What made you undertake such an ambitious project as "The Timetable History of Cuba?"
As far as I can remember, I've always had an interest in the history of my people, and this format allows me the opportunity to let the world know about men like José Martí and Antonio Maceo and many others who dedicated their lives to the idea of an independent Cuba.
My hope is to encourage an honest exploration of Cuban History, and to feed the idea that Cuba can and should have the right to choose her own future.
Once we begin to explore the history of the island, we will encounter a five-hundred-year struggle for identity and independence, and we will recognize the grave mistake that is traditional U.S. policy towards Cuba. I call it a mistake because it does not reflect the values that we claim as Americans and teach our children.
As an implant in the land of apple pie and Chevrolet, my heart can't help but remain Cuban. My sensibilities are Cuban.
In my heart, I want my people to continue. To thrive. To offer something of their unique point of view to the world (this would never happen under American tutelage) and not just become a sideshow for people on vacation. Cubans have much to offer the world, such as the ability to genuinely celebrate our differences instead of being frightened by them. Cuba is one of the few places where black and white people can live in peace and harmony. This is something the world sorely needs to learn!
One of the most uniquely beautiful aspects of Cuban history is the fact that during the 30-struggle for independence that began in 1868, the rhetoric of the Cuban Revolution was anti racist. Cuba's revolutionary armies were always integrated, and black soldiers were able to rise to the highest ranks. This unique aspect of Cuban reality has made her a target to be absorbed, controlled and dominated.
miércoles, 5 de mayo de 2010
What do you think of the Helms-Burton Act?
What do you think of the Helms-Burton Act?
In Alice Walker’s open letter to President Clinton, written just after he signed the Helms-Burton Law (which tightened the embargo against Cuba, in 1996), she writes, “The bill is wrong, the embargo is wrong, because it punishes people, some of them unborn, for being who they are.” I agree with her.
For starters, there’s a great deal of hypocrisy in that name. What this legislation does is make it difficult to establish peace, and it tries to force the rest of the world to become hostile against Cuba. This may be why the whole world is in opposition.
According to Wayne Smith, from the Center for International Policy, the CDA is “the brainchild of the ultra-conservative Republican organization, the Cuban-American National Foundation,” and is an example of “how not to advance our objectives” in Cuba. “Thanks to the Cuban Democracy Act,” he says, “ the United States was isolated, with only Israel and Romania voting with us.”
As enhanced by the Helms-Burton Act, the embargo against the Cuban population is considerably meaner than any other U.S. embargo, including those against China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda, Iran, Iraq (during the Gulf War, the U.S. government exempted foods and medicines to the Iraq embargo for humanitarian reasons) and Nicaragua. Non-U.S. firms in countries such as Switzerland, France, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic have reportedly been threatened by U.S. embassy personnel with commercial reprisals unless they canceled planned sales to Cuba of goods ranging from milk to soap.
The meanness of this legislation, and the timing of its implementation, looks very bad for the U.S. from a world perspective, and makes people doubt the wisdom of U.S. leadership. It confirms the fears many people have that the lunatics are all in congress.
In Alice Walker’s open letter to President Clinton, written just after he signed the Helms-Burton Law (which tightened the embargo against Cuba, in 1996), she writes, “The bill is wrong, the embargo is wrong, because it punishes people, some of them unborn, for being who they are.” I agree with her.
For starters, there’s a great deal of hypocrisy in that name. What this legislation does is make it difficult to establish peace, and it tries to force the rest of the world to become hostile against Cuba. This may be why the whole world is in opposition.
According to Wayne Smith, from the Center for International Policy, the CDA is “the brainchild of the ultra-conservative Republican organization, the Cuban-American National Foundation,” and is an example of “how not to advance our objectives” in Cuba. “Thanks to the Cuban Democracy Act,” he says, “ the United States was isolated, with only Israel and Romania voting with us.”
As enhanced by the Helms-Burton Act, the embargo against the Cuban population is considerably meaner than any other U.S. embargo, including those against China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda, Iran, Iraq (during the Gulf War, the U.S. government exempted foods and medicines to the Iraq embargo for humanitarian reasons) and Nicaragua. Non-U.S. firms in countries such as Switzerland, France, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic have reportedly been threatened by U.S. embassy personnel with commercial reprisals unless they canceled planned sales to Cuba of goods ranging from milk to soap.
The meanness of this legislation, and the timing of its implementation, looks very bad for the U.S. from a world perspective, and makes people doubt the wisdom of U.S. leadership. It confirms the fears many people have that the lunatics are all in congress.
What do you think about the embargo against Cuba?
I oppose the economic embargo against Cuba, and welcome a sane and humane policy of peaceful engagement.
As you will learn throughout this web site, Cuba went from four centuries as an unwilling Spanish colony to six decades as an un-willing near-colony to the U.S. When it was finally established that Cubans would no longer accept the cruel and corrupt U.S.-supported governments of the past, and that Cubans felt the right to establish their own type of government and befriend whoever they wished, the Cold War emerged, as did hostilities such as terrorism, sabotage, assassination attempts and the economic embargo. Because of the overwhelming amount of legislation passed in more than forty years of the embargo's existence, it has become a full-blown blockade.
Embargoes are an immoral war-time policy that employs human suffering and disease as political weapons with a very simple logic; the lack of food and hope are supposed to rev-up the affected masses to the point where they implode into civil war and overthrow their government.
The common people, the ones who had the least to say about the type of government they're now stuck with, are the ones who live the effects of the embargo. They are the ones who bear the blunt of the hunger and disease, and the ones that will supposedly rise in arms against their government. Needless to say, these people, the ones the embargo aims to activate, are those who might be more inclined to be part of a democracy and oppose the communist regime… those who may be already making a statement by choosing not to work for the government.
Given our stated position on human rights, and what we already know about embargoes, why do we continue trying to starve Cubans into submission? Do we really want to bring this old idea and its brutal methods with us into this new millennium?
It should be noted that in spite of the embargo, Cubans have maintained a higher level of health care than any country in South America, and the literacy rate in Cuba is 98% (higher than in the state of Texas!).
The economic embargo against Cuba is the longest running embargo in modern history, and is as misunderstood by working Americans as is the aggressiveness of U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba. Would it be fair to punish these working Americans for the crimes of the U.S. government by depriving them of food, medicine and the hope of a future for their children? Are we not shocked enough by the horrendous acts of terrorism (9/11/01) to make us take a look at this? Cubans understand the difference between the American people and the American government, and they would never choose to punish one for the crimes of the other.
The situation was not helped by President Clinton's cowardly lack of leadership in this area, and President Bush's debt to Cuban-Americans for the pseudo-victory which gave him the presidency. Both presidents have, so far, followed the failed policy of Cold War and big-stick diplomacy over the wisdom of peace and engagement.
From a Cuban perspective, these recent governments are not much different from the ones that tried to buy Cuba from Spain, and the current congress is no different from the one that imposed the Platt Amendment on Cuba and appropriated Guantanamo Bay for military use over 100 years ago.
The world is united in its support for Cuban solidarity. For ten consecutive years the United Nations General Assembly has recommended an end to the embargo. On November 28, 2001, the United Nations again voted 167 to 3, against the embargo, with three nations abastaining. Voting with the U.S. was Israel and the Marshall Islands. (It should be noted that in spite of voting for the embargo, Israel continues to trade with Cuba.)
There's an old saying in Latin America: "The United States never remembers and Latin America never forgets!" This explains the depth to which Cuba (and Latin America) distrust U.S. governments.
We need to stop being so angry with Castro and make peace, just as we've made peace with other communist regimes. We may find that it is a part of ourselves we end up finding peace with.
As you will learn throughout this web site, Cuba went from four centuries as an unwilling Spanish colony to six decades as an un-willing near-colony to the U.S. When it was finally established that Cubans would no longer accept the cruel and corrupt U.S.-supported governments of the past, and that Cubans felt the right to establish their own type of government and befriend whoever they wished, the Cold War emerged, as did hostilities such as terrorism, sabotage, assassination attempts and the economic embargo. Because of the overwhelming amount of legislation passed in more than forty years of the embargo's existence, it has become a full-blown blockade.
Embargoes are an immoral war-time policy that employs human suffering and disease as political weapons with a very simple logic; the lack of food and hope are supposed to rev-up the affected masses to the point where they implode into civil war and overthrow their government.
The common people, the ones who had the least to say about the type of government they're now stuck with, are the ones who live the effects of the embargo. They are the ones who bear the blunt of the hunger and disease, and the ones that will supposedly rise in arms against their government. Needless to say, these people, the ones the embargo aims to activate, are those who might be more inclined to be part of a democracy and oppose the communist regime… those who may be already making a statement by choosing not to work for the government.
Given our stated position on human rights, and what we already know about embargoes, why do we continue trying to starve Cubans into submission? Do we really want to bring this old idea and its brutal methods with us into this new millennium?
It should be noted that in spite of the embargo, Cubans have maintained a higher level of health care than any country in South America, and the literacy rate in Cuba is 98% (higher than in the state of Texas!).
The economic embargo against Cuba is the longest running embargo in modern history, and is as misunderstood by working Americans as is the aggressiveness of U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba. Would it be fair to punish these working Americans for the crimes of the U.S. government by depriving them of food, medicine and the hope of a future for their children? Are we not shocked enough by the horrendous acts of terrorism (9/11/01) to make us take a look at this? Cubans understand the difference between the American people and the American government, and they would never choose to punish one for the crimes of the other.
The situation was not helped by President Clinton's cowardly lack of leadership in this area, and President Bush's debt to Cuban-Americans for the pseudo-victory which gave him the presidency. Both presidents have, so far, followed the failed policy of Cold War and big-stick diplomacy over the wisdom of peace and engagement.
From a Cuban perspective, these recent governments are not much different from the ones that tried to buy Cuba from Spain, and the current congress is no different from the one that imposed the Platt Amendment on Cuba and appropriated Guantanamo Bay for military use over 100 years ago.
The world is united in its support for Cuban solidarity. For ten consecutive years the United Nations General Assembly has recommended an end to the embargo. On November 28, 2001, the United Nations again voted 167 to 3, against the embargo, with three nations abastaining. Voting with the U.S. was Israel and the Marshall Islands. (It should be noted that in spite of voting for the embargo, Israel continues to trade with Cuba.)
There's an old saying in Latin America: "The United States never remembers and Latin America never forgets!" This explains the depth to which Cuba (and Latin America) distrust U.S. governments.
We need to stop being so angry with Castro and make peace, just as we've made peace with other communist regimes. We may find that it is a part of ourselves we end up finding peace with.
What about the human rights issue?
What about the human rights issue?
There are some serious human rights issues to be considered here… but if this was a genuine U.S. and Cuban-American concern, it would engage Cuba diplomatically and commercially, and it would discourage the right-wing terrorism aimed at the island. This is clearly just an excuse to continue hostilities against Cuba, as is the recent proposal by Helms and Lieberman (!) to send $100 million to anti-Castro interests on the island.
According to the Human Rights Watch report on Cuba (http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/americas/cuba.html) most of the problems involve laws against "the rights of freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and of the press." These are not issues that I take likely. Like most Americans, I tend to take my freedom of speech for granted, but I hope to see positive changes in Cuba. Since most Cubans have now had access to an education (which they would've never been allowed under U.S. influence) they will have lots to contribute to the global dialogue. But sadly and realistically, these changes will not begin until the U.S. threat is removed.
I recommend that anyone who wants to see beyond the haze of reasons and excuses for the longest and meanest embargo in history (reasons which have changed conveniently through the years) start by comparing the Human Rights Watch report on Cuba to the same organization's report on the U.S. (http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/usa/index.html). It seems that we have a lot more human rights issues to worry about here in the U.S. (such as racism) yet we invoke this absurd moral superiority to hide the fact that a few, wealthy & white (though not very wise or humane) are directing foreign policy.
This moronic policy tends to lump all Cubans into pro/against Castro segments, and doesn't allow us to learn a thing from the past 40 years. This resembles our tradition of lumping all communism together. There are many in Cuba who are part of the political regime and would voice opposing opinions if not for Cuban laws aimed at protecting the island from traditional U.S. hostilities. These hostilities have a long history deeply felt in Cuba.
The human rights issue is worsened by the embargo and traditional U.S. arrogance in thinking it has the right to dominate the island. However well this arrogance is disguised in right-wing Cuban-American rhetoric, it doesn't belong in this millennium.
And just how concerned were we with the human rights situation in Cuba before Castro? The fact is that nobody worried about human rights abuses in Cuba until it could be used as a propaganda tool to excuse U.S. actions.
There are some serious human rights issues to be considered here… but if this was a genuine U.S. and Cuban-American concern, it would engage Cuba diplomatically and commercially, and it would discourage the right-wing terrorism aimed at the island. This is clearly just an excuse to continue hostilities against Cuba, as is the recent proposal by Helms and Lieberman (!) to send $100 million to anti-Castro interests on the island.
According to the Human Rights Watch report on Cuba (http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/americas/cuba.html) most of the problems involve laws against "the rights of freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and of the press." These are not issues that I take likely. Like most Americans, I tend to take my freedom of speech for granted, but I hope to see positive changes in Cuba. Since most Cubans have now had access to an education (which they would've never been allowed under U.S. influence) they will have lots to contribute to the global dialogue. But sadly and realistically, these changes will not begin until the U.S. threat is removed.
I recommend that anyone who wants to see beyond the haze of reasons and excuses for the longest and meanest embargo in history (reasons which have changed conveniently through the years) start by comparing the Human Rights Watch report on Cuba to the same organization's report on the U.S. (http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/usa/index.html). It seems that we have a lot more human rights issues to worry about here in the U.S. (such as racism) yet we invoke this absurd moral superiority to hide the fact that a few, wealthy & white (though not very wise or humane) are directing foreign policy.
This moronic policy tends to lump all Cubans into pro/against Castro segments, and doesn't allow us to learn a thing from the past 40 years. This resembles our tradition of lumping all communism together. There are many in Cuba who are part of the political regime and would voice opposing opinions if not for Cuban laws aimed at protecting the island from traditional U.S. hostilities. These hostilities have a long history deeply felt in Cuba.
The human rights issue is worsened by the embargo and traditional U.S. arrogance in thinking it has the right to dominate the island. However well this arrogance is disguised in right-wing Cuban-American rhetoric, it doesn't belong in this millennium.
And just how concerned were we with the human rights situation in Cuba before Castro? The fact is that nobody worried about human rights abuses in Cuba until it could be used as a propaganda tool to excuse U.S. actions.
What about compensation for U.S. property that was confiscated by the Cuban government in 1960?
What about compensation for U.S. property that was confiscated by the Cuban government in 1960?
Cuba's government has always acknowledged its obligation to compensate U.S. property owners and has indicated its willingness to sit down and negotiate. It has long since worked out satisfactory compensation agreements with all other countries that had similar claims.
Back in 1960 the U.S. imposed the embargo because Cuba had nationalized all U.S. properties. In 1977 the U.S. insisted that the embargo would not be lifted until the compensation issue had been worked out.
Cuba has repeatedly stated its willingness to negotiate a just compensation once the embargo is lifted and normal relations established. But on November 30 2001 the U.S. government turned down a Cuban offer to negotiate compensation for properties confiscated by the Revolution 40 years ago.
The U.S. State Department often claims, falsely, that Cuba has refused to pay such compensation. This is an outright lie, fed to the American people in order to gain support for the terrorist nature of the David/Goliath relationship between the two countries.
Through the years of the embargo and the Cold War against Cuba, the typical strategy of the State Department has been to pretend that it truly wants to negotiate compensation. In fact, there's no indication that the U.S. wants to bring this chapter to close, choosing instead to continue choking the Cuban people.
Cuba's government has always acknowledged its obligation to compensate U.S. property owners and has indicated its willingness to sit down and negotiate. It has long since worked out satisfactory compensation agreements with all other countries that had similar claims.
Back in 1960 the U.S. imposed the embargo because Cuba had nationalized all U.S. properties. In 1977 the U.S. insisted that the embargo would not be lifted until the compensation issue had been worked out.
Cuba has repeatedly stated its willingness to negotiate a just compensation once the embargo is lifted and normal relations established. But on November 30 2001 the U.S. government turned down a Cuban offer to negotiate compensation for properties confiscated by the Revolution 40 years ago.
The U.S. State Department often claims, falsely, that Cuba has refused to pay such compensation. This is an outright lie, fed to the American people in order to gain support for the terrorist nature of the David/Goliath relationship between the two countries.
Through the years of the embargo and the Cold War against Cuba, the typical strategy of the State Department has been to pretend that it truly wants to negotiate compensation. In fact, there's no indication that the U.S. wants to bring this chapter to close, choosing instead to continue choking the Cuban people.
What is the "wet foot/dry foot" policy?
What is the "wet foot/dry foot" policy?
To some, this may sound like something out of a Marx Bros. Movie, but here it goes. Current immigration laws that apply only to Cubans dictate that if an illegal immigrant (in this case somebody who braved the ocean currents by boat) makes it all the way across to American soil (the beaches of Key West, for example) then that illegal immigrant can legally stay.
If, on the other hand, he or they are caught at sea by the officials, then they are returned to Cuba. Dry foot-wet foot. Get it? Could Groucho ever come up with something so outrageous? This policy (which some claim encourages illegal Cuban immigration) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 2, 1966.
What if you're an illegal immigrant from, say, El Salvador or Bolivia? You are returned to the place you came from.
To some, this may sound like something out of a Marx Bros. Movie, but here it goes. Current immigration laws that apply only to Cubans dictate that if an illegal immigrant (in this case somebody who braved the ocean currents by boat) makes it all the way across to American soil (the beaches of Key West, for example) then that illegal immigrant can legally stay.
If, on the other hand, he or they are caught at sea by the officials, then they are returned to Cuba. Dry foot-wet foot. Get it? Could Groucho ever come up with something so outrageous? This policy (which some claim encourages illegal Cuban immigration) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 2, 1966.
What if you're an illegal immigrant from, say, El Salvador or Bolivia? You are returned to the place you came from.
Are you anti-USA?
Are you anti-USA?
Let me be clear as fresh water on this so that even those who add 2 plus 2 and get 22 will understand. I am not, in any way, anti U.S.A. I am pro-peace, pro-love and understanding. I am pro-putting away our toys of destruction along with our violent ideas of the past and learning to talk to each other.
It seems odd that simply presenting the information in this site would solicit such a question, even when it's carefully disguised. Part of the problem may be the way historical issues are traditionally dealt with in American schools and textbooks. (How do you explain to kids that we tried to conquer or wipe out everyone who didn't look or act like us?) Last year I received an email from a Cuban-American Junior High School student suggesting that I invented the Platt Amendment in order to support Castro! I can only imagine what happened when he mentioned this to his history teacher. I can also guess that the Platt Amendment isn't very likely to come up as a topic in a Jr. High School in Florida.
I do deplore the methods of imperialism that have tainted most of the relations between the U.S. and Cuba, and I resent the arrogance that has influenced these relations. The U.S. is my home. Cuba is Patria, homeland. I have equal amounts of love and fondness for both, and I revel in my multi-cultural existence. I don't like the political fanaticism associated with anti-movements, and I feel we've arrived at a point in history where peace should be our goal, not political domination and economic warfare.
I don't want my home to continue being the mean bully simply because it's the biggest kid on the block. I don't want my patria to be destroyed (meaning absorbed, colonized, Americanized, democratized or anything that produces social changes through external influences) simply because they have different ideas.
How can I tell the story of my people without pointing out those who've tried to dominate and/or destroy us? Americans, I believe, are also entitled to the truth, and would not agree with the U.S. role so far in my people's history.
The time is long past for relations between the U.S. and Cuba to move beyond the ideals of "manifest destiny" and the politics of Miami. We (North Americans) must accept that the time of U.S. influence over the island ended with Cuban Revolution, and we have no right to manipulate the island for our purposes. We have, in fact, enough problems of our own to solve (look at the Human Rights Watch report on the U.S. http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/usa/index.html).
The U.S. is my home. I like how Americans are able to disagree with each other and still sit down for a meal, or a football game. I have friends with views to the right and to the left of me on many crucial issues. Some go to church regularly. Others never go. Some are pro-choice. Some are pro-life. Some prefer digital cable, others "the dish." We don't try to kill or undermine each other.
Americans seem to agree that it's ok to disagree. No American has told me to go back to Cuba because I oppose the embargo, or because we disagree on other issues. Cuban-Americans, curiously, suggest that to me on a regular basis with varying degrees of implied threat and insult. How can they claim to support democracy in Cuba when they can't support democracy in the U.S.?
Throughout the recent presidential-election confusion, the American people behaved with dignity and honor. No lynchings, no bombings, no arrests… an exemplary display of civility (political spinning, loud-mouthing and legal maneuverings notwithstanding). Schools and libraries remained open. Mail was delivered. Restaurants continued serving food and hospitals continued to treat the sick. (Of course, we didn't have a continent-sized superpower trying to manipulate our political situation through forced starvation and hidden military actions.)
Democrats and Republicans eating lunch together, going to movies and museums… Instead of bloody street wars, we went to work, we paid our bills, took out our trash… we saw it through, somehow, without violence.
This, I believe, the world would do well to imitate. And if there's a lesson to be learned here, we should apply it to our relations with Cuba.
The time for peace is now.
Let me be clear as fresh water on this so that even those who add 2 plus 2 and get 22 will understand. I am not, in any way, anti U.S.A. I am pro-peace, pro-love and understanding. I am pro-putting away our toys of destruction along with our violent ideas of the past and learning to talk to each other.
It seems odd that simply presenting the information in this site would solicit such a question, even when it's carefully disguised. Part of the problem may be the way historical issues are traditionally dealt with in American schools and textbooks. (How do you explain to kids that we tried to conquer or wipe out everyone who didn't look or act like us?) Last year I received an email from a Cuban-American Junior High School student suggesting that I invented the Platt Amendment in order to support Castro! I can only imagine what happened when he mentioned this to his history teacher. I can also guess that the Platt Amendment isn't very likely to come up as a topic in a Jr. High School in Florida.
I do deplore the methods of imperialism that have tainted most of the relations between the U.S. and Cuba, and I resent the arrogance that has influenced these relations. The U.S. is my home. Cuba is Patria, homeland. I have equal amounts of love and fondness for both, and I revel in my multi-cultural existence. I don't like the political fanaticism associated with anti-movements, and I feel we've arrived at a point in history where peace should be our goal, not political domination and economic warfare.
I don't want my home to continue being the mean bully simply because it's the biggest kid on the block. I don't want my patria to be destroyed (meaning absorbed, colonized, Americanized, democratized or anything that produces social changes through external influences) simply because they have different ideas.
How can I tell the story of my people without pointing out those who've tried to dominate and/or destroy us? Americans, I believe, are also entitled to the truth, and would not agree with the U.S. role so far in my people's history.
The time is long past for relations between the U.S. and Cuba to move beyond the ideals of "manifest destiny" and the politics of Miami. We (North Americans) must accept that the time of U.S. influence over the island ended with Cuban Revolution, and we have no right to manipulate the island for our purposes. We have, in fact, enough problems of our own to solve (look at the Human Rights Watch report on the U.S. http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/usa/index.html).
The U.S. is my home. I like how Americans are able to disagree with each other and still sit down for a meal, or a football game. I have friends with views to the right and to the left of me on many crucial issues. Some go to church regularly. Others never go. Some are pro-choice. Some are pro-life. Some prefer digital cable, others "the dish." We don't try to kill or undermine each other.
Americans seem to agree that it's ok to disagree. No American has told me to go back to Cuba because I oppose the embargo, or because we disagree on other issues. Cuban-Americans, curiously, suggest that to me on a regular basis with varying degrees of implied threat and insult. How can they claim to support democracy in Cuba when they can't support democracy in the U.S.?
Throughout the recent presidential-election confusion, the American people behaved with dignity and honor. No lynchings, no bombings, no arrests… an exemplary display of civility (political spinning, loud-mouthing and legal maneuverings notwithstanding). Schools and libraries remained open. Mail was delivered. Restaurants continued serving food and hospitals continued to treat the sick. (Of course, we didn't have a continent-sized superpower trying to manipulate our political situation through forced starvation and hidden military actions.)
Democrats and Republicans eating lunch together, going to movies and museums… Instead of bloody street wars, we went to work, we paid our bills, took out our trash… we saw it through, somehow, without violence.
This, I believe, the world would do well to imitate. And if there's a lesson to be learned here, we should apply it to our relations with Cuba.
The time for peace is now.
Are you now, or have you ever been a commie?
Are you now, or have you ever been a commie?
Some of you seem to be serious about wanting to hear a statement regarding my views on communism. Here it is.
Of all the things I've always been or wanted to be, a communist is something I've long ruled out. In other words, I am not now, nor have I ever been a communist. I'm a devoted Democrat, and perhaps, for a Democrat, somewhat of a fiscal conservative. I fully support the agenda set forth by the Democratic Party, and I support a woman's right to control her body.
I don't, however, believe that every nation should try to imitate the U.S. political and economic system, and I don't believe the U.S. has the right to tell Cuba what kind of government it should have. To pretend that a U.S.-style system would work as well in Cuba is to deny everything we can learn from the history of the island.
Some of you seem to be serious about wanting to hear a statement regarding my views on communism. Here it is.
Of all the things I've always been or wanted to be, a communist is something I've long ruled out. In other words, I am not now, nor have I ever been a communist. I'm a devoted Democrat, and perhaps, for a Democrat, somewhat of a fiscal conservative. I fully support the agenda set forth by the Democratic Party, and I support a woman's right to control her body.
I don't, however, believe that every nation should try to imitate the U.S. political and economic system, and I don't believe the U.S. has the right to tell Cuba what kind of government it should have. To pretend that a U.S.-style system would work as well in Cuba is to deny everything we can learn from the history of the island.
What are the "U.S. crimes against Cuba" that everyone is talking about?
What are the "U.S. crimes against Cuba" that everyone is talking about?
Following is a partial list of U.S. actions aimed at preventing the Cuban people from taking direct control of their island, their government and their lives. Many U.S. historical documents refer to Cuba as a "slave country" or a "black" country, which the U.S. must not allow to gain its independence. This is neither a complete or comprehensive list.
The crimes:
Prevented Simon Bolívar from helping liberate Cuba
Reacting to the prospect of a united Mexican-Colombian military expedition to liberate Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1824, Washington (with the backing of England) issued a series of threatening notes to Mexico and Colombia, declaring that the U.S. would not "remain indifferent" to the freeing of Cuba.
The U.S. diplomat who delivered the threats wrote a revealing letter to his boss, Secretary of State Henry Clay, stating, "What I most dread is that that blacks may be armed and used as auxiliaries… This country prefers that Cuba and Porto Rico should remain dependent on Spain. This Government desires no political change of that condition."
The threats worked. The expedition was stopped before it began. Bolívar told a delegation of Cuban revolutionaries, "We cannot set at defiance the American Government, in conjunction with that of England, determined on maintaining the authority of Spain over the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico…"
Tried to stop José Martí from starting Cuba’s War of Independence
On the very day that Martí's revolutionary expedition was to set sail from Florida in January 14, 1895, the U.S. government confiscated three boats loaded with weapons and supplies that had been difficult and costly to obtain, and alerted the Spanish government. During Cuba's 2nd War of Independence, the U.S. government refused to sell weapons to the Cubans, and foiled various other attempts at arming the rebels, informing Spain each time.
(Read about José Martí | Read about the Spanish/Cuban/American War)
Repeatedly offered to buy Cuba from Spain
Even while Cuba's 2nd War of Independence was in full swing, and it seemed probable that Cuba would win, the U.S. initiated secret negotiations with Spanish officials for the purchase of Cuba. It wasn't until after Spain flatly denied the offer that the U.S.S. Maine was sent to Havana harbor and war declared.
Fifty years earlier, in 1848, President Polk had offered Spain $100 million for Cuba, but Spain refused. By the time President Franklin Pierce was in office, in 1854, the offer went up to $130 million. Spain refused again.
Guantánamo
The U.S. military took possession of Guantánamo Bay in early 1898, just after the U.S. government declared war on Spain. The contract drawn up by the U.S.-controlled Cuban government in 1902 gives the U.S. military an indefinite stay at Guantánamo, and requires that both countries be in agreement about termination.
For a century this has been a thorn on the side of Cuban nationalists, and many Cuban governments have demanded the return of this land to Cuba. The Castro government has continually insisted that this land be returned, and even though it offers the U.S. no real advantage in the area, other than in the case of an invasion of Cuba, the U.S. refuses to let go of this Cuban land.
The Platt Amendment
This Amendment was forced on the Cuban people in 1901. Not adopting it into the Cuban Constitution would have kept U.S. Armed Forces in control of Cuba. The Platt Amendment gave the U.S. virtual control of the Cuban government and society, and gave the U.S. the "right" to militarily intervene in Cuban internal affairs at will.
The "spirit" of the Platt Amendment is best described by the letter written by U.S. Undersecretary of War, J.C. Breckenridge, in 1897. Known as "The Breckenridge Memorandum," the letter went to the Commander of the U.S. Army, Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles. It explains what is to be U.S. policy towards the Hawaiian islands, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.
"We must clean up the country," writes J.C. Breckenridge in 1897, "even if this means using the methods Divine Providence used on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah… we must impose a harsh blockade, so that hunger and its constant companion, disease, undermine the peaceful population…"
Over a century later, not much has changed.
(Read The Platt Amendment | Read The Breckenridge Memorandum)
Batista (1933 & 1952)
Fulgencio Batista was the U.S.-backed strong man that controlled Cuban politics for over twenty years. Each time he took over the Cuban government, overthrowing more liberal governments with massive popular support, the U.S. was quick to recognize his rule and support his actions.
(Read an article about Batista)
Bay of Pigs (April, 1961)
This invasion of Cuba was backed, financed, planned, controlled and operated by CIA personnel with the blessings of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and the support of the right-wing exile community. It involved a trained army of Cuban exiles, along with selected CIA mercenaries, and included a horrendous assortment of staged lies, such as the assertion that the bombs being dropped on Cuban soil were dropped by defecting Cuban pilots.
(Read about the invasion at Bay of Pigs)
Operation Mongoose and other continuous acts of terrorism
A) After the failure at Bay of Pigs, the Kennedy Brothers initiated, approved and operated the largest assassination campaign (aimed at Fidel Castro) in modern history. The numerous plots (many of which have been exposed with the release of thousands of formerly classified government documents) included hundreds of acts of terrorism, sabotage and psychological warfare. Throughout the Sixties, Cuba was subjected to countless sea and air commando raids by exiles, inflicting damage on oil refineries, chemical plants, railroad bridges, cane fields, sugar mills and sugar warehouses; infiltrating spies, saboteurs and assassins, and pirate attacks on Cuban fishing boats and merchant ships. Anything that would damage the Cuban economy or morale was targeted.
B) According to documents declassified in July of 1997, the CIA offered John Rosselli and Sam Giancana $150,000 to assassinate Fidel Castro in 1962. (There are still thousands of documents kept by the Kennedy estate-at public expense-which have not been released to the public supposedly because they show the Kennedys involvement in this and other attempts on Castro's life.)
C) In 1976, a CIA operative and Cuban exile, Orlando Bosch, was arrested in Venezuela for the bombing of a Cuban airline that killed 73 people. Despite a Justice Department ruling that he be deported for 30 additional acts of terrorism, he remains free in Miami, the result of a State Department pardon at the bequest of Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Senator Connie Mack and governor Jeb Bush.
D) A series of bacteriological warfare acts, including agricultural blights and animal diseases, sugarcane defoliants, bacteria affecting sugar, and human viruses, can be attributed to the Cold War against Cuba, according to a study by U.S. investigator John Lindsay.
E) Between 1979 and 1981, four destructive epidemics seriously affected humans and crops vital to the Cuban economy: hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, dengue fever, sugarcane rust and tobacco blue mold… In 1984, Eduardo Arocena, leader of the Omega 7 terrorist group, in court on a homicide charge, admitted to having participated in a 1980 operation to introduce viruses as part of the war against Cuba.
F) The war continues to this very day. On September 4, 1997, Salvadoran Raúl Ernesto Cruz León was arrested in Havana after having placed explosive devices in various hotels and in the famous Bodeguita del Medio restaurant that killed one Italian youth. Cruz León has been linked repeatedly to the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF).
G) The U.S. government has never taken any steps to stop Cuban exile terrorists from freely carrying out acts of aggression against Cuba. These acts continue to be carried out from U.S. territory, and include the repeated invasion of Cuban air space, waters and land.
H) On several occasions Cuban planes and boats were hijacked to the U.S. but they were not returned, nor were the hijackers punished.
Economic Embargo/Blockade
The embargo was first announced by Richard Nixon in 1960, but a great deal of the legislation that tries to force U.S. allies and trading partners to adopt these hostilities is less than a decade old. This is the harshest and longest economic blockade ever imposed by one country on another in times of "peace." Aside from the suffering it causes eleven million innocent Cubans, the blockade does not work.
You can also call it a crime that we continue this policy in light of the fact that a communist Cuba is no threat to American interests, and that we have peaceful relations with other communist countries and with countries that have much worse records of human rights abuses.
Following is a partial list of U.S. actions aimed at preventing the Cuban people from taking direct control of their island, their government and their lives. Many U.S. historical documents refer to Cuba as a "slave country" or a "black" country, which the U.S. must not allow to gain its independence. This is neither a complete or comprehensive list.
The crimes:
Prevented Simon Bolívar from helping liberate Cuba
Reacting to the prospect of a united Mexican-Colombian military expedition to liberate Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1824, Washington (with the backing of England) issued a series of threatening notes to Mexico and Colombia, declaring that the U.S. would not "remain indifferent" to the freeing of Cuba.
The U.S. diplomat who delivered the threats wrote a revealing letter to his boss, Secretary of State Henry Clay, stating, "What I most dread is that that blacks may be armed and used as auxiliaries… This country prefers that Cuba and Porto Rico should remain dependent on Spain. This Government desires no political change of that condition."
The threats worked. The expedition was stopped before it began. Bolívar told a delegation of Cuban revolutionaries, "We cannot set at defiance the American Government, in conjunction with that of England, determined on maintaining the authority of Spain over the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico…"
Tried to stop José Martí from starting Cuba’s War of Independence
On the very day that Martí's revolutionary expedition was to set sail from Florida in January 14, 1895, the U.S. government confiscated three boats loaded with weapons and supplies that had been difficult and costly to obtain, and alerted the Spanish government. During Cuba's 2nd War of Independence, the U.S. government refused to sell weapons to the Cubans, and foiled various other attempts at arming the rebels, informing Spain each time.
(Read about José Martí | Read about the Spanish/Cuban/American War)
Repeatedly offered to buy Cuba from Spain
Even while Cuba's 2nd War of Independence was in full swing, and it seemed probable that Cuba would win, the U.S. initiated secret negotiations with Spanish officials for the purchase of Cuba. It wasn't until after Spain flatly denied the offer that the U.S.S. Maine was sent to Havana harbor and war declared.
Fifty years earlier, in 1848, President Polk had offered Spain $100 million for Cuba, but Spain refused. By the time President Franklin Pierce was in office, in 1854, the offer went up to $130 million. Spain refused again.
Guantánamo
The U.S. military took possession of Guantánamo Bay in early 1898, just after the U.S. government declared war on Spain. The contract drawn up by the U.S.-controlled Cuban government in 1902 gives the U.S. military an indefinite stay at Guantánamo, and requires that both countries be in agreement about termination.
For a century this has been a thorn on the side of Cuban nationalists, and many Cuban governments have demanded the return of this land to Cuba. The Castro government has continually insisted that this land be returned, and even though it offers the U.S. no real advantage in the area, other than in the case of an invasion of Cuba, the U.S. refuses to let go of this Cuban land.
The Platt Amendment
This Amendment was forced on the Cuban people in 1901. Not adopting it into the Cuban Constitution would have kept U.S. Armed Forces in control of Cuba. The Platt Amendment gave the U.S. virtual control of the Cuban government and society, and gave the U.S. the "right" to militarily intervene in Cuban internal affairs at will.
The "spirit" of the Platt Amendment is best described by the letter written by U.S. Undersecretary of War, J.C. Breckenridge, in 1897. Known as "The Breckenridge Memorandum," the letter went to the Commander of the U.S. Army, Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles. It explains what is to be U.S. policy towards the Hawaiian islands, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.
"We must clean up the country," writes J.C. Breckenridge in 1897, "even if this means using the methods Divine Providence used on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah… we must impose a harsh blockade, so that hunger and its constant companion, disease, undermine the peaceful population…"
Over a century later, not much has changed.
(Read The Platt Amendment | Read The Breckenridge Memorandum)
Batista (1933 & 1952)
Fulgencio Batista was the U.S.-backed strong man that controlled Cuban politics for over twenty years. Each time he took over the Cuban government, overthrowing more liberal governments with massive popular support, the U.S. was quick to recognize his rule and support his actions.
(Read an article about Batista)
Bay of Pigs (April, 1961)
This invasion of Cuba was backed, financed, planned, controlled and operated by CIA personnel with the blessings of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and the support of the right-wing exile community. It involved a trained army of Cuban exiles, along with selected CIA mercenaries, and included a horrendous assortment of staged lies, such as the assertion that the bombs being dropped on Cuban soil were dropped by defecting Cuban pilots.
(Read about the invasion at Bay of Pigs)
Operation Mongoose and other continuous acts of terrorism
A) After the failure at Bay of Pigs, the Kennedy Brothers initiated, approved and operated the largest assassination campaign (aimed at Fidel Castro) in modern history. The numerous plots (many of which have been exposed with the release of thousands of formerly classified government documents) included hundreds of acts of terrorism, sabotage and psychological warfare. Throughout the Sixties, Cuba was subjected to countless sea and air commando raids by exiles, inflicting damage on oil refineries, chemical plants, railroad bridges, cane fields, sugar mills and sugar warehouses; infiltrating spies, saboteurs and assassins, and pirate attacks on Cuban fishing boats and merchant ships. Anything that would damage the Cuban economy or morale was targeted.
B) According to documents declassified in July of 1997, the CIA offered John Rosselli and Sam Giancana $150,000 to assassinate Fidel Castro in 1962. (There are still thousands of documents kept by the Kennedy estate-at public expense-which have not been released to the public supposedly because they show the Kennedys involvement in this and other attempts on Castro's life.)
C) In 1976, a CIA operative and Cuban exile, Orlando Bosch, was arrested in Venezuela for the bombing of a Cuban airline that killed 73 people. Despite a Justice Department ruling that he be deported for 30 additional acts of terrorism, he remains free in Miami, the result of a State Department pardon at the bequest of Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Senator Connie Mack and governor Jeb Bush.
D) A series of bacteriological warfare acts, including agricultural blights and animal diseases, sugarcane defoliants, bacteria affecting sugar, and human viruses, can be attributed to the Cold War against Cuba, according to a study by U.S. investigator John Lindsay.
E) Between 1979 and 1981, four destructive epidemics seriously affected humans and crops vital to the Cuban economy: hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, dengue fever, sugarcane rust and tobacco blue mold… In 1984, Eduardo Arocena, leader of the Omega 7 terrorist group, in court on a homicide charge, admitted to having participated in a 1980 operation to introduce viruses as part of the war against Cuba.
F) The war continues to this very day. On September 4, 1997, Salvadoran Raúl Ernesto Cruz León was arrested in Havana after having placed explosive devices in various hotels and in the famous Bodeguita del Medio restaurant that killed one Italian youth. Cruz León has been linked repeatedly to the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF).
G) The U.S. government has never taken any steps to stop Cuban exile terrorists from freely carrying out acts of aggression against Cuba. These acts continue to be carried out from U.S. territory, and include the repeated invasion of Cuban air space, waters and land.
H) On several occasions Cuban planes and boats were hijacked to the U.S. but they were not returned, nor were the hijackers punished.
Economic Embargo/Blockade
The embargo was first announced by Richard Nixon in 1960, but a great deal of the legislation that tries to force U.S. allies and trading partners to adopt these hostilities is less than a decade old. This is the harshest and longest economic blockade ever imposed by one country on another in times of "peace." Aside from the suffering it causes eleven million innocent Cubans, the blockade does not work.
You can also call it a crime that we continue this policy in light of the fact that a communist Cuba is no threat to American interests, and that we have peaceful relations with other communist countries and with countries that have much worse records of human rights abuses.
PASSPORT, VISAS AND CUBAN TOURIST CARDS
Frequent asked questions about PASSPORT, VISAS AND CUBAN TOURIST CARDS
FAQ content
Do I need passport to travel to Cuba…?
Do I need visa …?
Do we need an official reservation for entering to Cuba …?
I need the address of the lodging to obtain the Visa and to fill the tourist card to my arrival to the Havana airport. Will you give me the address …?
Do the Cuba immigration agents, stamps the American tourist passport …?
Is there any departing Cuba tax…?
Do I need passport to travel to Cuba…?
Yes,of course you will need a passport that is valid for at least 6 months from your entrance to Cuba.
.
Back to the top
Do I need visa…?
No, doesn't need a visa properly, but you will need what is denominated a tourist card.
You may only have to request a tourist card in the Cuban embassy of your country.
If you are a United States citizen , to enter through Canada, Mexico or the Bahamas, the travel agencies in those countries they can provide you with the tourist cards (and if you enter via Cancun, you can request the Cuba tourist card in the same Cancun airport.)
.
Back to the top
Do we need an official reservation for entering to Cuba …?
Yes, Cuban officials will often ask at which hotel you're stay. If you don't have a voucher, e-mail or some sort of printout with the hotel name and address (or name, address and License Number of the Casa Particular), they'll insist that you book a 3-night stay at the hotel of their picking (often moderate to expensive choices). The safest bet is to have your accommodations at Casa Particular arranged prior to your arrival.
Back to the top
I need the address of the lodging to obtain the Visa and to fill the tourist card to my arrival to the Havana airport. Will you give me the address …?
Yes, As soon as you confirm your reservation, we will reply you the confirmation, with the complete address of the lodging, the License number and the name of your host and his phone number. .
Back to the top
Do the Cuba immigration agents, stamps the American tourist passport …?
No they don´t stamps the American Tourist passports.
Instead of stamping your passport they will stamp a separate document, which you should keep during your stay in Cuba. .
Back to the top
Is there any departing Cuba tax …?
Yes, be sure to save twenty five dollars for this departure tax (US currency).
.
-
Back to the top
Last update: May 5, 2010
FAQ content
Do I need passport to travel to Cuba…?
Do I need visa …?
Do we need an official reservation for entering to Cuba …?
I need the address of the lodging to obtain the Visa and to fill the tourist card to my arrival to the Havana airport. Will you give me the address …?
Do the Cuba immigration agents, stamps the American tourist passport …?
Is there any departing Cuba tax…?
Do I need passport to travel to Cuba…?
Yes,of course you will need a passport that is valid for at least 6 months from your entrance to Cuba.
.
Back to the top
Do I need visa…?
No, doesn't need a visa properly, but you will need what is denominated a tourist card.
You may only have to request a tourist card in the Cuban embassy of your country.
If you are a United States citizen , to enter through Canada, Mexico or the Bahamas, the travel agencies in those countries they can provide you with the tourist cards (and if you enter via Cancun, you can request the Cuba tourist card in the same Cancun airport.)
.
Back to the top
Do we need an official reservation for entering to Cuba …?
Yes, Cuban officials will often ask at which hotel you're stay. If you don't have a voucher, e-mail or some sort of printout with the hotel name and address (or name, address and License Number of the Casa Particular), they'll insist that you book a 3-night stay at the hotel of their picking (often moderate to expensive choices). The safest bet is to have your accommodations at Casa Particular arranged prior to your arrival.
Back to the top
I need the address of the lodging to obtain the Visa and to fill the tourist card to my arrival to the Havana airport. Will you give me the address …?
Yes, As soon as you confirm your reservation, we will reply you the confirmation, with the complete address of the lodging, the License number and the name of your host and his phone number. .
Back to the top
Do the Cuba immigration agents, stamps the American tourist passport …?
No they don´t stamps the American Tourist passports.
Instead of stamping your passport they will stamp a separate document, which you should keep during your stay in Cuba. .
Back to the top
Is there any departing Cuba tax …?
Yes, be sure to save twenty five dollars for this departure tax (US currency).
.
-
Back to the top
Last update: May 5, 2010
Frequent asked questions about renting Casa Particular
Frequent asked questions about renting Casa Particular
FAQ content
Why tourist rent bedrooms in private homes, is it legal to rent a particular lodging in Cuba…?
How to find an apartment or specific house in this FAQCUBA Web Site …?
Will I have to share common areas with other guests, what if I don´t achieve to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for. …?
How do I make the reservation and how I will obtain the confirmation from my reservation …?
No achievement to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for. How to contact with you in Havana …?
Do I have to pay extra to have made the reservation on line, How do I pay the reservation, To who I should pay, A payment advance is needed before the arrival …?
¿Why tourist rent bedrooms in Casa Particular, is it legal to rent a particular lodging in Cuba…?
Most of those that travel to Cuba are looking to be in direct contact with our culture, our beaches, our music and mainly: with our people.
They want to know our country
Therefore, the best way is to be in direct bonding or contact with our Cubans hospitality, and to end up knowing how we live, how we are, how we share smiling the current problems of the daily life, it is staying at a Casa Particular with a cuban family.
Another evident reason is that you can save money if you rents in a private homes because the particular lodgings are more economic than the Hotels.
Also, when being in a particular lodging, you are not under the obligation to take the routine life that the hotels impose to you in any place of the world, and you will feel free in this way, the same like if you were in your own home.
From 1997 the Cuban government authorized to the Cuban families to rent rooms to foreign tourists by legal way in almost the whole country.
To carry out this economic activity, the proprietors pay a monthly license for rent besides the corresponding annual taxes. This is one of the few legal private business that are allowed in Cuba.
.
Back to the top
How to find an apartment or specific house in this place web …?
You should enter to the list of the Casas Particulares and to look for your lodging in the different Casa Particular names. To facilitate your search, the directory has been divided in different sections in dependence of the neighborhood that you are looking for. Once you reach the one that you are loooking for, double click on the written text of the name of that Casa Particular and you will see the completes description, pictures, prices and local information, of every accommodation listed in our website.
.
Back to the top
Will I have to share common areas with other guests, what if I don´t achieve to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for. …?
In some cases, where they can be let more than one bedroom and the bedrooms are inside of the house or apartment, sharing common areas with the Cuban family, the otherbedrooms are available to be rented to other guests. If this represents an inconvenience for you, please see in our directory the category of lodgings with independent entrance.
If you are not able to find in our directory the lodging with the conditions that you needs, simply contact us and send us the conditions that you want to have in your lodging. We have contacts with many other similar lodgings that can be available.
Back to the top
How do I make the reservation and how I will obtain the confirmation from my reservation …?
In each striped Casa Particular , there is a connection in the lodging description with the text "Click on to book your bedroom"? that will take to your own e-mail to make the specific reservation for this lodging.
By e-mail. As soon as we confirm that the lodging that you have requested is available, we will send you an email with the confirmation and we will include the address of the lodging, the name of your hosts and his phone number.
You will be able to include in both cases any comment, or asks any questions or any other kind of information that may helps us to find the best lodging for you. .
Back to the top
No achievement to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for.How to contact with you in Havana
…?
If you are not able to find in our directory the lodging with the conditions that you needs, simply contact us and send us the conditions that you want to have in your lodging. We have contacts with many other similar lodgings that can be available.
Raúl Sarmiento, Paseo # 313 apartment. 43, corner 15, Vedado or by phone 833 4174
.
Back to the top
Do I have to pay extra to have made the reservation on line,How do I pay the reservation, To who I should pay , A payment advance is needed before the arrival? …?
No, but we can also offer you a special discounts of 20% for reservations of more than one month.
You should pay only by cash when you arrives to the lodging and you must pay directly to the owner of the lodging. You should pay the total quantity corresponding to the quantity in advance of the days that you have reserved with us.
There is not payments in advance before your arrival to Havana.
.
Back to the top
Last update:May 5, 2010
FAQ content
Why tourist rent bedrooms in private homes, is it legal to rent a particular lodging in Cuba…?
How to find an apartment or specific house in this FAQCUBA Web Site …?
Will I have to share common areas with other guests, what if I don´t achieve to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for. …?
How do I make the reservation and how I will obtain the confirmation from my reservation …?
No achievement to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for. How to contact with you in Havana …?
Do I have to pay extra to have made the reservation on line, How do I pay the reservation, To who I should pay, A payment advance is needed before the arrival …?
¿Why tourist rent bedrooms in Casa Particular, is it legal to rent a particular lodging in Cuba…?
Most of those that travel to Cuba are looking to be in direct contact with our culture, our beaches, our music and mainly: with our people.
They want to know our country
Therefore, the best way is to be in direct bonding or contact with our Cubans hospitality, and to end up knowing how we live, how we are, how we share smiling the current problems of the daily life, it is staying at a Casa Particular with a cuban family.
Another evident reason is that you can save money if you rents in a private homes because the particular lodgings are more economic than the Hotels.
Also, when being in a particular lodging, you are not under the obligation to take the routine life that the hotels impose to you in any place of the world, and you will feel free in this way, the same like if you were in your own home.
From 1997 the Cuban government authorized to the Cuban families to rent rooms to foreign tourists by legal way in almost the whole country.
To carry out this economic activity, the proprietors pay a monthly license for rent besides the corresponding annual taxes. This is one of the few legal private business that are allowed in Cuba.
.
Back to the top
How to find an apartment or specific house in this place web …?
You should enter to the list of the Casas Particulares and to look for your lodging in the different Casa Particular names. To facilitate your search, the directory has been divided in different sections in dependence of the neighborhood that you are looking for. Once you reach the one that you are loooking for, double click on the written text of the name of that Casa Particular and you will see the completes description, pictures, prices and local information, of every accommodation listed in our website.
.
Back to the top
Will I have to share common areas with other guests, what if I don´t achieve to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for. …?
In some cases, where they can be let more than one bedroom and the bedrooms are inside of the house or apartment, sharing common areas with the Cuban family, the otherbedrooms are available to be rented to other guests. If this represents an inconvenience for you, please see in our directory the category of lodgings with independent entrance.
If you are not able to find in our directory the lodging with the conditions that you needs, simply contact us and send us the conditions that you want to have in your lodging. We have contacts with many other similar lodgings that can be available.
Back to the top
How do I make the reservation and how I will obtain the confirmation from my reservation …?
In each striped Casa Particular , there is a connection in the lodging description with the text "Click on to book your bedroom"? that will take to your own e-mail to make the specific reservation for this lodging.
By e-mail. As soon as we confirm that the lodging that you have requested is available, we will send you an email with the confirmation and we will include the address of the lodging, the name of your hosts and his phone number.
You will be able to include in both cases any comment, or asks any questions or any other kind of information that may helps us to find the best lodging for you. .
Back to the top
No achievement to find the lodging with the characteristics that I look for.How to contact with you in Havana
…?
If you are not able to find in our directory the lodging with the conditions that you needs, simply contact us and send us the conditions that you want to have in your lodging. We have contacts with many other similar lodgings that can be available.
Raúl Sarmiento, Paseo # 313 apartment. 43, corner 15, Vedado or by phone 833 4174
.
Back to the top
Do I have to pay extra to have made the reservation on line,How do I pay the reservation, To who I should pay , A payment advance is needed before the arrival? …?
No, but we can also offer you a special discounts of 20% for reservations of more than one month.
You should pay only by cash when you arrives to the lodging and you must pay directly to the owner of the lodging. You should pay the total quantity corresponding to the quantity in advance of the days that you have reserved with us.
There is not payments in advance before your arrival to Havana.
.
Back to the top
Last update:May 5, 2010
domingo, 2 de mayo de 2010
Right to Travel to Cuba > History > Travel Fight History
"ASTA has always supported open access to all destinations. Travel leads to understanding and communication, and peace." - The American Society of Travel Agents, the world's largest organization of travel service providers, has long backed freedom of travel to Cuba and elsewhere as a basic human right.
Right to Travel to Cuba > History > Travel Fight History
Travel Fight History
U.S. citizens are the only people in the world whose government restricts them from going to Cuba.
For nearly half a century, our government has restricted our right to travel, banned trade with Cuba,
and even supported terrorist groups that target and kill people for promoting tourism in Cuba. The U.S. government policy was intended to paralyze the Cuban economy, and force the Cuban people to turn against their government out of desperation. Why is the US government so afraid of people-to-people contact with our Cuban neighbors?
1959 Fidel Castro leads the Cuban Revolution overthrowing General Batista on January 1.
1959 CIA planes kill 2 and wound 45 people in an air attack over Havana during the American Society of Travel Agents convention.
1961 US restricts travel to Cuba via passport controls.
1963 US further restricts travel to Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
1969 US students and civil rights activists form the Venceremos Brigade which means "We Shall Overcome" to promote solidarity with the Cuban people.
1973 The Center for Cuban Studies in New York is bombed for organizing academic and cultural exchanges with Cuba. NY Hospital Workers Local 1199 union hall is bombed for sponsoring an exhibit called ExpoCuba.
1975 The Miami Airport is bombed in response to a shift in US policy allowing US-owned companies based abroad to do business with Cuba.
1976 A Cubana Airlines flight leaving Barbados is bombed killing all 73 passengers, including the Cuban Olympic fencing team. (President George H. Bush later pardoned CIA-trained Cuban exile Orlando Bosch for his role in the bombing. Bosch now lives as a free man in Miami.)
1977 President Jimmy Carter lifts restrictions on travel to Cuba, opening the doors to educational, religious and cultural exchanges.
1977 Cuban-Americans form the Antonio Maceo Brigade and travel to Cuba to re-establish relations with family members in Cuba.
1978 600 young people from the US attend the 10th World Youth Festival of Peace & Friendship in Havana.
1978 Cuban-Americans in the U.S. form the Committee of 75 and begin arranging visits to the island.
1979 125,000 Cuban-Americans visit relatives for the first time in 20 years via charter flights between Miami and Havana.
1979 Committee of 75 member and travel agent Carlos Muniz is assassinated in Puerto Rico. Committee of 75 member Eulalio Negrin is killed in Union City, New Jersey.
1982 President Ronald Reagan re-imposes travel restrictions, making Cuba once-again off-limits.
1985 The Supreme Court upholds the travel restrictions in a 5-4 ruling that says a President's foreign policy concerns could override our Fifth Amendment right to travel.
1985 The Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild and National Conference of Black Lawyers win a case preventing the US government from obtaining the names of people who had traveled to Cuba with Marazul Tours.
1986 Marazul Tours is bombed along with other Miami-based travel operators arranging flights to Cuba.
1992 Pastors for Peace delivers its first "Friendshipment" of humanitarian aid to Cuba in response to the "Cuba Democracy Bill" which further restricts travel and tightens the economic blockade producing shortages of food and medicine at a time when Cuba loses its favorable trading relationship with Eastern Europe due to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
1993 Pastors for Peace mounts a 23-day hunger strike and wins the release of a school bus and humanitarian aid to Cuba.
1993 Global Exchange and other organizations launch a 'Freedom to Travel' challenge sending eight delegations to Cuba without licenses over the next three years. The US government responds by freezing Global Exchange's bank account.
1994 Former US Representative to Cuba, Wayne Smith, begins taking scholars to Cuba without a license as part of a challenge to the travel restrictions.
1995 President Bill Clinton restores family visits to Cuba and eases restrictions on people-to-people contacts between the U.S. and Cuba.
1996 Pastors for Peace members risk a 94-day Fast for Life successfully winning the release of 400 computers confiscated from an earlier Friendshipment of Aid to Cuba. The Helms-Burton Bill passes new travel and trade restrictions on Cuba.
1997 900 young people defy the restrictions and travel to Cuba without a license in the largest challenge ever organized. Meanwhile, an Italian tourist is killed in a string of hotel bombings in Havana organized by CIA-trained Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles. (Posada Carriles is now in US custody for illegally entering the country, although the Bush Administration refuses to extradite him to face murder charges.)
1998 Pope John Paul II visits Cuba and calls for an end to the US economic blockade and travel ban.
1998 Pastors for Peace successfully sues the US Treasury Department from gaining access to their bank records.
2000 The 1st National Summit on Cuba is held in Washington with more than 120 members of Congress and their staff as well as representatives from corporations, labor, and the media. The Summit, hosted by then US Senator John Ashcroft, was aimed at lifting the ban on the sale of food and medical products to Cuba, which according to a World Policy Institute study would bring $1.6 billion and 20,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in sales of food and medical products alone.
2000 The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) fines more than 100 travelers $1000 each, and a 74-year grandmother is fined $8500 for bicycling in Cuba.
2001 Hundreds of colleges, high schools, professional and cultural organizations, churches and thousands of individuals apply for travel visas to Cuba.
2002 Former President Jimmy Carter travels to Havana and calls for ending travel and trade restrictions.
2002 The 1st US Food & Agribusiness Exhibition is held in Havana and authorized by OFAC. Nearly 1000 representatives of private companies, trade organizations, and 33 state departments of agriculture attend the trade fair eager to do business with Cuba.
2003 An estimated 200,000 people travel to Cuba, approximately 140,000-150,000 with licenses and 50,000-60,000 without licenses.
2004 The Bush administration imposes new restrictions on family visits to Cuba limiting them to immediate relatives and once every three years. Meanwhile, bi-partisan majorities in both houses of Congress favor lifting travel restrictions, but the Bush Administration threatens to veto any legislative changes.
2005 More than 700 people-Republicans, Democrats, Cuban-Americans, representatives of churches, businesses and educational institutions, solidarity activists - attend "Cuba Action Day" in Washington DC to lobby Congress to lift the travel ban.
2006 The Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel (ECDET) challenges travel restrictions on the grounds they interfere with academic freedom. The National Council of Churches and Church World Service renew objections to travel restrictions. Pastors for Peace take its 17th Friendship of Humanitarian Aid to Cuba without a license. More than 5,000 solidarity activists have traveled to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, now in its 37th year, without ever requesting a license from the US government.
Right to Travel to Cuba > History > Travel Fight History
Travel Fight History
U.S. citizens are the only people in the world whose government restricts them from going to Cuba.
For nearly half a century, our government has restricted our right to travel, banned trade with Cuba,
and even supported terrorist groups that target and kill people for promoting tourism in Cuba. The U.S. government policy was intended to paralyze the Cuban economy, and force the Cuban people to turn against their government out of desperation. Why is the US government so afraid of people-to-people contact with our Cuban neighbors?
1959 Fidel Castro leads the Cuban Revolution overthrowing General Batista on January 1.
1959 CIA planes kill 2 and wound 45 people in an air attack over Havana during the American Society of Travel Agents convention.
1961 US restricts travel to Cuba via passport controls.
1963 US further restricts travel to Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
1969 US students and civil rights activists form the Venceremos Brigade which means "We Shall Overcome" to promote solidarity with the Cuban people.
1973 The Center for Cuban Studies in New York is bombed for organizing academic and cultural exchanges with Cuba. NY Hospital Workers Local 1199 union hall is bombed for sponsoring an exhibit called ExpoCuba.
1975 The Miami Airport is bombed in response to a shift in US policy allowing US-owned companies based abroad to do business with Cuba.
1976 A Cubana Airlines flight leaving Barbados is bombed killing all 73 passengers, including the Cuban Olympic fencing team. (President George H. Bush later pardoned CIA-trained Cuban exile Orlando Bosch for his role in the bombing. Bosch now lives as a free man in Miami.)
1977 President Jimmy Carter lifts restrictions on travel to Cuba, opening the doors to educational, religious and cultural exchanges.
1977 Cuban-Americans form the Antonio Maceo Brigade and travel to Cuba to re-establish relations with family members in Cuba.
1978 600 young people from the US attend the 10th World Youth Festival of Peace & Friendship in Havana.
1978 Cuban-Americans in the U.S. form the Committee of 75 and begin arranging visits to the island.
1979 125,000 Cuban-Americans visit relatives for the first time in 20 years via charter flights between Miami and Havana.
1979 Committee of 75 member and travel agent Carlos Muniz is assassinated in Puerto Rico. Committee of 75 member Eulalio Negrin is killed in Union City, New Jersey.
1982 President Ronald Reagan re-imposes travel restrictions, making Cuba once-again off-limits.
1985 The Supreme Court upholds the travel restrictions in a 5-4 ruling that says a President's foreign policy concerns could override our Fifth Amendment right to travel.
1985 The Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild and National Conference of Black Lawyers win a case preventing the US government from obtaining the names of people who had traveled to Cuba with Marazul Tours.
1986 Marazul Tours is bombed along with other Miami-based travel operators arranging flights to Cuba.
1992 Pastors for Peace delivers its first "Friendshipment" of humanitarian aid to Cuba in response to the "Cuba Democracy Bill" which further restricts travel and tightens the economic blockade producing shortages of food and medicine at a time when Cuba loses its favorable trading relationship with Eastern Europe due to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
1993 Pastors for Peace mounts a 23-day hunger strike and wins the release of a school bus and humanitarian aid to Cuba.
1993 Global Exchange and other organizations launch a 'Freedom to Travel' challenge sending eight delegations to Cuba without licenses over the next three years. The US government responds by freezing Global Exchange's bank account.
1994 Former US Representative to Cuba, Wayne Smith, begins taking scholars to Cuba without a license as part of a challenge to the travel restrictions.
1995 President Bill Clinton restores family visits to Cuba and eases restrictions on people-to-people contacts between the U.S. and Cuba.
1996 Pastors for Peace members risk a 94-day Fast for Life successfully winning the release of 400 computers confiscated from an earlier Friendshipment of Aid to Cuba. The Helms-Burton Bill passes new travel and trade restrictions on Cuba.
1997 900 young people defy the restrictions and travel to Cuba without a license in the largest challenge ever organized. Meanwhile, an Italian tourist is killed in a string of hotel bombings in Havana organized by CIA-trained Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles. (Posada Carriles is now in US custody for illegally entering the country, although the Bush Administration refuses to extradite him to face murder charges.)
1998 Pope John Paul II visits Cuba and calls for an end to the US economic blockade and travel ban.
1998 Pastors for Peace successfully sues the US Treasury Department from gaining access to their bank records.
2000 The 1st National Summit on Cuba is held in Washington with more than 120 members of Congress and their staff as well as representatives from corporations, labor, and the media. The Summit, hosted by then US Senator John Ashcroft, was aimed at lifting the ban on the sale of food and medical products to Cuba, which according to a World Policy Institute study would bring $1.6 billion and 20,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in sales of food and medical products alone.
2000 The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) fines more than 100 travelers $1000 each, and a 74-year grandmother is fined $8500 for bicycling in Cuba.
2001 Hundreds of colleges, high schools, professional and cultural organizations, churches and thousands of individuals apply for travel visas to Cuba.
2002 Former President Jimmy Carter travels to Havana and calls for ending travel and trade restrictions.
2002 The 1st US Food & Agribusiness Exhibition is held in Havana and authorized by OFAC. Nearly 1000 representatives of private companies, trade organizations, and 33 state departments of agriculture attend the trade fair eager to do business with Cuba.
2003 An estimated 200,000 people travel to Cuba, approximately 140,000-150,000 with licenses and 50,000-60,000 without licenses.
2004 The Bush administration imposes new restrictions on family visits to Cuba limiting them to immediate relatives and once every three years. Meanwhile, bi-partisan majorities in both houses of Congress favor lifting travel restrictions, but the Bush Administration threatens to veto any legislative changes.
2005 More than 700 people-Republicans, Democrats, Cuban-Americans, representatives of churches, businesses and educational institutions, solidarity activists - attend "Cuba Action Day" in Washington DC to lobby Congress to lift the travel ban.
2006 The Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel (ECDET) challenges travel restrictions on the grounds they interfere with academic freedom. The National Council of Churches and Church World Service renew objections to travel restrictions. Pastors for Peace take its 17th Friendship of Humanitarian Aid to Cuba without a license. More than 5,000 solidarity activists have traveled to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, now in its 37th year, without ever requesting a license from the US government.
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