By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer. October 23,
2001. CNS News
(CNSNews.com) - Cuba will not meet its goal of "welcoming more than two
million foreign visitors this year," said Tourism Minister Ibrahim
Ferradaz.
He blames the downturn on the "current international crisis" and
the recent terrorist attacks in the United States.
Radio Havana quoted Ferradaz as saying that tourism to Cuba was off five
percent in September, compared with the same period last year. It dropped 13
percent in the first two weeks of October.
Ferradaz expects the tourism slump to continue for the rest of the year,
although for the year overall, he expects the communist nation to experience a 7
percent increase in tourism over 2000. (He recently lowered the projection to 7
percent from 12 percent.)
Ferradaz conceded that Cuba has not escaped the Sept. 11 crisis that affects
world tourism, but he also expressed optimism that tourism eventually will pick
up. He called it a "circumstantial and not permanent" phenomenon.
According to Ferradaz, Cuba "still constitutes a very attractive,
secure tourism destination for foreign visitors who want to escape the many
dangers of today's world."
He also said the Castro government has ruled out reducing prices in order to
attract tourists. "The current fear is not resolved with reduced prices,
but with higher levels of security," he said.
Ferradaz said the Cuban government has temporarily closed 20 of the
country's 225 hotels, and the downtime will be used for maintenance and repair
work. Workers at those hotels will continue to receive their full salaries while
being given the option of taking courses in what Ferradaz called "their
field of endeavor."
Legally, American citizens are not allowed to visit Cuba, although current
law allows some American citizens such as government officials, selected
journalists, humanitarian workers and business people to go there with special
permission.
Those who violate the ban are subject to fines of up to $55,000.
President Bush refuses to lift the economic embargo until the communist
nation has free elections and frees its political prisoners.
President Bush's Director of Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels
has warned that the president could veto an entire $17 billion Treasury
appropriations bill because one of its provisions would allow Americans to
freely travel to Cuba.
In a letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, Daniels
said the administration is opposed to weakening any "existing sanctions
against the Cuban government."
"If a bill is presented to the president with this provision, his
senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill," Daniels wrote.
The House approved the provision to the Treasury appropriations bill last
July.
It would prohibit the Treasury Department from spending money to enforce
U.S. travel restrictions to the communist nation. The bill was later approved by
the Senate without the travel language. It is still before House-Senate
conferees.
Daniels said, "The administration believes that it is important to
uphold and enforce the law to the fullest extent with a view towards preventing
unlicensed and excessive travel, enforcing limits on remittances, and ensuring
that humanitarian and cultural exchanges actually reach pro-democracy activists
in Cuba."
Young had no reaction. However, his Florida Republican colleague Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban exile, applauded the administration's stance.
She said she received a notice from the White House that "underlines
the president's willingness to veto any law that designates funds to the
Treasury Department if these include measures that weaken American policy toward
the Cuban dictatorship."
Ros-Lehtinen also said, "We cannot breathe life into a regime that
offers support, housing, and intelligence to terrorist groups and a regime that
has declared itself the enemy of the United States."
"Our goals, as always, will be the denial of economic resources that
would not only allow the Castro regime to continue oppressing its people, but
would also allow it to contribute to the terrorist campaign currently being
waged against the United States," Ros-Lehtinen concluded.
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) proposed lifting the travel ban after traveling to
Cuba last month and meeting with Fidel Castro.
Flake said the idea of easing travel to Cuba is gaining support in Congress,
especially after the international custody battle over Elian Gonzalez.
"I think a lot of people saw that the Cuban-American community was just
over the top," said Flake.
Flake also said he spoke with many U.S. business officials in Cuba during
his visit who were researching possible partnerships with the Castro government
in case the embargo is lifted.
"There is no reason to allow the Canadians and the French and the
Italians to get into partnerships and get a start before the Americans,"
said Flake.
All original CNSNews.com material, copyright 1998-2001
Cybercast News Service. | 
