said the head of the Cuban
delegation Josefina Vidal. "We made progress in our discussions."
One priority for Cuba is its removal from the US list of state sponsors
of terrorism, but diplomats would not be drawn one which issues were
causing any division.
"I don't feel that it would be appropriate for me to go into specifics
about which issues we made more or less progress on, some of them quite
honestly are close to resolution", said US assistant Secretary of State
Roberta Jacobson.
The negotiations signify a dramatic change in policy by the United
States towards its communist neighbour and some political analysts think
President Obama is looking for a legacy.
For over 50 years there has been a relationship of sorts between the two
countries, but it has always been through a third party, even though
they do have diplomats working in each other's capitals.
At present Cuba's interests in the US are represented by a division of
the Swiss embassy, but if these talks ultimately succeed, that could
soon change and embassies could be re-established in the respective
capitals.
Source: US and Cuba a step closer to normal diplomatic relations |
euronews, world news -
http://www.euronews.com/2015/02/28/us-and-cuba-a-step-closer-to-normal-diplomatic-relations/
Ex-FBI chief tells of cop-killer swap that Cuba rejected
Kelly: Ex-FBI chief tells of cop-killer swap that Cuba rejected
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015, 11:11 PM
BY MIKE KELLY
Years before Joanne Chesimard was placed on the FBI's list of most
wanted terrorists and the bounty for her capture was increased to $2
million, federal authorities secretly reached out to their Cuban
counterparts with a plan to bring the convicted cop killer back to New
Jersey.
It was the fall of 1998. The FBI drew up a proposal to trade five
captured Cuban spies for Chesimard, who had been convicted two decades
earlier of killing a New Jersey state trooper in a turnpike gunfight but
had broken out of jail and fled to Cuba, where she was granted political
asylum.
The proposed 1998 trade, which has never been publicly acknowledged by
either the United States or Cuba, was described in detail in two recent
interviews with The Record by one of its originators, former FBI
Director Louis Freeh.
Why the plan failed may offer insight about the obstacles facing the
state police, the FBI and a host of political figures as they renew
efforts to bring back Chesimard. The story also illustrates the legacy
of suspicion that permeates U.S.-Cuban relations.
In New Jersey, however, the renewed discussion of Chesimard's fugitive
status has reopened old wounds that date to an unsettling time in
America — a time that was punctuated by a horrific confrontation on the
New Jersey Turnpike between state troopers and members of the Black
Liberation Army who were calling for an armed revolution.
Just before midnight on May 2, 1973, Chesimard, then 25, was traveling
south with two male compatriots when two troopers stopped their car.
Within minutes a wild gunbattle broke out, leaving Trooper Werner
Foerster dead and his partner wounded.
Chesimard, who also was wounded, was later caught, charged with murder
and sentenced to a life term. But in 1979, she escaped from the state
women's prison in Clinton and disappeared, only to turn up five years
later in Cuba.
Chesimard, 67, and reportedly living in the Havana area under the name
Assata Shakur, is regarded as a criminal by U.S. authorities. Cuba has
never shown any inclination to rescind her political asylum, which was
granted by Fidel Castro in the mid-1980s.
In the fall of 1998, however, Freeh thought he saw an opening for U.S.
authorities to get their hands on Chesimard.
As outlined by Freeh in two interviews with The Record, the FBI hoped to
start talks to extradite Chesimard and possibly other American
fugitives, including William Morales, a Puerto Rican nationalist who was
implicated in a series of U.S. terror bombings, including one at
Manhattan's Fraunces Tavern that killed a Fair Lawn resident.
Freeh, who grew up in North Bergen and was a student at Rutgers Law
School in Newark in the mid-1970s, said he had long harbored a special
interest in the Chesimard case. And with the September 1998 arrest of
the five Cuban spies in Florida, Freeh, who became FBI director five
years earlier, said he figured he might have enough leverage to persuade
the Cubans to return her.
"It always occurred to me that exchange would be a good one," he said,
recalling his enthusiasm.
But Freeh, who now runs a private security consulting firm, said the
Cubans wouldn't consider even the most ordinary of discussions.
"The response was no response," he said.
Today, that message from Cuba appears unchanged.
Days after President Obama announced plans on Dec. 17 to restore
diplomatic relations with the communist nation, Cuba's foreign ministry,
in response to questions from journalists in Havana, defended
Chesimard's status.
"Every nation has sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political
asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted," said the
ministry's head of North American affairs, Josefina Vidal.
"We've explained to the U.S. government in the past that there are some
people living in Cuba to whom Cuba has legitimately granted political
asylum," she said.
In a recent interview, Guillermo Suarez, a counselor at Cuba's U.N.
mission, said extradition of Chesimard was not part of the talks to
reestablish diplomatic ties with the U.S.
Suarez said Cuban officials were "quite surprised" to learn that the
announcement of Cuban-American détente was greeted with demands from law
enforcement officials and political figures in New Jersey and elsewhere
for Chesimard's return. He added that the $2 million bounty for her
capture made Cuban officials "very nervous" about whether an influx of
tourists would include bounty hunters.
By the fall of 1998, Cuban-American relations had grown very tense.
In February 1996, Cuban Air Force fighters shot down two civilian planes
and killed four members of the Miami-based anti-Castro group Brothers to
the Rescue, whose planes patrolled waters off Cuba to spot people trying
to escape to the United States. Although the Cubans maintained that the
planes had entered Cuban territory on the day they were shot down, an
investigation showed they were attacked in international airspace.
In June 1998, FBI agents flew to Havana at the invitation of Cuban
authorities to hear complaints about bombings in Cuba that had been
allegedly orchestrated by anti-Castro dissidents supported by Florida's
large exile community.
Three months later, when FBI agents in Miami arrested the five Cuban
spies who had reportedly infiltrated that exile community, Freeh saw an
opening.
The arrest of the spies, known as the Cuban Five or the Miami Five,
confirmed what the FBI and anti-Castro Cuban-Americans had long
suspected: Cuba's intelligence service had numerous operatives in the
United States. One of the alleged spies was later charged with passing
along information about Brothers to the Rescue flights.
Freeh sensed that the spies' capture might also offer an opportunity to
gain access to Chesimard. He approached U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
with the idea of a trade.
Freeh said Reno approved the plan, which called for him to reach out to
his contacts in a nation with friendly ties to Cuba and the United
States. That nation, which Freeh declined to identify, agreed to
communicate the proposal to Cuba.
Because the plan was in its early stages, Freeh said neither he nor Reno
contacted the White House or the State Department.
"What I did is I contacted the chief of service in another country's
security service," Freeh said "We asked them to contact their
counterparts in Cuba to see if they were interested in a conversation
where we would exchange Chesimard for one or more of the Cuban Five. The
answer came back: 'No. Not interested.'Ÿ"
Freeh, who has never publicly discussed the rejected offer until now,
said he was doing so to raise awareness of the importance of extraditing
Chesimard. Reno could not be reached for comment.
Why the Cubans so hastily rejected Freeh's overture to trade for
Chesimard may have had something to do with how angry they were about
the timing of the spies' arrests — which came only months after the June
1998 meeting with the FBI in Havana to discuss concerns over violence by
anti-Castro dissidents.
"When these spies were arrested, from the Cuban point of view, they had
just been betrayed," said Stephen Kimber, a Canadian journalist who
wrote a book about them. "Why would they have been interested in a deal
at that point?"
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat and former chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has emerged as a vocal critic
of Obama's plan to restore ties with Cuba, said he was surprised the
Cubans had not agreed to exchange Chesimard for the spies.
"The Cuban government placed a high value on the spies," said Menendez,
the son of Cuban immigrants, noting that for years Cuba has campaigned
for their return. "If there had been a deal more than a decade ago that
they could have achieved the same thing, for them to say no just tells
you what Chesimard means to them."
Menendez called Chesimard "an enemy of the United States."
"We see her for what she is — a cold-blooded murderer, who had her day
in court and was convicted," Menendez said. "They see her in some
broader struggle for liberation. For them, she is a great propaganda claim."
Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the
National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute in
Washington, D.C., said the Cubans viewed the granting of political
asylum to Chesimard as a matter of sacrosanct honor.
"I've discussed these cases, particularly Joanne Chesimard," said
Kornbluh, who returned from Cuba recently. "Their focus is that they
made the political commitment of political asylum to her. They made the
decision to give her political asylum and they are not going to revisit
the issue."
Lennox Hinds, Chesimard's attorney and a professor of criminal justice
at Rutgers University, said he had been assured by Castro that his
client would not be sent back to the United States under any circumstances.
"In my view, Assata would not be viewed as someone who they would trade
off," Hinds said, using the name Chesimard calls herself
Freeh, who left the FBI in 2001, months before the 9/11 attacks, has not
given up on bringing back Chesimard.
"The issue is, will there be a point where they are willing to consider
exchanging her?" he said. "They clearly did not want to do that when we
contacted them."
Source: Kelly: Ex-FBI chief tells of cop-killer swap that Cuba rejected
- News - NorthJersey.com -
http://www.northjersey.com/news/kelly-ex-fbi-chief-tells-of-cop-killer-swap-that-cuba-rejected-1.1280279?page=all
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015, 11:11 PM
BY MIKE KELLY
Years before Joanne Chesimard was placed on the FBI's list of most
wanted terrorists and the bounty for her capture was increased to $2
million, federal authorities secretly reached out to their Cuban
counterparts with a plan to bring the convicted cop killer back to New
Jersey.
It was the fall of 1998. The FBI drew up a proposal to trade five
captured Cuban spies for Chesimard, who had been convicted two decades
earlier of killing a New Jersey state trooper in a turnpike gunfight but
had broken out of jail and fled to Cuba, where she was granted political
asylum.
The proposed 1998 trade, which has never been publicly acknowledged by
either the United States or Cuba, was described in detail in two recent
interviews with The Record by one of its originators, former FBI
Director Louis Freeh.
Why the plan failed may offer insight about the obstacles facing the
state police, the FBI and a host of political figures as they renew
efforts to bring back Chesimard. The story also illustrates the legacy
of suspicion that permeates U.S.-Cuban relations.
In New Jersey, however, the renewed discussion of Chesimard's fugitive
status has reopened old wounds that date to an unsettling time in
America — a time that was punctuated by a horrific confrontation on the
New Jersey Turnpike between state troopers and members of the Black
Liberation Army who were calling for an armed revolution.
Just before midnight on May 2, 1973, Chesimard, then 25, was traveling
south with two male compatriots when two troopers stopped their car.
Within minutes a wild gunbattle broke out, leaving Trooper Werner
Foerster dead and his partner wounded.
Chesimard, who also was wounded, was later caught, charged with murder
and sentenced to a life term. But in 1979, she escaped from the state
women's prison in Clinton and disappeared, only to turn up five years
later in Cuba.
Chesimard, 67, and reportedly living in the Havana area under the name
Assata Shakur, is regarded as a criminal by U.S. authorities. Cuba has
never shown any inclination to rescind her political asylum, which was
granted by Fidel Castro in the mid-1980s.
In the fall of 1998, however, Freeh thought he saw an opening for U.S.
authorities to get their hands on Chesimard.
As outlined by Freeh in two interviews with The Record, the FBI hoped to
start talks to extradite Chesimard and possibly other American
fugitives, including William Morales, a Puerto Rican nationalist who was
implicated in a series of U.S. terror bombings, including one at
Manhattan's Fraunces Tavern that killed a Fair Lawn resident.
Freeh, who grew up in North Bergen and was a student at Rutgers Law
School in Newark in the mid-1970s, said he had long harbored a special
interest in the Chesimard case. And with the September 1998 arrest of
the five Cuban spies in Florida, Freeh, who became FBI director five
years earlier, said he figured he might have enough leverage to persuade
the Cubans to return her.
"It always occurred to me that exchange would be a good one," he said,
recalling his enthusiasm.
But Freeh, who now runs a private security consulting firm, said the
Cubans wouldn't consider even the most ordinary of discussions.
"The response was no response," he said.
Today, that message from Cuba appears unchanged.
Days after President Obama announced plans on Dec. 17 to restore
diplomatic relations with the communist nation, Cuba's foreign ministry,
in response to questions from journalists in Havana, defended
Chesimard's status.
"Every nation has sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political
asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted," said the
ministry's head of North American affairs, Josefina Vidal.
"We've explained to the U.S. government in the past that there are some
people living in Cuba to whom Cuba has legitimately granted political
asylum," she said.
In a recent interview, Guillermo Suarez, a counselor at Cuba's U.N.
mission, said extradition of Chesimard was not part of the talks to
reestablish diplomatic ties with the U.S.
Suarez said Cuban officials were "quite surprised" to learn that the
announcement of Cuban-American détente was greeted with demands from law
enforcement officials and political figures in New Jersey and elsewhere
for Chesimard's return. He added that the $2 million bounty for her
capture made Cuban officials "very nervous" about whether an influx of
tourists would include bounty hunters.
By the fall of 1998, Cuban-American relations had grown very tense.
In February 1996, Cuban Air Force fighters shot down two civilian planes
and killed four members of the Miami-based anti-Castro group Brothers to
the Rescue, whose planes patrolled waters off Cuba to spot people trying
to escape to the United States. Although the Cubans maintained that the
planes had entered Cuban territory on the day they were shot down, an
investigation showed they were attacked in international airspace.
In June 1998, FBI agents flew to Havana at the invitation of Cuban
authorities to hear complaints about bombings in Cuba that had been
allegedly orchestrated by anti-Castro dissidents supported by Florida's
large exile community.
Three months later, when FBI agents in Miami arrested the five Cuban
spies who had reportedly infiltrated that exile community, Freeh saw an
opening.
The arrest of the spies, known as the Cuban Five or the Miami Five,
confirmed what the FBI and anti-Castro Cuban-Americans had long
suspected: Cuba's intelligence service had numerous operatives in the
United States. One of the alleged spies was later charged with passing
along information about Brothers to the Rescue flights.
Freeh sensed that the spies' capture might also offer an opportunity to
gain access to Chesimard. He approached U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
with the idea of a trade.
Freeh said Reno approved the plan, which called for him to reach out to
his contacts in a nation with friendly ties to Cuba and the United
States. That nation, which Freeh declined to identify, agreed to
communicate the proposal to Cuba.
Because the plan was in its early stages, Freeh said neither he nor Reno
contacted the White House or the State Department.
"What I did is I contacted the chief of service in another country's
security service," Freeh said "We asked them to contact their
counterparts in Cuba to see if they were interested in a conversation
where we would exchange Chesimard for one or more of the Cuban Five. The
answer came back: 'No. Not interested.'Ÿ"
Freeh, who has never publicly discussed the rejected offer until now,
said he was doing so to raise awareness of the importance of extraditing
Chesimard. Reno could not be reached for comment.
Why the Cubans so hastily rejected Freeh's overture to trade for
Chesimard may have had something to do with how angry they were about
the timing of the spies' arrests — which came only months after the June
1998 meeting with the FBI in Havana to discuss concerns over violence by
anti-Castro dissidents.
"When these spies were arrested, from the Cuban point of view, they had
just been betrayed," said Stephen Kimber, a Canadian journalist who
wrote a book about them. "Why would they have been interested in a deal
at that point?"
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat and former chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has emerged as a vocal critic
of Obama's plan to restore ties with Cuba, said he was surprised the
Cubans had not agreed to exchange Chesimard for the spies.
"The Cuban government placed a high value on the spies," said Menendez,
the son of Cuban immigrants, noting that for years Cuba has campaigned
for their return. "If there had been a deal more than a decade ago that
they could have achieved the same thing, for them to say no just tells
you what Chesimard means to them."
Menendez called Chesimard "an enemy of the United States."
"We see her for what she is — a cold-blooded murderer, who had her day
in court and was convicted," Menendez said. "They see her in some
broader struggle for liberation. For them, she is a great propaganda claim."
Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the
National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute in
Washington, D.C., said the Cubans viewed the granting of political
asylum to Chesimard as a matter of sacrosanct honor.
"I've discussed these cases, particularly Joanne Chesimard," said
Kornbluh, who returned from Cuba recently. "Their focus is that they
made the political commitment of political asylum to her. They made the
decision to give her political asylum and they are not going to revisit
the issue."
Lennox Hinds, Chesimard's attorney and a professor of criminal justice
at Rutgers University, said he had been assured by Castro that his
client would not be sent back to the United States under any circumstances.
"In my view, Assata would not be viewed as someone who they would trade
off," Hinds said, using the name Chesimard calls herself
Freeh, who left the FBI in 2001, months before the 9/11 attacks, has not
given up on bringing back Chesimard.
"The issue is, will there be a point where they are willing to consider
exchanging her?" he said. "They clearly did not want to do that when we
contacted them."
Source: Kelly: Ex-FBI chief tells of cop-killer swap that Cuba rejected
- News - NorthJersey.com -
http://www.northjersey.com/news/kelly-ex-fbi-chief-tells-of-cop-killer-swap-that-cuba-rejected-1.1280279?page=all
Metas y miserias en Santiago
Metas y miserias en Santiago
DARIELA AQUIQUE LUNA | La Habana | 1 Mar 2015 - 10:11 am.
Los santiagueros viven sin agua, pero las obras por el medio milenio de
la ciudad no dejan de estar bien abastecidas.
Metas, como sustantivo, tiene entre sus acepciones las de finalidades,
intenciones, objetivos, propósitos. Miserias, por su parte, significa
pobrezas, infortunios, desgracias, escaseces, penurias y otros males.
Obviamente, desde las miserias es paradójico trazarse metas. Pero como
en nuestra Isla lo irracional es un lugar común, vivimos entre metas y
miserias.
Un ejemplo que bien lo ilustra son las tantas obras de construcción que
a contrarreloj y por disposición del Partido y el Gobierno se llevan a
cabo actualmente en la ciudad de Santiago de Cuba. Pues resulta que este
año se cumple medio milenio de la fundación de la villa y se pretende
engalanarla. A lo que habría que sumarle la ya tradicional conmemoración
del asalto al Cuartel Moncada.
Desde principios de año la sequía ha estado afectando el oriente del
país, principalmente a Santiago, donde los embalses han estado muy por
debajo de sus capacidades, y en consecuencia se han alargado los ciclos
de bombeo. Si caminamos por cualquier calle de la ciudad, encontraremos
gente arrastrando carretillas con tanques o cargando cubos desde lugares
distantes. Hay quienes se aprovechan de la escasez y venden barriles
traídos de manantiales. Y hasta quienes se asean en sitios públicos.
El ciclo de abastecimiento, que ahora es cada siete días, trae como loca
a la gente que, independientemente de la hora a la que le llegue el
agua, se pondrán a lavar y a llenar cubos, cubetas y hasta pomitos de
reserva. "¡Llegó el agua!" , es un grito de aviso entre los vecinos,
todas las semanas. "¡Ay Dios mío, que llueva!", es la frase más oída el
resto de los días.
En los hospitales, escuelas de becados, penitenciarias y otros centros
de concentración de personas, el agua se pone diariamente durante una
hora. En ese corto tiempo habrá que asearse, lavar, fregar y hasta hacer
del cuerpo, como decía mi abuela. Mientras que en las instalaciones
turísticas sí está garantizado el suministro diario, pero eso ya sabemos
por qué.
Lo incomprensible en este asunto es que no hay actividad que necesite
más del agua que la construcción y, sin embargo, ninguna de las
numerosas obras que se están efectuando se ha parado por este contratiempo.
Para que la ciudad luzca fastuosa en su onomástica se rescatan
emblemáticos edificios citadinos como el Hotel Imperial, una bella y
céntrica construcción de estilo neoclásico que llevaba más de 20 años en
total deterioro.
También se restaura el Museo Provincial Emilio Bacardí. Asimismo, se
reconstruyen otras obras de interés patrimonial como Botino, una
singular farmacia ubicada en el casco histórico de la ciudad. El antiguo
Club San Carlos, el Ateneo Cultural Antonio Bravo Correoso, elegante
vivienda de apariencia ecléctica con influencia de la arquitectura árabe
y gótica. Y no deja de recibir sus acicates la Catedral, que fue muy
dañada desde el paso del huracán Sandy.
No solo hay reparaciones, también hay fabricaciones de nuevos proyectos
como una serie de hostales destinados al turismo en toda la avenida
Manduley del residencial reparto Vista Alegre. Se erige un malecón en el
litoral, que incluye tres parques. Un Museo de la Música, una Casa del
Tabaco, un complejo gastronómico-cultural, así como varios complejos
habitacionales en diferentes sitios de la ciudad, que serán entregados
en saludo al 26 de julio.
Pero quizás la obra más ambiciosa de todas sea la nueva avenida Juan
Gualberto Gómez que irá desde la Plaza de la Revolución Antonio Maceo
hasta el cementerio Santa Ifigenia, y que tendrá entre sus objetivos
servir de escenario para desfiles militares.
Para colmo de males, las construcciones viales de la nueva avenida que
comprende los repartos Yarayó y San Pedrito han provocado roturas en las
tuberías que han agravado la situación de la llegada del suministro de
agua a estos lugares.
Que se atavíe la ciudad me parece genial, lo que resulta ilógico es que
sea en estas condiciones climatológicas nada propicias para fines de esa
envergadura. Sin embargo, "las metas hay que cumplirlas" aunque los
santiagueros dejen de bañarse. Tendrán una ciudad engalanada en sus 500
años de fundada y, aunque sea con ropas sucias, irán a gritar consignas
el 26 de julio junto al antiguo cuartel.
Es una orientación del Partido y el Gobierno y hay que consumarla,
aunque las metas sean a costa de la miseria.
Source: Metas y miserias en Santiago | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1424971885_13106.html
DARIELA AQUIQUE LUNA | La Habana | 1 Mar 2015 - 10:11 am.
Los santiagueros viven sin agua, pero las obras por el medio milenio de
la ciudad no dejan de estar bien abastecidas.
Metas, como sustantivo, tiene entre sus acepciones las de finalidades,
intenciones, objetivos, propósitos. Miserias, por su parte, significa
pobrezas, infortunios, desgracias, escaseces, penurias y otros males.
Obviamente, desde las miserias es paradójico trazarse metas. Pero como
en nuestra Isla lo irracional es un lugar común, vivimos entre metas y
miserias.
Un ejemplo que bien lo ilustra son las tantas obras de construcción que
a contrarreloj y por disposición del Partido y el Gobierno se llevan a
cabo actualmente en la ciudad de Santiago de Cuba. Pues resulta que este
año se cumple medio milenio de la fundación de la villa y se pretende
engalanarla. A lo que habría que sumarle la ya tradicional conmemoración
del asalto al Cuartel Moncada.
Desde principios de año la sequía ha estado afectando el oriente del
país, principalmente a Santiago, donde los embalses han estado muy por
debajo de sus capacidades, y en consecuencia se han alargado los ciclos
de bombeo. Si caminamos por cualquier calle de la ciudad, encontraremos
gente arrastrando carretillas con tanques o cargando cubos desde lugares
distantes. Hay quienes se aprovechan de la escasez y venden barriles
traídos de manantiales. Y hasta quienes se asean en sitios públicos.
El ciclo de abastecimiento, que ahora es cada siete días, trae como loca
a la gente que, independientemente de la hora a la que le llegue el
agua, se pondrán a lavar y a llenar cubos, cubetas y hasta pomitos de
reserva. "¡Llegó el agua!" , es un grito de aviso entre los vecinos,
todas las semanas. "¡Ay Dios mío, que llueva!", es la frase más oída el
resto de los días.
En los hospitales, escuelas de becados, penitenciarias y otros centros
de concentración de personas, el agua se pone diariamente durante una
hora. En ese corto tiempo habrá que asearse, lavar, fregar y hasta hacer
del cuerpo, como decía mi abuela. Mientras que en las instalaciones
turísticas sí está garantizado el suministro diario, pero eso ya sabemos
por qué.
Lo incomprensible en este asunto es que no hay actividad que necesite
más del agua que la construcción y, sin embargo, ninguna de las
numerosas obras que se están efectuando se ha parado por este contratiempo.
Para que la ciudad luzca fastuosa en su onomástica se rescatan
emblemáticos edificios citadinos como el Hotel Imperial, una bella y
céntrica construcción de estilo neoclásico que llevaba más de 20 años en
total deterioro.
También se restaura el Museo Provincial Emilio Bacardí. Asimismo, se
reconstruyen otras obras de interés patrimonial como Botino, una
singular farmacia ubicada en el casco histórico de la ciudad. El antiguo
Club San Carlos, el Ateneo Cultural Antonio Bravo Correoso, elegante
vivienda de apariencia ecléctica con influencia de la arquitectura árabe
y gótica. Y no deja de recibir sus acicates la Catedral, que fue muy
dañada desde el paso del huracán Sandy.
No solo hay reparaciones, también hay fabricaciones de nuevos proyectos
como una serie de hostales destinados al turismo en toda la avenida
Manduley del residencial reparto Vista Alegre. Se erige un malecón en el
litoral, que incluye tres parques. Un Museo de la Música, una Casa del
Tabaco, un complejo gastronómico-cultural, así como varios complejos
habitacionales en diferentes sitios de la ciudad, que serán entregados
en saludo al 26 de julio.
Pero quizás la obra más ambiciosa de todas sea la nueva avenida Juan
Gualberto Gómez que irá desde la Plaza de la Revolución Antonio Maceo
hasta el cementerio Santa Ifigenia, y que tendrá entre sus objetivos
servir de escenario para desfiles militares.
Para colmo de males, las construcciones viales de la nueva avenida que
comprende los repartos Yarayó y San Pedrito han provocado roturas en las
tuberías que han agravado la situación de la llegada del suministro de
agua a estos lugares.
Que se atavíe la ciudad me parece genial, lo que resulta ilógico es que
sea en estas condiciones climatológicas nada propicias para fines de esa
envergadura. Sin embargo, "las metas hay que cumplirlas" aunque los
santiagueros dejen de bañarse. Tendrán una ciudad engalanada en sus 500
años de fundada y, aunque sea con ropas sucias, irán a gritar consignas
el 26 de julio junto al antiguo cuartel.
Es una orientación del Partido y el Gobierno y hay que consumarla,
aunque las metas sean a costa de la miseria.
Source: Metas y miserias en Santiago | Diario de Cuba -
http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1424971885_13106.html
U.S. demand for travel to Cuba rises amid thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations
U.S. demand for travel to Cuba rises amid thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations
BY HANNAH SAMPSON HSAMPSON@MIAMIHERALD.COM
02/28/2015 9:58 PM 02/28/2015 10:27 PM
Cuba is facing a tourism tsunami as Americans who can more easily visit
the island rush to experience a frozen-in-time culture before it disappears.
More than two months after President Barack Obama first announced that
travel restrictions to the communist island nation would be eased and
several weeks after the release of less-stringent regulations, tour
operators say inquiries and bookings have shot up while more travel
providers have waded into the mix.
"There's a sense of urgency from travelers," said Collin Laverty, owner
of Cuba Educational Travel in Washington, D.C. "People feel that it's on
the verge of opening, so they want to get there right away."
Tom Popper, president of New York tour operator InsightCuba, said he
returned from a trip to Cuba last week and was amazed by the number of
Americans he encountered. The fresh interest comes during high season in
Cuba, adding pressure to an already strained tourism infrastructure.
"There were more than I've ever seen before," said Popper, whose company
has organized travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens since 2000. Since
mid-December, his company has seen six times the web traffic and three
times the bookings as normal for the same time of year, and the demand
has shown no signs of waning.
"We had the President of the United States talk about people-to-people
travel and the fact that you can go and that we want to make it easier,"
Popper said. "After Dec. 17, tens of millions of people said, 'Oh yeah,
President Obama said I could go to Cuba.'"
Tourism is still prohibited, which means Americans have to wait for all
travel restrictions to be lifted before they can lounge at a beach
resort in Varadero or spend a weekend sampling mojitos and Cuban cigars.
But on Jan. 15, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that citizens who
fall under 12 categories of authorized travel — including educational
activities, public performances, athletic competitions, support for the
Cuban people and humanitarian projects — would not need to apply for a
specific license to go to Cuba.
Travel agents and airlines can operate without a specific license from
the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, a process that
previously took months and mountains of paperwork, as long as travelers
are going for authorized reasons.
"It's kind of like a new normal," said Popper.
This is what the new normal looks like for travel companies across the
country: hundreds more calls every week, fresh rounds of questions and
increased bookings from travelers eager to witness the island's classic
cars, historic architecture and cultural riches.
Normal, in today's travel landscape, includes a Canadian cruise line now
booking Americans for Cuban itineraries; hotel rooms in Havana popping
up on Kayak.com and one-stop shopping for plane tickets to Cuba via
Mexico on CheapAir.com.
And, in Cuba, it means fewer hotel rooms, tour guides and buses
available to shuttle eager visitors around, not to mention a scarcity of
airplane seats on the way there.
Joe Diaz, co-founder of travel media company AFAR Media, left for Havana
on on a flight Jan. 16, the day the new regulations kicked in. Traveling
through Panama City, he arrived the next day with nowhere to stay
because hotels were full in prime tourist season. Cuba says it has about
63,000 rooms among hotels, motels, hostels and serviced apartments.
Diaz stayed at a private home for $30 a night — "clean, quiet, basic"
with hot water and a comfortable bed — and got to know the family who
lived there.
But he said he quickly realized that American travelers who are
accustomed to Wi-Fi, working credit cards and functional infrastructure
are probably not ready for the experience.
"Cuba is not for that luxury type traveler," he said. "It's for the more
adventurous, experiential traveler."
Bob Guild, vice president of travel agency Marazul Charters, said his
groups have had to stay in private apartments recently instead of hotel
rooms because beds are in such demand.
"There is more space than ever, but it's all been taken up," Guild said.
"What are they going to do next season?"
Guild said Marazul, which has been providing travel to Cuba since 1979,
is getting an average of 75-80 requests a day for information. In the
two weeks after the regulations were released in January, 1,300 requests
came in compared to 30 requests during the same time period in 2014.
"Nothing has really died down," he said. "We are generally telling
people that nothing is possible until next season, beginning in October.
And there are people still trying to get in right now."
Cuba Educational Travel's Laverty said he is fielding last-minute
requests, many from small groups of four to 10 people.
"Just in the last two days, we've booked three or four additional groups
in the middle of March," he said last week.
According to statistics from the Cuban government, 92,348 Americans
visited in 2013, though that number does not include Cuban-Americans
visiting family. About 3 million total visitors came to the country in
2014, and a new survey released Thursday indicates interest in future
travel is high.
According to the travelhorizons survey released by marketing services
firm MMGY Global, 46 percent of travelers from the U.S. who are likely
to visit a Caribbean destination during the next two years would be
willing to change their vacation plans to go to Cuba instead. And 19
percent of U.S. adults said they would consider taking a vacation to
Cuba during the next two years. Questions about Cuba had never been
included in the survey before.
Kim Cavendish, president and CEO of the Museum of Discovery and Science
in Fort Lauderdale, has been thinking about making the short trip for "a
long time," she said. And just within the past week, she finally made
arrangements for a people-to-people trip in April.
"I like to travel, I like to visit other cultures and see new places,"
she said. "Cuba is something that's what, 90 miles away? And yet we
haven't been allowed to go there for some time."
With a small group, she will visit cultural sites, museums, community
projects, a dolphin preserve and other locations to scout out the
possibility of including Cuba in the museum's adventure travel program
in the next year or so.
She said she's seen firsthand that the easing of restrictions doesn't
automatically translate to easy planning.
"I think this idea that we're all going to be able to pop off to Cuba is
still going to be in the future," she said.
In the meantime, more travel companies are jumping in to help.
A spokeswoman for the American Society of Travel Agents said there was
"immediate interest" from members who wanted more information about
selling travel to Cuba after the December and January announcements. The
organization has scheduled an online seminar for March 11.
When the United States Tour Operators Association hosted a webinar on
the subject in mid-February, more than 100 people listened in.
"I think everyone's very interested in how do we get a piece of the
action," said Terry Dale, the association's president and CEO.
"Absolutely the needle has moved."
With its partner ABC Charters, JetBlue is adding an additional weekly
charter flight from Tampa to Havana in June. Kayak.com is now listing
information on flights to Cuba and hotels, though it does not include
booking links. Cuba Cruise, a Canadian cruise operator that launched in
2013, now promotes its trips around Cuba to Americans and American
travel agents.
And the booking site CheapAir.com just added flights to Cuba to its
search engine on Thursday, packaging trips from the U.S. that go through
Mexico.
"Right after the announcements of the changes in regulation, we started
seeing a big uptick in searches for Cuba," from almost none to 50 or 60
searches a day, said CheapAir CEO Jeff Klee.
Still, travel agents say they expect demand to explode when travelers
can set their own agendas free of any restrictions. Michelle Weller,
director of operations for a Travel Leaders agency in Houston, wrote in
an email that most people asking about travel don't want a
people-to-people tour.
"When Cuba can offer an atmosphere where Americans can hang out at
all-inclusives or bar hop in old Havana, dancing to local Cuban music
and smoking Cuban cigars at Ernest Hemingway haunts like La Floridita,
you will see a massive wave of tourists flood the country," she wrote.
This report includes comments from the Public Insight Network, an online
community of people who have agreed to share their opinions with the
Miami Herald and WLRN. Become a source at MiamiHerald. com/insight.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of Americans* visiting Cuba has increased significantly since
2009, though there was a dip in 2013, the most recent year that
statistics are available. Overall, the number of visitors has steadily
increased.
Year United States Total
2009 52,455 2,429,809
2010 63,046 2,531,745
2011 73,566 2,716,317
2012 98,050 2,838,607
2013 92,348 2,852,572
Source: Cuba's National Statistics Office
* The figures do not include Cuban-Americans traveling to visit family.
VISITING CUBA TODAY
Under rules released earlier this year, U.S.-born individuals who fall
under one of 12 categories can visit Cuba without getting specific
advance permission from the U.S. government. Groups comprised of people
in those categories — such as professional and educational groups — can
create their town people-to-people style trips without U.S. government
permission.
Airline space and hotels are surprisingly easy to arrange using
guidebooks — as those from Moon and Lonely Planet — and the internet.
(And yes, some sites will take your credit card.) What isn't so easy is
finding space in hotels, so you're best to secure that first, then book
your air.
Here's the process:
Lodging:
Cuba Travel Network, cubatravelnetwork.com, books official hotels online
and accepts credit cards. (All hotels are owned either fully or partly
by the government.)
Many casas particulares — B&B rooms in private homes — can be reserved
online and paid once you arrive. One good, responsive source is
casaincuba.com.
Airlines:
Go to the website of a Cuba airline broker (you'll find a list at
http://cubatrips.org/charter-flights-to-cuba.html). (CheapAir.com. also
is offering flights, but via Mexico.)
Fill out a request. (You can't just pick a flight online.)
The broker will be back in touch with the OFAC authorization form. You
will need to check the qualifying category, sign and return, before the
airline can book your flights.
About three weeks prior to flight time, the broker will supply tickets
and a tourist card that allows entry into Cuba.
On the ground:
Recent visitors advise grabbing a good guidebook and asking at your
lodging for guides and taxis. Most recommend against renting a car and
driving yourself.
JANE WOOLDRIDGE
Source: U.S. demand for travel to Cuba rises amid thaw in U.S.-Cuba
relations | Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article11763743.html
BY HANNAH SAMPSON HSAMPSON@MIAMIHERALD.COM
02/28/2015 9:58 PM 02/28/2015 10:27 PM
Cuba is facing a tourism tsunami as Americans who can more easily visit
the island rush to experience a frozen-in-time culture before it disappears.
More than two months after President Barack Obama first announced that
travel restrictions to the communist island nation would be eased and
several weeks after the release of less-stringent regulations, tour
operators say inquiries and bookings have shot up while more travel
providers have waded into the mix.
"There's a sense of urgency from travelers," said Collin Laverty, owner
of Cuba Educational Travel in Washington, D.C. "People feel that it's on
the verge of opening, so they want to get there right away."
Tom Popper, president of New York tour operator InsightCuba, said he
returned from a trip to Cuba last week and was amazed by the number of
Americans he encountered. The fresh interest comes during high season in
Cuba, adding pressure to an already strained tourism infrastructure.
"There were more than I've ever seen before," said Popper, whose company
has organized travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens since 2000. Since
mid-December, his company has seen six times the web traffic and three
times the bookings as normal for the same time of year, and the demand
has shown no signs of waning.
"We had the President of the United States talk about people-to-people
travel and the fact that you can go and that we want to make it easier,"
Popper said. "After Dec. 17, tens of millions of people said, 'Oh yeah,
President Obama said I could go to Cuba.'"
Tourism is still prohibited, which means Americans have to wait for all
travel restrictions to be lifted before they can lounge at a beach
resort in Varadero or spend a weekend sampling mojitos and Cuban cigars.
But on Jan. 15, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that citizens who
fall under 12 categories of authorized travel — including educational
activities, public performances, athletic competitions, support for the
Cuban people and humanitarian projects — would not need to apply for a
specific license to go to Cuba.
Travel agents and airlines can operate without a specific license from
the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, a process that
previously took months and mountains of paperwork, as long as travelers
are going for authorized reasons.
"It's kind of like a new normal," said Popper.
This is what the new normal looks like for travel companies across the
country: hundreds more calls every week, fresh rounds of questions and
increased bookings from travelers eager to witness the island's classic
cars, historic architecture and cultural riches.
Normal, in today's travel landscape, includes a Canadian cruise line now
booking Americans for Cuban itineraries; hotel rooms in Havana popping
up on Kayak.com and one-stop shopping for plane tickets to Cuba via
Mexico on CheapAir.com.
And, in Cuba, it means fewer hotel rooms, tour guides and buses
available to shuttle eager visitors around, not to mention a scarcity of
airplane seats on the way there.
Joe Diaz, co-founder of travel media company AFAR Media, left for Havana
on on a flight Jan. 16, the day the new regulations kicked in. Traveling
through Panama City, he arrived the next day with nowhere to stay
because hotels were full in prime tourist season. Cuba says it has about
63,000 rooms among hotels, motels, hostels and serviced apartments.
Diaz stayed at a private home for $30 a night — "clean, quiet, basic"
with hot water and a comfortable bed — and got to know the family who
lived there.
But he said he quickly realized that American travelers who are
accustomed to Wi-Fi, working credit cards and functional infrastructure
are probably not ready for the experience.
"Cuba is not for that luxury type traveler," he said. "It's for the more
adventurous, experiential traveler."
Bob Guild, vice president of travel agency Marazul Charters, said his
groups have had to stay in private apartments recently instead of hotel
rooms because beds are in such demand.
"There is more space than ever, but it's all been taken up," Guild said.
"What are they going to do next season?"
Guild said Marazul, which has been providing travel to Cuba since 1979,
is getting an average of 75-80 requests a day for information. In the
two weeks after the regulations were released in January, 1,300 requests
came in compared to 30 requests during the same time period in 2014.
"Nothing has really died down," he said. "We are generally telling
people that nothing is possible until next season, beginning in October.
And there are people still trying to get in right now."
Cuba Educational Travel's Laverty said he is fielding last-minute
requests, many from small groups of four to 10 people.
"Just in the last two days, we've booked three or four additional groups
in the middle of March," he said last week.
According to statistics from the Cuban government, 92,348 Americans
visited in 2013, though that number does not include Cuban-Americans
visiting family. About 3 million total visitors came to the country in
2014, and a new survey released Thursday indicates interest in future
travel is high.
According to the travelhorizons survey released by marketing services
firm MMGY Global, 46 percent of travelers from the U.S. who are likely
to visit a Caribbean destination during the next two years would be
willing to change their vacation plans to go to Cuba instead. And 19
percent of U.S. adults said they would consider taking a vacation to
Cuba during the next two years. Questions about Cuba had never been
included in the survey before.
Kim Cavendish, president and CEO of the Museum of Discovery and Science
in Fort Lauderdale, has been thinking about making the short trip for "a
long time," she said. And just within the past week, she finally made
arrangements for a people-to-people trip in April.
"I like to travel, I like to visit other cultures and see new places,"
she said. "Cuba is something that's what, 90 miles away? And yet we
haven't been allowed to go there for some time."
With a small group, she will visit cultural sites, museums, community
projects, a dolphin preserve and other locations to scout out the
possibility of including Cuba in the museum's adventure travel program
in the next year or so.
She said she's seen firsthand that the easing of restrictions doesn't
automatically translate to easy planning.
"I think this idea that we're all going to be able to pop off to Cuba is
still going to be in the future," she said.
In the meantime, more travel companies are jumping in to help.
A spokeswoman for the American Society of Travel Agents said there was
"immediate interest" from members who wanted more information about
selling travel to Cuba after the December and January announcements. The
organization has scheduled an online seminar for March 11.
When the United States Tour Operators Association hosted a webinar on
the subject in mid-February, more than 100 people listened in.
"I think everyone's very interested in how do we get a piece of the
action," said Terry Dale, the association's president and CEO.
"Absolutely the needle has moved."
With its partner ABC Charters, JetBlue is adding an additional weekly
charter flight from Tampa to Havana in June. Kayak.com is now listing
information on flights to Cuba and hotels, though it does not include
booking links. Cuba Cruise, a Canadian cruise operator that launched in
2013, now promotes its trips around Cuba to Americans and American
travel agents.
And the booking site CheapAir.com just added flights to Cuba to its
search engine on Thursday, packaging trips from the U.S. that go through
Mexico.
"Right after the announcements of the changes in regulation, we started
seeing a big uptick in searches for Cuba," from almost none to 50 or 60
searches a day, said CheapAir CEO Jeff Klee.
Still, travel agents say they expect demand to explode when travelers
can set their own agendas free of any restrictions. Michelle Weller,
director of operations for a Travel Leaders agency in Houston, wrote in
an email that most people asking about travel don't want a
people-to-people tour.
"When Cuba can offer an atmosphere where Americans can hang out at
all-inclusives or bar hop in old Havana, dancing to local Cuban music
and smoking Cuban cigars at Ernest Hemingway haunts like La Floridita,
you will see a massive wave of tourists flood the country," she wrote.
This report includes comments from the Public Insight Network, an online
community of people who have agreed to share their opinions with the
Miami Herald and WLRN. Become a source at MiamiHerald. com/insight.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of Americans* visiting Cuba has increased significantly since
2009, though there was a dip in 2013, the most recent year that
statistics are available. Overall, the number of visitors has steadily
increased.
Year United States Total
2009 52,455 2,429,809
2010 63,046 2,531,745
2011 73,566 2,716,317
2012 98,050 2,838,607
2013 92,348 2,852,572
Source: Cuba's National Statistics Office
* The figures do not include Cuban-Americans traveling to visit family.
VISITING CUBA TODAY
Under rules released earlier this year, U.S.-born individuals who fall
under one of 12 categories can visit Cuba without getting specific
advance permission from the U.S. government. Groups comprised of people
in those categories — such as professional and educational groups — can
create their town people-to-people style trips without U.S. government
permission.
Airline space and hotels are surprisingly easy to arrange using
guidebooks — as those from Moon and Lonely Planet — and the internet.
(And yes, some sites will take your credit card.) What isn't so easy is
finding space in hotels, so you're best to secure that first, then book
your air.
Here's the process:
Lodging:
Cuba Travel Network, cubatravelnetwork.com, books official hotels online
and accepts credit cards. (All hotels are owned either fully or partly
by the government.)
Many casas particulares — B&B rooms in private homes — can be reserved
online and paid once you arrive. One good, responsive source is
casaincuba.com.
Airlines:
Go to the website of a Cuba airline broker (you'll find a list at
http://cubatrips.org/charter-flights-to-cuba.html). (CheapAir.com. also
is offering flights, but via Mexico.)
Fill out a request. (You can't just pick a flight online.)
The broker will be back in touch with the OFAC authorization form. You
will need to check the qualifying category, sign and return, before the
airline can book your flights.
About three weeks prior to flight time, the broker will supply tickets
and a tourist card that allows entry into Cuba.
On the ground:
Recent visitors advise grabbing a good guidebook and asking at your
lodging for guides and taxis. Most recommend against renting a car and
driving yourself.
JANE WOOLDRIDGE
Source: U.S. demand for travel to Cuba rises amid thaw in U.S.-Cuba
relations | Miami Herald Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article11763743.html
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