The real truth about the travel ban to Cuba

A paid lobbyist of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, Mauricio Claver-Carone, claims to tell Miami Herald readers the “Truth about the travel ban” to Cuba. His article tortures both truth and reason and leaves out some pertinent facts. For example, he never mentions how this policy affects our economy (negatively) here in South Florida.

He says, disingenuously, that “there is no ban on travel to Cuba — only on taking an exotic vacation there.” A citizen or a legal resident of the U.S. cannot buy a ticket to travel to Cuba unless licensed by the government. Only a small number of specific travel agencies can issue tickets. And anyone traveling to Cuba, even with a license, risks a fine and even jail time for violating the law. Many Americans have been fined for traveling to Cuba to visit churches, bird-watch, fish, take bike rides, visit historical sites or spread the ashes of their parents.

Claver-Carone says “tourism is the main source of income for the Castro regime.” Wrong. The main source of income for Cuba is oil subsides from Venezuela. Moreover, an expert from the IMF estimates that in the Caribbean, including Cuba, only 15% of the income from tourism stays in the country. The rest goes to hotel chains, airlines, travel agents, tour operators, cruise ships, etc. Thus real income from tourism is usually second or third after remittances and exports.

He justifies allowing travel without restrictions to Iran, Sudan and Syria while not allowing Cuba travel because, he claims, Cuba is an appealing Caribbean destination and it would “beggar friendly democratic neighbors” to lift the restrictions. Studies show, however, that some Caribbean destinations may suffer a decline in travelers while others may experience an increase. He misses the point that we should not be denied a fundamental right in order to promote “democracy” abroad.

Astonishingly, Claver-Carone claims that “current U.S. policy toward Cuba has not failed.” The fact is that a policy that has not achieved its objective in 50 years is the epitome of failure. Worse, he reasons that “to label a policy as a failure, there needs to be evidence of the success, or likely success of alternatives.” According to that logic, if a patient dies during an operation, the death would not be a failure because there is no evidence of the likely success of an alternative treatment.

Claver-Carone quotes a supporter of lifting the travel ban as saying “there are no guarantees that this will bring democracy to Cuba.” That is true, but no reason not to try an alternative to our failed operation. What is also true is that lifting sanctions will show respect for our own democracy at home.

Finally, he pulls this statement out of a hat: “What lifting restrictions on tourist travel will guarantee is that the Cuban military will double its income.” Does he know that a substantial portion of Cuban tourist operations are not under military control, that in many cases 50% of the profits go to a foreign partner from Spain, Canada or Italy, and that most of the tourist revenue never reaches the island?

Here are some real facts: (1) Lifting the travel ban will cause from 1 million to 3.5 million Americans to travel to Cuba the first year. If only two million use South Florida as their jump-off point, there will be an additional 20,000 flights, supporting the jobs of thousands of Floridians such as pilots, flight attendants, ground crew, baggage handlers, travel agents, etc. (2) Airport fees will be considerable. (3) There will be a huge boost to the cruise ship industry. (4) Florida’s agricultural sales to Cuba could double.

Lifting the travel ban to Cuba is an important issue that should be discussed with real facts by well informed individuals using logic and reason, not just ideology. Perhaps U.S. policy toward Cuba should not be geared toward regime change, but helping the Cuban people and defending the rights and liberties of all Americans.

One should not preach democracy while practicing tyranny.

This article was written by Amaury Cruz, Elena Freyre and Antonio Zamora of the Foundation for the Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations (FORNORM).