The Cuban Connection

My neighbors went to Cuba this winter. They also went last winter. My other neighbors are going soon. It’s a terrific vacation spot, they say. Wonderful people, great beaches, good food, interesting sights and all at good prices. They’re Canadians, of course. They can go to Cuba any time they want to if they’ve got the price of the tour ticket.

I can’t go to Cuba, of course, because I am an American, one of the 300 million Americans who live in the midst of incredible freedom. Although not, of course, freedom to travel to Cuba. And this is because??? Really??? Is it really because the votes of the Cuban emigres in Florida are so important to both the Republicans and Democrats that ordinary Americans have been forbidden to travel to Cuba for about 50 years? Incredible. The land of the free, all that. Of course, it’s not quite true that it’s illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba. The right to travel is a Constitutionally-protected right. What’s illegal is for you to spend any money should you inexplicably find yourself in Cuba. That, dear ones, turns out not to be a freedom enshrined within the Constitution.

Some Americans do go to Cuba, of course. If you are a politician or a government bureaucrat, you can go there on a “Fact Finding Tour,” although I don’t know that any of them are actually interested in finding any facts. Facts about mojito drinking, is my guess. At some periods in the last 50 years, you have been able to go there if you are an academic or some kind of professional to attend educational conferences. There have also been some arts exchanges over time. And if you are a Cuban-American, you are permitted to go back and forth occasionally to visit relatives (currently, once every three years for two weeks--so generous, don't you know?). During the last 7 years, though, the restrictions have been dramatically tightened. If the American government discovers you have gone to Cuba without its explicit permission—which you are not likely to get--there is something like a $15,000 fine.

But despite that, Americans do go. Half a million+ Canadians visit Cuba each year. Not so many Americans. I don’t suppose anybody knows exactly how many Americans show up, other than the Cubans, who do not choose to reveal the information. If you are a Cuban-American with relatives in Cuba, as I understand it, you have to get permission from Cuba to appear at their doorstep. But if you are just a standard issue U.S. citizen and you start your trip to Cuba from Canada or from Mexico, they’re pleased to see you, but don’t bring a credit card.

My Canadian friends say there are often Americans on the tours they take to Cuba, whether it’s for a week in the sun on Veradado Beach, a history and arts visit in Havana, or a tour of the entire island. Cuba has been deeply involved in working to restore its cultural heritage by restoring the buildings of old Havana and that in itself, the Canadians tell me, is worth the trip. I wouldn’t know, of course. I’m an American.

The Cubans and the Canadians, I’m also told, are very protective of Americans who do make it to Cuban shores to see the sights of the Forbidden Island. The Cubans are careful not to stamp U.S. travelers’ passports, and the Canadians are careful to check those passports upon return to make sure that nothing got accidentally stamped. Considerate of them both. More considerate, I’d say, than those who think freedom means votes for them from Cuban-Americans who are still pissed at Castro. Indeed, I have begun to think of the Florida Cuban-Americans as our Palestinians. The Arab countries are always promising the Palestinians that they will be restored to their homeland with restitution for their intervening hardships, and I presume that the Cuban Americans are similarly looking to the U.S. government to be restored to their homeland, with comparable restitution. As far as I know, though, the Arabs don’t forbid their citizens from visiting Israel. Although somebody else may.

My Canadian friends, on the other hand, have no Palestinians or Cuban emigres of their own, so they go wherever they want. Lucky them.