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Cuba winks at 'back-door
travelers' from U.S.
By Rosemary McClure, Los
Angeles Times. Posted February 19 2006 in
the Sun-Sentinel.
The Cuban government cooperates with
backdoor travelers; customs officials generally
do not stamp the passports of Americans
when they enter. "All travelers are
legal as far as we're concerned," said
Miguel Alejandro Figueras, a Cuban tourism
official.
U.S. sanctions limiting travel to Cuba
have waxed and waned in the last four decades.
Travel loosened during the Clinton administration;
it has tightened during the Bush administration.
Backdoor travelers risk penalties ranging
from a warning letter to $65,000 fines.
But many backdoor travelers say free travel
is their constitutional right. "Making
it difficult for us to visit doesn't help
the Cuban people. It just makes life harder
for them," said a Chicago businessman
who loves Cuba and visits frequently, sometimes
illegally. "I think tougher restrictions
have more to do with the politics of Florida
than anything else," he said, speculating
that President Bush and his brother, Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush, are influenced by the Cuban
exile community in Miami.
Backdoor travelers usually play down the
hazards, but the U.S. government managed
to ferret out about 500 of them between
January and October last year.
Copyright 2006, Sun-Sentinel
Co. & South Florida Interactive Inc.
Sun-Sentinel.com, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd.,
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301
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