End the Travel Ban on Cuba

New U.S. cities to open direct flights to Cuba

Big news! Havanatur Celimar, which is the branch of Cuban tour operator Havanatur that handles the U.S. travel market, has reported that Cuba has approved a bundle of U.S. airports, plus charter service providers and relevant airlines, for landing rights in a variety of Cuban airports (Havana, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, and Manzanillo). These U.S. airports have already received U.S. permission to begin charter flights to Cuba, as directed by President Obama in January of this year.

:2011, Blog Posts, Cuba, Mavis Anderson

Voting Record for Rivera Amendment to HR 2583

On July 21st 2011, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed an amendment proposed by Rep. David Rivera (R-FL 25th) to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act FY 2012 (HR 2583). This amendment mirrors and extends language proposed by Mr. Diaz-Balart. Mr. Rivera’s amendment would repeal ALL changes made by President Obama since his inauguration, restricting travel for families AND for educational, religious, and people-to-people trips.

Look below to see if your representative sits on the HCFA and how he/she voted. Then click here to either "thank" or "scold" your representative for his/her action!

Voted FOR Rivera Amendment
•    Ackerman, Gary L, D-NY-5
•    Bilirakis, Gus, R-FL-9
•    Buerkle, Ann Marie, R-NY-25
•    Burton, Dan, R-IN-5
•    Cardoza, Dennis, D-CA-18
•    Carnahan, Russ, D-MO-3
•    Chabot, Steve, R-OH-1
•    Chandler, Ben, D-KY-6
•    Cicilline, David, D-RI-1
•    Connolly, Gerald E, D-VA-11
•    Deutch, Theodore E, D-FL-19
•    Duncan, Jeff, R-SC-3
•    Ellmers, Renee, R-NC-2
•    Engel, Eliot L, D-NY-17
•    Faleomavaega, Eni F.H, D-AS-At-large
•    Fortenberry, Jeff, R-NE-1
•    Gallegly, Elton, R-CA-24
•    Griffin, Tim, R-AR-2
•    Higgins, Brian, D-NY-27
•    Johnson, Bill, R-OH-6
•    Keating, William, D-MA-10
•    Kelly, Mike, R-PA-3
•    Mack, Connie, R-FL-14
•    Manzullo, Donald A, R-IL-16
•    Marino, Tom, R-PA-10
•    McCaul, Michael, R-TX-10
•    Poe, Ted, R-TX-2
•    Rivera, David, R-FL-25
•    Rohrabacher, Dana, R-CA-46
•    Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana, R-FL-18
•    Royce, Edward, R-CA-40
•    Schmidt, Jean, R-OH-2
•    Sires, Albio, D-NJ-13
•    Smith, Christopher H, R-NJ-4
•    Wilson, Joe, R-SC-2
•    Wilson, Frederica, D-FL-17

Voted AGAINST Rivera Amendment
•    Bass, Karen, D-CA-33
•    Berman, Howard L, D-CA-28
•    Meeks, Gregory W, D-NY-6
•    Murphy, Christopher S, D-CT-5
•    Payne, Donald M, D-NJ-10
•    Schwartz, Allyson Y, D-PA-13

PASSED/NOT VOTING
• Sherman, Brad, D-CA-27

NOT PRESENT
• Paul, Ron, R-TX-14
• Pence, Mike, R-IN-6

:Interesting Links

More on efforts to roll back Cuba travel regulations

Just when we thought things were somewhat under control (i.e., Rep. Diaz-Balart’s amendment to restrict family travel to Cuba to Bush-era regulations – see our last e-alert here – would not remain in the final bill), another nasty amendment reared its ugly head.

:2011, Action Alerts

Obama Defends Cuba Policy with Veto Threat!

First, let’s take a moment to exhale…

Yesterday, President Obama and his staff in the White House released a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) that provided Congress with the Executive Office’s views on H.R. 2434, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2012. This is the appropriations bill that was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on June 23rd, which included Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart’s (R-FL-21) amendment that intends to restrict Cuban-American family travel and remittances to Cuba.

:2011, Action Alerts

Cuban Americans Don’t Want This

Regarding a recent attempt by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL 21st) to restrict Cuban-American family travel to Cuba, it is reported that Rep. Diaz-Balart maintains that an overwhelming 90% of the Cuban-American community supports his amendment.

:2011, Blog Posts, Cuba, Emily Chow, End the Travel Ban on Cuba

“How-to” Travel to Cuba

how_to_image As of April 21, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released new travel guidelines for travel to Cuba that mirror the intentions of President Obama’s directive aimed at liberalizing the regulations. Under these guidelines, many groups that have been previously denied access to Cuba can now travel under either general or specific licenses.

To travel to Cuba, you must be eligible under regulations published by the U.S. Treasury Department. There are two kinds of licenses: a General License, which requires no permission or advance notification to U.S. officials; and a Specific License, an actual piece of paper for which one needs to apply to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) which oversees the travel restrictions within the U.S. Treasury Department.

To learn how YOU can travel to Cuba, we invite you to take a look at the on-line brochures that LAWGEF has compiled. These brochures are intended to be a guide. If you have further questions regarding travel to Cuba, you should consult the full OFAC guidelines here, or consult with a licensed travel service provider or an attorney. Let the travel begin!

*Please feel free to print these documents as we will not be distributing them via regular mail*

Organizations Sponsoring People-to-People Travel (Just Updated!)
Educational Travel
Religious Travel
People-to-People Travel
Family Travel
List of Licensed Travel Service Providers
List of Licensed Charter Service Providers
Schedule of 2013 Planned Trips to Cuba (Just Updated!)
* This list is not comprehensive, rather a compliation of some organizations that are organizing group trips to Cuba.
Become an Advocate for Policy Change
Share YOUR Travel Story

Background:

The United States maintains travel restrictions on no other country in the world except Cuba. Restrictions on travel to Cuba have existed since 1961, except under President Jimmy Carter beginning in 1977. Restrictions were re-imposed in 1982 during the Reagan Administration, codified (written into law) under the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and were tightened further by the Bush Administration in 2004. Since being codified, only Congress can end the travel ban (and the embargo) through legislative action (passing a law). The President has limited powers to loosen—or tighten—regulations that govern 12 categories of travel.

The restrictions apply to all citizens and residents of the United States—no matter whether you travel to Cuba through a third country, or even if you hold citizenship from another country. Up to 2009, travel was severely limited for all Americans until President Obama eased restrictions for Cuban Americans visiting family. On January 14, 2011, President Obama directed that travel regulations be eased for certain categories of citizens, and many more people are now able to travel to Cuba without breaking the law (a law which we consider to be a violation of our fundamental rights as citizens of the United States).

:2011, End the Travel Ban on Cuba, Travel Resources

The Human Cost: Cubans and Cuban Americans talk about their lives and the U.S. embargo

This report is a condensed version of a longer work by Dr. Mercedes Arce Rodriguez. It translates the debate about the U.S. embargo on Cuba into a human lexicon. In the stories told by Cubans on the island, Cubans living in the United States, and Cuban Americans, we hear what the U.S. embargo means for their daily lives. Some of the stories are painful tales of family separation, or tragic accounts of children denied access to medicine. Some reflect the psychological hardships and insecurity that many Cubans feel. Some recount the frustration people feel with the U.S. government, with the Cuban government, and with the bureaucratic red tape involved in overcoming the barriers between the two countries.

This publication is divided in two parts in order to accommodate for the size of the file. The first 36 pages are in part 1 and the remaining 17 pages are in part 2.

Part 1 (PDF)

Part 2 (PDF)

*A hard copy of the report is available from the Latin America Working Group for the price of postage only. To order, email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call us at 202-546-7010

:Publications

Family travel to Cuba reverts to cruel Bush-era regs

Today the House Appropriations Committee voted in favor of an amendment, put forth by Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida (R-FL 21st), to the FY 2012 Financial Services Appropriations bill. This amendment, which passed by voice vote, rescinds changes that President Obama made in 2009 to Cuban-American family travel and remittances regulations. If this amendment were to become law, Cuban Americans would only be permitted to visit their families in Cuba once every three years, with a limited definition of what constitutes family, and with no humanitarian exceptions. Cuban Americans would also be limited in what they could send in remittances to Cuba. We would be back to Bush Administration-era regulations on family travel. This is totally unacceptable.

:2011, Action Alerts

Cuba Travel in Jeopardy

by Mavis, Paulo, Emily and Andrew, LAWG Cuba Team on June 22, 2011

We fought for "travel for all" and we got "travel for some." Now we face the possibility of "travel for none. "

The House Appropriations Committee is meeting first thing tomorrow morning, and Cuba may very well come up. Opponents of exchange with Cuba will likely offer amendments to the financial services appropriations bill that will reverse the changes the President has made during his term in office – which has allowed travel by Cuban-American families, students and professors, religious groups, academics, musicians. We can't let this happen.

:2011, Action Alerts