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Travel from U.S. to Cuba
drops sharply
By Rafael Lorente, South
Florida Sun-Sentinel. Posted on Mon, Dec.
20, 2004 in The
San Jose Mercury News.
WASHINGTON - The number of passengers flying
to Cuba from the United States has plummeted
since last year, according to figures compiled
by the State Department. The trend suggests
tougher travel restrictions put in place
last summer by the Bush administration are
having their intended effect.
Since July, when the new regulations took
effect, 50,558 seats have been reserved
on charter flights to Cuba, most originating
in South Florida. During the same period
last year, the number was more than twice
as high: 118,938 seats.
President Bush's new travel restrictions
allow Cuban-Americans to visit relatives
in Cuba only once every three years. Until
this year, such trips could be made every
year.
The new regulations also limit visits to
immediate family members, defined as spouses,
parents, children, siblings, grandchildren
and grandparents.
The restrictions came from recommendations
issued in May as part of the 423-page report
of the Commission for Assistance to a Free
Cuba. Appointed by the president, the commission
was asked to issue recommendations to speed
up a transition to democracy on the island.
One of the main ways to speed that transition,
in the view of Bush administration officials,
is to squeeze Cuban President Fidel Castro's
government by restricting the flow of U.S.
dollars to the island.
The restrictions, which were aimed at Cuban-Americans
who visit family in Cuba, have had a particularly
dramatic effect during this time of holiday
travel.
Reservations are down to 13,735 this month,
a two-thirds drop from the same time last
year.
"It's clear that these new travel
restrictions that have been imposed by President
Bush are dividing Cuban families on both
sides of the straits," said Ingrid
Vaicius, an associate at the Center for
International Policy, a liberal Washington
think tank that advocates overturning travel
restrictions to Cuba. "Separating families
during the holidays is a symbol of a policy
that is unjust and ineffective all year
round."
Thomas Cooper, president of Gulfstream
Air Charter, said his Dania, Fla.-based
company has gone from flying 500 people
a week to flying fewer than 100. The company
has also gone from daily flights using 125-passenger
jets to daily flights using 19-passenger
airplanes.
He said much of his business now comes
from American farmers traveling to Cuba
to sell agricultural products.
The new regulations "didn't really
affect farmers much," he said.
Other charter companies have felt the difference,
too.
"Traffic's definitely down,"
said Robert Hodell, co-owner of Tico Travel,
a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based travel agency.
"We've noticed a big difference between
this year and last year."
That has proponents of a tough policy on
Cuba looking forward to more from the Bush
administration.
Already, the administration has cracked
down on travel by non-Cubans and has begun
judicial proceedings against some people
who traveled to Cuba illegally.
The administration also is looking at ways
to get Radio and TV Marti broadcasts through
Cuban jamming operations and has begun reviewing
millions of dollars in U.S. food sales to
Cuba.
A proposed change under consideration would
force Havana to pay American farmers in
cash before goods have even left U.S. ports.
Such a change could drastically cut food
sales to Cuba.
"This good result is part of a more
comprehensive and carefully calibrated policy
execution by the Bush administration,"
said Jason Poblete, a Cuban-American attorney
and lobbyist in Washington.
"When you review the total policy
... for the past two years, it is clear
that the regime will continue to feel increasing
pressures in 2005 in several areas,"
Poblete said.
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