UB's study abroad office was forced to cancel its four-week summer session in Havana, Cuba after President George W. Bush enacted new travel restrictions on the communist country. Educational programs less than 10 weeks in length that were previously allowed are now illegal under the restrictions now imposed on Cuba. President Bush's move to implement these restrictions is a blatant election year move to win the Miami-Cuban refugee vote in a coveted swing state. The 42-year-old embargo has failed to remove the Castro regime, which was its intended result. Any further limitations will do nothing more than continue to harm the Cuban people.
The embargo was signed into law under President John F. Kennedy in 1962. Its basic goal as stated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control is "to isolate the Cuban government economically" in an effort to topple the Communist government. Exporting and importing products are outlawed. Shipments of medicine, medical supplies, food and agricultural commodities are permitted but these products must be paid for in cash, which is rarely possible for cash-strapped Cuba. Therefore Cubans are forced to go without basic medicine.
Travel is also severely restricted. For a U.S. citizen to travel legally to Cuba they must apply for and receive a license from the U.S. Treasury Department, the agency in charge of enforcing the embargo. Only certain categories of travel are licensed. Pleasure travel is strictly prohibited. Violators can face penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines as high as $55,000.
The new restrictions were part of a report delivered to the president by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba in May 2004. Bush convened the committee in 2003 to work to identify "ways to hasten Cuba's transition to a free and open society" and how the U.S. government could facilitate this process. The new rules took effect on June 30, 2004.
U.S. citizens with Cuban families are also restricted to visiting once every three years for a total of 14 days. Previous rules allowed annual visits without time limits. These restrictions serve no purpose in eliminating the communist government. It just hurts innocent families.
The Spectrum does not see how these new and harsher regulations will do what the general embargo has failed to do. To open up the Cuban society and work for a regime change, the United States should be encouraging rather than restricting person-to-person interaction, which allows for the exchange of information.
The embargo is not meeting its stated goal and should be lifted. Economic sanctions have created desperate living conditions from which Castro has and will continue to draw power. The good versus evil duality allows Castro to be viewed as the people's victor as he fights the oppressive United States and, in effect, ensures his regime. Allowing Cubans basic and necessary access to food, medicine and their families can only promote democratic opportunities and possibly a change in government.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
