Cuba?

[Tigerlily]

What is the deal with Cuba? Can Americans sail to Cuba?

[delmarrey]

Some take an alternet route by picking up passports in the Carrib. Then return to the Carrib. before heading back to the US of A.

Don't know the details for sure. Try the search link on the forum..........._/)

[sv_makai]

Friends of ours have gone to Cuba by boat. Cuba provided a rice paper imagration stamp which is just tucked inside your passport then tossed when they left.

Personally there are so many great islands in the Caribe and south AMerica that are as beautiful to see without risking the seizure of my boat. Do an internet search many boat have been taken by the Goverment and my understanding that they will be cracking down even harder.

If you are looking for danger and risk there is Columbia, Haiti, some parts of Venezuela that are rugged and untouched without having to risk loss of you home.

Maybe some day when we hvae seen everything else the desire to go to CUba may arise but now!

[GordMay]

From the US State Department:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm

All U.S. travel to Cuba must be licensed by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), and must fall into one of ten categories. Further information on the licensing process can be obtained from OFAC or at their website.
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/

All exports to Cuba must also be licensed by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Further information on exports to Cuba can be found at the BIS website.

Summary of New Rules on Travel and Exports to Cuba - July 22, 2004
U.S. Department of State ~ Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rls/fs/34617.htm

Temporary Sojourn to Cuba:
This rule amended the policy for evaluating export applications for aircraft or boats on temporary sojourn to Cuba. Such applications will now be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and approved only for the explicit purpose of delivering humanitarian goods or services, or when it is in the U.S. foreign policy interest.
Specific Licenses are issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), U.S. Department of the Treasury, to travelers engaged in the following transactions:
1) humanitarian donations
2) educational activities
3) religious activities
4) exchange of information and informational materials
5) free lance journalism.
Note: Tourism is NOT a legal warrant for U.S. citizens to visit Cuba.

For more information, contact:
US Department of the Treasury - Office of Foreign Assets Control
Cuban Interest Section
2630 16th St, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202-797-8519
Fax: 202 797-8521
Web: http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/

See also

Office of Foreign Assets Control ~ 31 CFR - Overview of Sanctions
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforce...ns/t11cuba.pdf

“Cuba crackdown” - from BoatUS
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl..._9/ai_n6200112

Going far beyond any previous government directives on Cuba, President Bush infuriated most of the sailing world in February with a presidential proclamation saying U.S. boats could be boarded and seized if federal agents believed the operators were even thinking about heading to Cuba. Citing the need to combat the "terrorist threat" posed by Cuba, it directs the secretary of Homeland Security to "make rules governing the anchorage and movement of any vessel that may be used, or is susceptible of being used, for voyage into Cuban territorial waters."

By June, the old rules for "fully hosted" travel were thrown out by the U.S. Coast Guard and the threat of enforcement became quite real when federal indictments were issued against two American regatta organizers. The Florida sailors were arrested and charged with violating the federal "Trading With the Enemy Act," a felony that could bring prison time and hefty fines if convicted. Peter Goldsmith of the Key West Sailing Club and Michele Geslin, a Key West sailmaker, were charged with acting as illegal "travel agents" by promoting their event on the Internet and collecting fees from participants, without Treasury Department approval. While their race began and ended in Florida, participating U.S. vessels made two planned stopovers in Cuba.

Goldsmith and Geslin organized races between Key West and Cuba in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003, and collected entry fees that ranged from $300 to $450 a boat, and an additional fee of $125 for each crewmember, according to the indictment ...
continued at:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...00112#continue

[NoTies]

This is SCARY. I had no idea any western government could/would impose such restrictions.
Do any non US cruisers have any experience of entering the US after a visit to Cuba or clearing the US to head there?

[BC Mike]

It is a US Cuba thing. Canadians do not have a problem, not that I know of. We have exchange programmes with Cuba. They are doing well with organic farming as they do not have the availability of pesticides and stuff.
Michael

[Jentine]

wasn't much of a problem until King George ascended the throne. Since that time, relations with Cuba have gotten much worse. Several years ago, many of my friends had gone to Cuba for fishing tournaments, to bring clothing and medical supplies and to engage in religious acitvities. Until the King is off the throne, don't expect things to get much better.

[markpj23]

For US military & retireees the marina at Guantanmo Bay is open for visitation. Some decent diving in & around the harbor and a good provisioning stop for those with commissary & exchange access. 6 transient slips, max keel depth 14ft.

More restrictions on general base access lately due to the prison camp, so it's probably advisable to call ahead.

[Chuck Baier]

By proclamation of King George Dumbia you are a criminal if you even think about going to Cuba. The Coast Guard has the authority under his proclamation to seize your vessel if they THINK you are going to Cuba from anywhere on the planet. If you want to change this, do so with your vote.

[Loc_Dog]

anyone know if its possible for a norwegian citizen to buy property in cuba?

[delmarrey]

From what I've read they take your money one minute then kick you out the next.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...6/212416.shtml

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...22/81611.shtml

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...9/151036.shtml

---------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...3/204040.shtml

Castro Screws Foreign Investors Again! (Jun. 2005)

Western companies that bucked the U.S. embargo and set up shop in Cuba are shutting down and leaving as Fidel Castro's government rolls back market reforms - just as NewsMax.com predicted it would three years ago.

Writing in NewsMax.com in February 2002, pundit Humberto Fontova said: "Liberals insist in Congress, on CNN, in the New York Times that doing business with Fidel is a can't-lose proposition for any American and that moral and material blessings will shower all involved."

Then Fontova - author of the new book "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant" - warned: "The momentum for the long-awaited opening with Cuba is mounting, my friends. I have some advice: Hide your wallets."

Cuba had opened up certain areas for real estate investment by wealthy Europeans. Castro allowed them to come and plunk down millions to buy sea-front condos.
_
The idea worked like a charm - then Castro pulled the rug out from under them.

In 2000 his government, without warning, announced that any foreigner who bought property in Cuba would not be allowed to resell said property. Poof - up in smoke went the investment of these foreigners."

Flash forward to 2005. Small and medium-sized foreign businesses are complaining that they no longer feel welcome in the Communist country and fear they won't recover money owed to them by Cuban partners.

The Cuban government usually retains more than 50 percent control over joint ventures with foreign companies, while the overseas investor provides machinery, credits and supplies in exchange for a chunk of the profits.

But Castro has been moving to cut back the autonomy granted to state-run companies to do business with outside investors and is restoring central control over trade, Reuters reports.

"Fidel thinks he does not need small joint ventures anymore, so they are only keeping the big ones in strategic sectors such as telecommunications," said one investor who had to abandon a business in Cuba after 12 years.

In recent speeches, Castro has said Cuba reluctantly opened up to foreign investment during the financial crisis that followed the collapse of Cuba's benefactor, the Soviet Union.

"I don't think they ever wanted us here," said the manager of a European firm that is pulling out after 10 years in Cuba.

"They always tried to get the most money, machinery and knowledge they could out of us while giving little in return. They owe us millions, but we are leaving mainly because of their attitude, the way they treated us."

According to Reuters, "Western embassies report increasing complaints from their nationals whose businesses were liquidated without any guarantee they would be compensated."

Of the 313 cooperative production ventures operating in Cuba in 2003, only 133 remained at the beginning of 2005 - and most of them would be closed, said a source with Cuba's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ministry.

Why does Castro feel so smug as to turn away foreign investment?

The answer is simple: Venezuela's communist strongman, Hugo Chavez, is giving his ally Castro billions in free oil. Castro, in turn, is helping Chavez create a Cuba-style police state in Venezuela.

[NoTies]

Thank Christ I'm too broke after buying the boat to even think about any other investment.