Cuba Libre, Anyone ?

[GordMay]

Other than Cuba, are there any other countries to which the U.S. Government currently maintains limitations or restrictions on travel ?

[Hud3]

Gord,

I can't definitively answer that, but US citizens can legally travel to North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. That would lead me to believe that Cuba is the only one.

[Brent Swain]

I just read that recent polls of expat Cubans living in Floriduh , support the dropping of the embargo by 70%. This may be the tipping point to dropping the embargo. High time.
Brent

[AnchorageGuy]

Brent, The old guard are dying off and the new generation of Cuban-Americans could care less about the Castro's. Change is in the wind.

[schoonerdog]

The Obama administration has stated they are looking are immediately repealing any executive order that does not fit the interests of the American people. I would imagine this would be one of them. I would guess that early next year they will repeal this order, and issue new directives, that will make the Cuban embargo for all intent and purposes defunct. The real question is how will Cuba handle it when a baggage carrier earning $300 in tips each month is making several times more than a doctor.

[Jonesee]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

I just read that recent polls of expat Cubans living in Floriduh , support the dropping of the embargo by 70%. This may be the tipping point to dropping the embargo. High time.
Brent

Please post the article. I would have to see the data or article on that. I live in Florida, one of my best friends is a cuban imigrant. My insight into the cuban community as a whole is they hate Castro and do everything they can to support the embargo. The ex-pats in particular absolutely support the embargo and push politically to keep it in place.

I would be interested to see your data. I have been in many a heated discussion with ex-pat friends that will argue the embargo should absolutely stay in place until there is a political change in Cuba. They are totally 100% impassioned about it every time the topic comes up.

FYI: I do not support the embargo that is why I keep getting in these conversations... I do support my friends though.

As for sailing there: It is all about risk and reward. I wouldn't sail off the Somali coast right now, and with all the other places to see, I can wait to see Cuba.

[GordMay]

2007 FIU Cuba Poll: Tabulation of Questions
The poll was conducted in March among 1,000 randomly selected, Cuban-American respondents in Miami-Dade County by the Institute for Public Opinion Research and the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, in association with the Brookings Institution. It showed that 65 percent of respondents support dialogue with the Cuban government and that some 53 percent support unrestricted travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba.
For the full results of the poll, see:
http://www.fiu.edu/~ipor/cuba8/pollresults.html


Most Cuban-Americans living in Miami want an end to the US embargo against Cuba, a new poll suggests.
With 55% of those interviewed opposing the embargo, the poll result marks a major shift of opinion among Miami's Cuban-Americans, researchers said...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7762565.stm

Most Cuban-Americans favor ending embargo, poll shows
In a landmark shift of opinion, a majority of Cuban-Americans now favor ending the 46-year-old economic embargo and restoring diplomatic relations with the communist-ruled island, a new poll has found...
... The new poll for the first time shows a clear majority — 55 percent — in favor of lifting the embargo, up from 42 percent a year ago. A surprising 65 percent were in favor of formalizing diplomatic ties. The poll also showed strong support for ending Bush's restrictions on travel and remittances...
... Miami Cuban hardliners have dismissed the poll, questioning its veracity and the motives of those who paid for it, the nonpartisan Brookings Institution in Washington and the Miami-based Cuba Study Group, an organization of mostly wealthy Cuban exile businessmen, critical of U.S. Cuba policy...
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article925582.ece

[annk]

I spent two months last year, April thru May, on the South Coast of Cuba. I am a EU registered boat but met two USA boats who also experienced no problems. Cuba is extremely welcoming and we saw no sign of US Coastguards operating on the South coast.
Be warned that US dollars are NOT welcomed. In fact there is a 10% charge immediately levied on any transaction using this currency. Euro's and Canadian dollars are the currency of choice.
Cuba is a beautiful country and my strongest impression of the people was their love of life and laughter!