Travel - A Catalyst for Transforming the Relationship Between Cuba and America

The U.S. today has an historic opportunity to put aside half a century of division and build a new future with one of its closest neighbors by ending the ban on travel to Cuba.

President Barack Obama took a bold first step by calling for a 'new beginning' and by making it easier for Cuban Americans to visit family in Cuba. Soon afterwards Raul Castro, the new Cuban leader, announced he is ready to talk. This represents a remarkable shift in a relationship previously marked by mutual antagonism.

I applaud these developments, but am convinced that American foreign policy would benefit by advancing more boldly and giving all U.S. citizens the freedom to travel to Cuba.

Two new leaders reaching out to each other to bridge historic differences represents an unprecedented opportunity. We should seize it.

The interaction between people from countries with differing perspectives can be a powerful force for positive change and understanding. In 1971 the U.S. State Department lifted the ban on travel to China. Later that year the U.S. ping-pong team made the first visit to China by a U.S. sports team since 1949. A year later President Nixon took a few momentous steps off an airplane in Beijing and talked about "the week that changed the world."

These early moves laid the groundwork for turning a closed, hostile relationship into the most important economic and diplomatic relationship in the world today. Does this mean China and the U.S. always see eye to eye? Of course not. However the increased levels of travel between China and America have fostered a level of understanding unimaginable 35 years ago.

Our experience with China leads me to believe that America should follow a similar path of engagement with Cuba.

Americans support such a policy. With Fidel Castro no longer officially in power, the Zogby/Inter-American Dialogue Survey last year showed that over two-thirds of Americans believe that all U.S. citizens should be allowed to travel to Cuba. U.S. citizens are already voting with their feet, visiting Cuba via a third country such as Canada, Mexico or a neighboring Caribbean island. This is despite the challenges in getting to Cuba that stem from the ban prohibiting U.S. travel companies such as Orbitz from facilitating their journey.

Beyond the politics, we all stand to gain significantly through renewed cultural exchange.

Havana was once a premier international destination; elegant hotels such as the Hotel Nacional hosted distinguished guests including Frank Sinatra and Winston Churchill. Havana's splendid architecture is some of the most eclectic and diverse in the world, its music is world-renowned, and it has a vibrant artistic community. Americans should once again have the opportunity to take in Cuba's sights, to explore its history, to be entranced by the rhythms of its salsa and son.

I was able to experience Cuba during a visit 1997 before I moved to the U.S., and was struck by the warmth and friendliness of the Cuban people. Visiting Cuba would provide Americans with a vibrant cultural and historical experience and provide a fascinating contrast to life in the United States. Cubans would benefit from having the opportunity to meet with American travelers and learn about the U.S.

President Obama has said "we must learn from history, but we can't be trapped by it." We at Orbitz agree. This is why we are launching a new campaign, at www.OpenCuba.org, which offers ordinary Americans an opportunity to make their voice heard and call on policy leaders to open travel to Cuba for all Americans.

Why can't all of us visit this alluring neighbor and play a part in transforming the relationship between two countries?

Americans have the freedom to travel to every other country in the world, even those with whose leadership the U.S. has significant differences. That freedom provides an opportunity for U.S. citizens to experience the world and share the message of what America has to offer the world. Isn't it time to bring that message to Cuba?

Comments

[postor1]

The team of real Cuba experts at the Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, published a report today showing the results experienced by all those countries that "eagerly" took advantage of that "great opportunity" and traded with Castro and his brother on credit.

Venezuela, Cuba's #1 trading partner, is owed $11.4 BILLION DOLLARS!

Spain, in 2nd. place, is owed $3.2 billion; followed by China $3.17; Japan $2.77; Argentina $1.96 and France $1.85.

The total foreign debt of the Castro brothers is $31.681 BILLION DOLLARS!

And that doesn't take into consideration the non-convertible debt owed to Russia and some of its former satellites, which amounts to another $21 billion.

The US sold $750 million to Cuba last year and is owed $0.0 because we require cash in advance, the only way that you can trade with crooks who never pay their bills.

So you know what we can expect if Mr. Donohue and the others who want to sell Castro on credit, succeed.

The Castros will get billions of dollars, US corporations will make millions and the US taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.

Click here to read the entire ICCAS report

[postor1]

Sorry.....here is thel ilnk for the ICCAS report:

http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FACTS_Web/Cuba%20Facts%20Issue%2047%20May.htm

[goldcoastsailor]

Cuba should have a professional baseball team.

[postor1]

Cuban embargo imbroglio

"Some argue American tourists in Cuba would promote democracy and freedom. They are wrong; they misunderstand the lessons of Eastern Europe".


(corrected link)
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/imbroglio.htm

[IntellectuallyHonest]

What is taking Congress so long to repeal the ban on travel to Cuba? What right do they have to impede our freedom of movement? Are they busy goofing off at bars and nightclubs again?

[postor1]

Cuban embargo imbroglio

"Some argue American tourists in Cuba would promote democracy and freedom. They are wrong; they misunderstand the lessons of Eastern Europe".

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/nov/06/20041106-102515-1858r/J

[postor1]

Sorry for the bad link.
Please see my next posting.

Thanks!

[postor1]

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J. on realities in Cuba

I urge everyone to look at the speech by Senator Menendez D-NJ on youtube (a link posted here). He details the truth about life in Cuba, and the abuses of the Castro dictatorship. It should be required watching for those which have apparently abandoned their moral duty to freedom, and to the oath we all have taken to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Shame! pro-Castro elements for participating in such a sham, and for espousing admiration for the Castro brothers and their totalitarian regime. I expect such excesses from radicals, but not from anyone who thinks clearly, or from anyone who values freedom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vbpJ6Ishbg

[postor1]

America's stance

You cannot appease nor negotiate with EVIL! The only ones who will benefit from these actions are the Castros.

100,000 cubans murdered....more than 300,000 have suffered prison...almost one third of population in exile...and thousands drowning in the ocean every year escaping from hell....and they only think of Cuba as a "vacation" spot.

I remember well during the "apartheid" years in South Africa, how all these anti-embago voices (for Cuba) demanded from the United States a total economic blockade. Now they happily advocate for total "engagement" with a 50 years old totalitarian regime.


Here is a famous quote by Dr. Martin Luther King:

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. ... So in order to be true to one's conscience and true to God, a righteous man has no alternative but to refuse to cooperate with an evil system." From Dr King's book "Stride Toward Freedom," Page 51.

For some insensitives, the Castro brothers are more important than the stifled freedom voices languishing in Castros' jails....but most American citizens do not dismiss history as lightly as you seem to do. Intelligent people are not fooled by your rantings. America has always stood alone when it comes to moral issues. The fact that others in this imperfect world recognize Cuba and its regime has absolutely NO bearing on America's stance

[luziannagirl]

Must admit I miss smooth-voiced, glib ex-pat Ed Newman's nightly headline news anti-Bush rants on Radio Havana. Now it's mostly Russian-sounding natives reading badly written geography texts in broken English. Ed Newman must be on extended vacation...or in jail!

[Nyland8]

Cuba should be opened to American tourists - and nothing says tourism like gambling, prostitution and drugs. Lets ask the lesser Castro if he has any problem with making Havana the "Amsterdam of the Caribbean", and save Americans all the hours, jets lag and travel costs of going to Europe. At this point, I'm sure he's too old to remember what revolution was all about.

Plus, Hershey would like their sugar cane fields back.

Then all will be forgiven.

8

[Soapfan]

It Would also make u and your company alot of cash.

[negotiatethis]

Ah, but there are Americans in Cuba, tourists and otherwise. And thousands of American church related travelers, students, etc. But I do agree with the sentiment. Rapid unregulated development of Cuba could ruin a beautiful country. http://talkingcuba.wordpress.com/

[Furby]

One of the last places in the world where there are no Americans, tourists or otherwise. I just hope that if Cuba decides to open its doors to American tourism, that it will not let them do to Cuba what they have done to the Yucatan. Tread softly in Cuba, it is a beautiful place AS IS.

[postor1]

Cuba's Bailout!

Fidel Castro decided since 1959 to confiscate American properties . He executed and jailed Americans and didn't want us there. During the October Missile Crisis of 1962, Castro wrote a personal letter to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushev, begging him to "nuke" the United States. Castro supported all anti-American efforts in Latin America: Tupamaros, Montoneros, FMLN guerrillas; and now is the political adviser of Hugo Chavez and other anti- American crusaders. Now he wants the U.S. taxpayers to recue his failed oppressive regime.

Castro will pocket 5 billion dollars if American tourists go there. Some will go for cuban cigars, rum and child prostitution (jineteras) promoted by the authorities. Others in the extreme left, will go to reaffirm their ideological convictions and to bring back home fresh anti- American slogans from "el Comandante". It will be much worst if the U.S. decides to favor no scruples mercantilsts and open lines of cedit to a regime that will never pay its debts. We, the American taxpayers will end up paying Fidel Castro's bills. After 50 years of communism, Cubans see the United States and the "American Way of Life " as the raw model for their future. This policy will destroy our present moral stature in the eyes of the oppressed people in Cuba. They need freedom.....but have no use for insensitive profiteers, abusive adventurers, communist fellow travelers or Castro siypathizers. It would be wise if this money stay home to help aliviate our economic situation

[WorkingClass]

The Cold War is over. You should get out more.

[postor1]

The Miami Herald > Florida AP
Thursday, 05.07.09

8 months later, 4 bodies identified as Cubans

The Associated Press

KEY LARGO, Fla. -- Eight months later, the four bodies found floating in the Florida Keys have been identified as Cuban rafters.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday it used DNA, a tattoo, an uncle's identification and the process of elimination. Authorities say they also received help from an independent journalist in Cuba and the Cuban Democracy Movement in Miami.

The bodies were identified as Jorge Gonzalez, Osmani Segura, Rolando Alberna, and Ivan Pelaez.

Their decomposed bodies chewed by sharks were found after last summer's Tropical Storm Fay swept through the area. Family members said the men were from a group who fled Cuba on a homemade raft to avoid being jailed for their human rights activism. The raft and the others on board were never found.

[CitizenT]

Shame on Cuba for not wanting to be owned by the mafia and US mega-corporations (pardon my redundancy).

[Sundialsvc4]

Indeed.

We used to have three times a day regular ferry service between Key West and Havana ... and we should have again.

[postor1]

Indeed!!!!

When the Castros are GONE.......

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6457487165214775375

[postor1]

Cuba's Bailout!

.
Fidel Castro decided since 1959 to confiscate American properties . He executed and jailed Americans and didn't want us there. During the Missile Crisis of 1962, Castro wrote to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushev, begging him to "nuke" the United States. Castro supported all anti-American efforts in Latin America: Tupamaros, Montoneros, FMLN guerrillas; and now is the political adviser of Hugo Chavez and other anti- American crusaders. Now he wants the U.S. taxpayers to rescue his failed oppressive regime.

It is estimated that Castro will pocket 5 billion dollars from new tourists. Some will go to enjoy cuban cigars, rum and underage prostitution (jineteras) promoted by the authorities. Others in the extreme left, to reaffirm their ideological convictions and to bring back home fresh anti- American slogans from "el Comandante". It certainly will be much worst if The U.S. now decides to favor our no scruples mercantilsts and open lines of cedit to a regime that will never pay its debts. We, the American taxpayers will end up paying Fidel Castro's bills. After 50 years of communism, Cubans see the United States and the "American Way of Life " as the raw model for their future.. This policy will destroy our present moral stature in the eyes of the oppressed people in Cuba. They need freedom.....but have no use for insensitive profiteers, abusive adventurers, communist fellow travelers or Castro siypathizers. It would be wise if all this money stay home to aliviate our awful economic situation.