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No
cars for Cubans
The
Washington Times, Wednesday,
August 27, 2003.
The State Department yesterday prohibited Cuban
diplomats here from buying new cars in the United
States in retaliation for similar rules imposed
on American diplomats in Cuba.
"The primary effect of these terms and
conditions ... is to restrict the ability of the
Cuban Interests Section and its personnel to purchase,
lease or sell any vehicle in the United States,"
the department said in a notice published in the
Federal Register.
The new rules allow Cuban diplomats to keep
cars they already own, buy used cars from embassies
in Washington or purchase new automobiles from
overseas vendors. The rules also prohibit them
from leasing cars for more than 30 days.
The State Department said Cuba makes it "inordinately
difficult, if not altogether impossible"
for American diplomats to buy or sell vehicles
in Cuba.
"For some time, the Cuban government has
imposed a series of impediments, obstructions,
denials of service, and unjustifiable costs upon
the functioning of the U.S. Interests Section
and living conditions of the Interests Section's
employees and dependents," the department
said.
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