American Morning
Cuba travel ban to be lifted?
One of the stories I’ve tried to follow through most of my career is Cuba. My dad came to the U.S. just two weeks before the Cuban Missile Crisis. So, I’m drawn to just about any story on the island. With so much attention on the financial crisis these days, it may have slipped past a good number of Americans that U.S. policy toward Cuba may be changing right before our eyes.
A key bi-partisan group of U.S. Senators is pushing a bill in Congress that would lift the ban on travel to Cuba. Travel agents in Miami, who specialize in trips to Cuba, are already laying the groundwork for what would be a flood of mojito-thirsty Americans.
But before you pack your bags, the “Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act” still faces stiff opposition from Cuban-Americans in Congress. And the President has yet to say what he thinks of the idea. Vice President Joe Biden recently said in Chile that U.S. policy on Cuba is in transition.
One interesting sidebar to note: America’s 47 year old embargo on the island is still in place. So if the travel ban is lifted, Cuba expert Dan Erikson cautions, Americans may have to settle on driving in Chinese buses and staying in Spanish owned hotels. In other words, there would be no Marriotts or Hiltons to speak of.
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Just like to say hi will come and chat a little later just finishing off some homework, and believe me it is not easy writing in the heat here at the moment.
Fantastic and interesting forum will look through more a little later, i drive a taxi in Portugal so if anyone from this forum comes on holiday to the Algarve Portugal, come and have a coffee with me, and i can also let you know lots of history from the area...
This is great news! While the US has indeed had its problems with the Castros' over the years, it would seem that in this new era of "Obama" we could look forward and find a way to re-open the channels of commerce as well as travel. I marvel over the movie clips of the glory days in Cuba with hopes of someday seeing them return. Maybe now we will get a chance to legally visit what appears to be a very beautiful place. Please keep us posted.