Washington restricts family visits to Cuba
Last summer, regulations went into effect to limit the ability of Cuban Americans to visit their loved ones in Cuba. The new regulations now limit family visits to one every three years and go so far as to regulate how much money they could send to family in Cuba and what they could bring with them as gifts (no clothing or toiletries).
According to the Bush administration's logic, by visiting and giving blue jeans and shampoo to their relatives, Cuban Americans were supporting the Castro regime, and this, of course, had to be stopped. The administration's logic is fuzzy, to say the least. These Cuban Americans weren't supporting the Castro regime by their simple visits; they were supporting something much more important: their families.
Last month, the House voted on an amendment to overturn the ridiculous restrictions, and our Rep. Howard Coble voted against it. Coble will have another chance to vote to get rid of these horrible restrictions on families. Let's hope this time he'll do the right thing. We'll be watching.
Hope Bastian
Greensboro
Comments (4)
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Just to comment on the effectiveness of our Cuban policy.
Castro has been in power since 1959. Perhaps a change in tactics is due.
Posted on July 3, 2005 7:03 AM
Marshall,
Well said! But I disagree that we need to change our tactics. How about eliminating tactics altogether and stop interfering with people's rights, period? If I want to go to Cuba, that's no one else's business except, I guess, Cuba's.
Posted on July 3, 2005 12:24 PM
Interesting we try to punish little communist Cuba with stupid laws like this, but reward large communist China with buying all their crap and creating massive trade deficits. If we would drop our policies on Cuba, it would benefit from tourism, trade, etc. and the communist system would die on the vine.
Posted on July 3, 2005 1:40 PM
Paul & Dan,
I agree with you both. It's obvious stuff. It's amazing how perverse patterns can get ingrained into public policy sometimes. Instead of toppling Castro our policy has propped him up. This is obviously a failed policy, has been for 40 years, hurts the US, hurts Cuba, doesn't help its main target, the Cuban-American voting block, but yet it is sacrosanct.
As I've said before, we need to hire some adults in Washington.
Posted on July 3, 2005 3:30 PM