CUBA NEWS
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US moves deadline for US citizens to
leave Cuba
WASHINGTON, 29 (AFP) - US citizens in Cuba
have an extra month to return to the United
States to avoid penalties under tough new
measures to tighten the existing US embargo
on Cuba, the State Department said Tuesday,
one day before new rules take effect.
"On June 15, we published new travel
regulations that require travelers in Cuba
on family visits to return by June 30,"
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
President George W. Bush announced the
new measures last month, strengthening the
US embargo against Cuba by restricting Cuban-Americans'
cash remittances to relatives on the island
and limiting family visits between the United
States and Cuba to one every three years.
The new rules are part of a multi-million
dollar program designed to speed the decline
of the only communist government in the
Americas.
"In response to those regulations,
travelers and others expressed concern that
they may not be able to get back in time,"
Ereli said.
"So now, instead of having to return
by June 30, they have until July 31 to return,"
he said.
Passengers Prohibited From Boarding
Flights To Cuba
Tue Jun 29, 1:50 PM ET.
WPLG Click10.com.
Hundreds of people at Miami International
Airport are furious today after they were
not allowed to board charter flights to
Cuba.
The charter flights were not approved by
the proper U.S. agencies, leaving hopeful
travelers frustrated, angry and sad. Dozens
of them lined up at MIA, chanting, "We
want to fly."
The confusion arose because the Department
of Treasury cleared the flights, but the
Department of State did not approve them.
Airline spokesman Joel Cortez said the
passengers will have to go back to their
travel agents to get refunds.
The crowds were trying to beat new travel
restrictions, banning the flights starting
Wednesday. The planes took off empty for
Cuba, since they still had to pick up other
passengers waiting on the island.
Fund for Reconciliation and Development:
New Bush Administration Restrictions on
Cuba Travel Prompt Support for Kerry
As US sanctions take effect, Cuban exiles
fear for families
MIAMI, 29 (AFP) - US President George W.
Bush's tough new sanctions on Cuba kick
in on Wednesday, but even the staunchest
opponents of the island's communist government
are worried about the tightened rules on
travel and remittances.
Bush announced the new measures last month,
strengthening the US embargo against Cuba
by restricting Cuban-Americans' cash remittances
to relatives on the island and limiting
family visits between the United States
and Cuba to one every three years.
The remittances are a pillar of the Cuban
economy, worth some 1.2 billion dollars
a year, and tens of thousands of people
return to Cuba every year for family reasons.
Some 1.5 million Cuban exiles live in the
United States, half of them in Florida,
a key state in the November presidential
election.
But while Cuban exiles oppose the island's
leader Fidel Castro with a passion, many
have also criticized the new sanctions.
"This will not do any harm to Fidel,"
Cuban-American Maria Helena Martinez told
Telemundo television. "The measures
will hit the Cuban people, who have already
reached the limit of possible suffering."
The Cuban American National Foundation,
one of the leading anti-Castro groups here,
has expressed doubt about the new measures.
"We are not entirely convinced that
this proposed reduction of the flow of funds
to the Castro regime justifies the limitation
of not only the right but also the responsibility
of the Cuban exile to help protect the well
being of our family members," the foundation
said in a statement.
It said that "the bonds of family,
intrinsic in Cuban culture and nationality,"
are enabling the community to thrive and
remain greatly dedicated to the cause of
seeking freedom and democracy for Cuba.
"Not oppression, distance, time ...
has lessened the desire of the Cuban exile
to help and protect whose who live under
Castro's tyranny," the foundation said.
Some measures announced by Bush, such as
support for Cuban dissidents, have been
met with approval, according to Joe Garcia,
executive director of the foundation.
But he believes restrictions on travel
were a mistake.
"It puts the administration at a disadvantage
in the debate over family values,"
Garcia pointed out.
The new sanctions are hurting Cuban-Americans
and may result in Bush losing some Cuban-American
votes during the November presidential election,
according to the Cuban American Commission
for Family Rights.
For once, the exiles and the Cuban government
now appear to agree on something.
"It's a cruel measure aimed at the
families," said Dagoberto Rodriguez,
chief of the Cuban Interests Section in
Washington.
Most of the 400,000 Cuban-American voters
in Florida played a crucial role in ensuring
Bush's razor-thin victory in the state in
2000.
However, the new sanctions could shake
this support.
In a letter to The Miami Herald titled
"Cubans for Kerry," a Cuban-American
from Miami, Maria Kramer, wrote: "Many
Cubans realize that Cuba policy has not
fared better under Republicans. Unless someone
discovers that sugar cane can be converted
in oil, Cuba is not going to be liberated."
Alberto Fernandez, who has been living
in Miami since the 1980s, insists the Bush
administration is right to put pressure
on the Cuban government.
But he disagrees with measures concerning
Cuban families.
"For Cubans families are the most
important thing," he said.
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