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Vol. 72/No. 41      October 20, 2008

 
Court halts Florida restrictions on Cuba travel
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
A federal judge in Miami has blocked enforcement of a Florida law that would impose new restrictions on travel to Cuba. In his October 1 injunction U.S. District Judge Alan Gold said that the law was unconstitutional because the federal government “has exclusive control over issues involving foreign affairs and foreign commerce.”

The law, which was passed July 1, would require travel agencies that book direct trips to Cuba to post a $250,000 bond with the state—in addition to an existing $25,000 federal bond. If enforced, travel agents would face prohibitively high expenses for arranging trips to the Caribbean island.

The judge’s injunction extends a temporary restraining order issued the same day that the law was to take effect. A final trial on the law is not yet scheduled.

Washington has restricted travel by U.S. residents to Cuba for decades, forcing any individual to first obtain a Treasury license to travel to the island. Journalists and government officials can go upon securing a “general license.” In 2004 Washington tightened restrictions on trips by Cuban Americans to the island, limiting visits to once every three years. Previously these visits were permitted once a year.

In another development, the U.S. government has denied re-entry visas to two Cuban journalists who are United Nations correspondents—Ilsa Rodríguez and Tomás Granados—after they spent their vacation in their homeland. Both individuals had covered events at the United Nations for Prensa Latina since 2005. They had been working with the news agency for four decades, and currently had official accreditation from the United Nations until February 2009.

In a September 29 letter to the president of the UN Correspondents Association, Rodríguez and Granados wrote that this exclusion was “an outrageous and arbitrary act, which violates all standards regarding relations between the UN and the United States as the host country.”

In an October 2 news release, the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations said it “denounces this shameful event which clearly shows the disrespect of the United States for the practice of journalism.” The statement added, “Once again, the U.S. Government has acted in an irresponsible way and to the detriment of one of the most basic rights of the human being, which is the right to inform and be informed.”
 
 
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Cuban Five defended revolution against U.S.-backed attacks  
 
 
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