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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Cuba remittance limits feared
The possibility of new
Bush administration curbs on money remittances
to Cuba worries many Cubans in South Florida,
who say their relatives desperately need
the funds sent to the island.
By David Ovalle, dovalle@herald.com.Posted
on Mon, Feb. 16, 2004.
Arnaldo Rangel works 12-hour shifts as
a security guard, usually seven days a week,
to earn only about $1,200 a month. But every
few months, the Opa-locka resident scrapes
together $40, maybe $100, to wire to his
wife and two adult children in Cuba.
He knows where his money goes. His wife
in Cienfuegos uses the funds to buy staples
such as rice, beans, cooking oil and soap.
The U.S. government is not so sure.
The Treasury Department announced this
week that it would ''take a hard look''
at restricting ''remittance'' rules that
allow Cuban Americans to send as much as
$1,200 a year to relatives on the island.
The government wants to be sure that the
money really is ''going to where it's supposed
to,'' Treasury Secretary John Snow said
during a press conference announcing a crackdown
on Cuban-owned companies conducting illegal
business in the United States.
A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department
said Friday that details of how remittance
rules would be changed are still to be determined.
The move to restrict remittances, spokeswoman
Tara Bradshaw said, stems from President
Bush's speech in October that condemned
Cuban President Fidel Castro for recent
crackdowns on dissidents.
VAGUE BUT OMINOUS
Despite the vagueness of Snow's statement,
his words have stirred worries among many
Cuban Americans in South Florida who regularly
send money to family members on the island.
It has also spurred debate in South Florida's
Cuban-American community and, observers
say, highlighted the rifts between older
political exiles and newer economic refugees
from the island.
''The [Cuban Americans] who are in a position
to try and influence U.S. policy are not
the same people who have relatives in Cuba,''
said Lisandro Perez, a sociology professor
at Florida International University.
Many Cuban Americans have family members
on the island who depend on the remittances
because many goods can be bought only with
dollars. Some send only tangible goods such
as blankets and medicine because they fear
hard cash will end up in the hands of Cuban
officials.
Others say they have heard the threats
of remittance restrictions before and dismiss
such talk as election-year pandering to
Cuban-American voters. And some, like Rangel,
the security guard, say that if the government
does restrict remittances, Cuban Americans
would still find ways to get cash to their
families.
''The wages are so low in Cuba,'' said
Rangel, who left his family eight years
ago after being granted a U.S. visa. "They
need dollars to survive.''
Various estimates say remittances contribute
between $400 million and $1 billion to the
island's economy each year, making it the
largest source of revenue behind tourism.
Sending cash to Cuba is a cottage industry
in South Florida, sometimes legal, sometimes
not.
Wire transfer services, such as Western
Union and hosts of smaller agencies, are
authorized to send money to the island.
The legal option, however, is not always
popular.
When Western Union began wiring money directly
to Cuba in 1999, many people shied away
because they had to fill out an affidavit
and pay a $29 flat fee. A year ago, Miami-based
UNO Money Transfer, which has 500 locations
nationwide, stopped sending money to Cuba
because it was averaging only about 10 orders
per month.
FINDING A WAY
''My sense is that if they restrict it,
[remittances] will still go through anyway,''
said Oscar Garcia, UNO Money Transfer's
president.
Indeed, Cuban Americans say they sometimes
circumvent the rules by paying travelers
a commission, sometimes as high as 15 percent,
to smuggle bundles of bills to the island.
Travelers to the island can take up to
$300 per household for people who are related
to them; it is illegal to carry money on
anyone else's behalf.
Hard-line anti-Castro activists, many who
left the island decades ago, have long derided
remittances as contributing to a brutal
government. Cuban households with senior-level
Cuban government or Communist Party members
are not supposed to receive remittance money.
''The money goes to the dollar stores,
and who are the owners? The government,''
said Rodolfo Frómeta, the director
of the exile group Comandos F-4. "The
Cuban government gets it all.''
'DIVERSIONARY TACTIC'
The president of the Cuban American National
Foundation, Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernandez,
called the remittance proposal a ''diversionary
tactic'' by the Bush administration to avoid
tackling tougher issues such as revising
the controversial policy for Cuban migrants
detained at sea.
Political nuances mean little to the Cuban
Americans who gather at the beginning of
each month at the Western Union in a crowded
strip mall on Southwest Eight Street near
Southwest 82nd Avenue.
Pedro, who works at the front counter and
asked that his last name not be used, sees
the same faces every few months.
He knows the stories about the customers'
families, and how poorly they are faring
in Cuba.
He sympathizes because he has more than
20 family members in Cuba, including his
three children. Pedro obtained a U.S. visa
four years ago and wires money to his family
through Western Union.
''I get a certain satisfaction from helping
Cubans send money to their families,'' he
said. "The older Cubans, they don't
feel the pain we do.
"They don't have family to send money
to.''
VITAL ASSISTANCE
A few miles east, at El Almacen Español,
Mario Delgado sat with his wife last week
and filled out paperwork to send packages
to his elderly sister in Cuba, where a salary
of 200 pesos a month equals about $10.
Delgado sighed in exasperation when asked
about the possibility of restricted remittances.
Across the Florida Straits, in the countryside
outside Matanzas, his 65-year-old sister
lives in a shack made of slabs of cardboard
and tin.
She is the only family member left on the
island, but she has not been able to secure
a visa to the United States. So, she waits
for the few dollars and packages her brother
sends every few months.
''Politics don't matter to me,'' Delgado
said. "My sister only lives to eat.''
Herald staff writer Elaine de Valle
contributed to this report.
U.S. Treasury to investigate money being
sent to Cuba
By DAVID OVALLE, Miami Herald.
Posted on Tue, Feb. 17, 2004
MIAMI - Arnaldo Rangel works 12-hour shifts
as a security guard, usually seven days
a week, to earn only about $1,200 a month.
But every few months, the Opa-locka, Fla.,
resident scrapes together $40, maybe $100,
to wire to his wife and two adult children
in Cuba.
He knows where his money goes. His wife
in Cienfuegos, Cuba, uses the funds to buy
staples such as rice, beans, cooking oil
and soap.
The U.S. government is not so sure.
The Treasury Department announced this
week that it would "take a hard look''
at restricting "remittance'' rules
that allow Cuban Americans to send as much
as $1,200 a year to relatives on the island.
The government wants to be sure that the
money really is "going to where it's
supposed to,'' Treasury Secretary John Snow
said during a recent news conference announcing
a crackdown on Cuban-owned companies conducting
illegal business in the United States.
A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department
said last week that details of how remittance
rules would be changed are still to be determined.
The move to restrict remittances, spokeswoman
Tara Bradshaw said, stems from President
Bush's speech in October that condemned
Cuban President Fidel Castro for recent
crackdowns on dissidents.
---
Despite the vagueness of Snow's statement,
his words have stirred worries among many
Cuban Americans in South Florida who regularly
send money to family members on the island.
It has also spurred debate in Florida's
Cuban-American community and, observers
say, highlighted the rifts between older
political exiles and newer economic refugees
from the island.
"The Cuban Americans who are in a
position to try and influence U.S. policy
are not the same people who have relatives
in Cuba,'' said Lisandro Perez, a sociology
professor at Florida International University.
Many Cuban Americans have family members
on the island who depend on the remittances
because many goods can be bought only with
dollars. Some send only tangible goods such
as blankets and medicine because they fear
hard cash will end up in the hands of Cuban
officials.
Others say they have heard the threats
of remittance restrictions before and dismiss
such talk as election-year pandering to
Cuban-American voters. And some, like Rangel,
the security guard, say that if the government
does restrict remittances, Cuban Americans
would still find ways to get cash to their
families.
"The wages are so low in Cuba,'' said
Rangel, who left his family eight years
ago after being granted a U.S. visa. "They
need dollars to survive.''
Various estimates say remittances contribute
between $400 million and $1 billion to the
island's economy each year, making it the
largest source of revenue behind tourism.
Sending cash to Cuba is a cottage industry
in South Florida, sometimes legal, sometimes
not.
Wire transfer services, such as Western
Union and hosts of smaller agencies, are
authorized to send money to the island.
The legal option, however, is not always
popular.
When Western Union began wiring money directly
to Cuba in 1999, many people shied away
because they had to fill out an affidavit
and pay a $29 flat fee. A year ago, Miami-based
UNO Money Transfer, which has 500 locations
nationwide, stopped sending money to Cuba
because it was averaging only about 10 orders
per month.
---
"My sense is that if they restrict
it, remittances will still go through anyway,''
said Oscar Garcia, UNO Money Transfer's
president.
Indeed, Cuban Americans say they sometimes
circumvent the rules by paying travelers
a commission, sometimes as high as 15 percent,
to smuggle bundles of bills to the island.
Travelers to the island can take up to
$300 per household for people who are related
to them; it is illegal to carry money on
anyone else's behalf.
Hard-line anti-Castro activists, many who
left the island decades ago, have long derided
remittances as contributing to a brutal
government. Cuban households with senior-level
Cuban government or Communist Party members
are not supposed to receive remittance money.
"The money goes to the dollar stores,
and who are the owners? The government,''
said Rodolfo Frometa, the director of the
exile group Comandos F-4. "The Cuban
government gets it all.''
---
The president of the Cuban American National
Foundation, Francisco "Pepe'' Hernandez,
called the remittance proposal a "diversionary
tactic'' by the Bush administration to avoid
tackling tougher issues such as revising
the controversial policy for Cuban migrants
detained at sea.
Political nuances mean little to the Cuban
Americans who gather at the beginning of
each month at the Western Union in a crowded
strip mall on Southwest Eight Street near
Southwest 82nd Avenue in Miami.
Pedro, who works at the front counter and
asked that his last name not be used, sees
the same faces every few months.
He knows the stories about the customers'
families, and how poorly they are faring
in Cuba.
He sympathizes because he has more than
20 family members in Cuba, including his
three children. Pedro obtained a U.S. visa
four years ago and wires money to his family
through Western Union.
"I get a certain satisfaction from
helping Cubans send money to their families,''
he said. "The older Cubans, they don't
feel the pain we do.
"They don't have family to send money
to.''
---
A few miles east, at El Almacen Espanol,
Mario Delgado sat with his wife last week
and filled out paperwork to send packages
to his elderly sister in Cuba, where a salary
of 200 pesos a month equals about $10.
Delgado sighed in exasperation when asked
about the possibility of restricted remittances.
Across the Florida Straits, in the countryside
outside Matanzas, his 65-year-old sister
lives in a shack made of slabs of cardboard
and tin.
She is the only family member left on the
island, but she has not been able to secure
a visa to the United States. So, she waits
for the few dollars and packages her brother
sends every few months.
"Politics don't matter to me,'' Delgado
said. "My sister only lives to eat.''
(Knight Ridder correspondent Elaine
de Valle contributed to this report.)
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