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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2002
ON EVE OF SENATE HEARING 50 PROMINENT GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS
CALL ON CONGRESS TO END TRAVEL CONTROLS TO CUBA
We the undersigned urge the United States Congress to enact
legislation to remove all controls on travel to Cuba. Under
our democratic system, Americans have a constitutional right
to travel where they wish. Not only is it their right, but it
is also an article of faith that their travel helps to carry
abroad American values and spread the message of our democracy.
In the case of Cuba, however, the U.S. Government puts all that
aside and opts instead for the kind of travel controls usually
imposed by authoritarian governments. These controls ignore
international standards of freedom of movement (exactly what
we accuse the Cuban government of doing). They violate Article
12 of the United Nation's International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, and Article 13 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. And even under U.S. law, the legal bases for
the controls strain credulity.
These controls are also entirely counterproductive in terms
of legitimate U.S. foreign policy objectives toward Cuba. We
wish to encourage Cuba to move toward a more open society, yes,
but preventing American citizens from traveling there in no
way advances that goal. On the contrary, as Elizardo Sanchez,
Cuba's leading human rights activist, has often put it: "The
more American citizens in the streets of Cuban cities, the better
for the cause of a more open society. So why does the U.S. maintain
travel controls?"
The logic behind Sanchez's statement is unassailable. Travel
controls are not only inconsistent with basic American values,
they serve no legitimate purpose. Polls indicate that the overwhelming
majority of American citizens understand that and wish to see
these controls removed. Congress, in response to the will of
the American people, should take action immediately to end them.
George McGovern
Former U.S. Senator from South Dakota
Scotty Baesler
Former U.S. Congressman from Kentucky
Tom Cooper
President
Gulfstream International Airlines
Dania, FL
Hilda Diaz
President
Marazul Charters, Inc.
Tessie Aral
Vice President
ABC Charters Inc.
Miami, FL
Xiomara Almaguer
Executive Director
XAEL Charter, Inc.
The American Society of Travel Agents
Alexandria, VA
Alfredo Duran
President
Cuban Committee for Democracy
Miami, FL
Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo
Cambio Cubano
Miami, FL
Silvia Wilhelm
Puentes Cubanos, Inc.
Miami, FL
Elena Freyre
Executive Director
Cuban American Defense League
Miami, FL
Francisco Aruca
Radio Progreso
Miami, FL
Nancy Chang
Center for Constitutional Rights
New York, NY
Albert A. Fox, Jr.
President
Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy
Peter Bourne
Vice Chancellor
St. George's University, Grenada
Wayne S. Smith
Senior Fellow
Center for International Policy
Washington, DC
Sandra Levinson
Executive Director
Center for Cuban Studies
New York, NY
Lissa Weinmann
World Policy Institute, Cuba Education Project
New York, NY
Geoff Thale
Senior Associate
Washington Office on Latin America
Washington, DC
Pam Montanaro
Global Exchange
San Francisco, CA
John I. Gilderbloom, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Sustainable Urban Networks/Cubanow.org
Louisville,KY
John McAulliff
Executive Director
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
New York, NY
Alex Lopez
Interplanner
Washington, DC
Katherine Hoyt
National Coordinator
Nicaragua Network
Washington, DC
John Gilman
Director
Wisconsin Committee for Peace and Justice
Milwaukee, WI
The Share Foundation
San Francisco, CA
Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Washington, DC
Eddie Levy
President
Jewish Solidarity
Miami, FL
David Moczulski, OFM
Executive Director
Franciscan Washington Office for Latin America
Washington, DC
Kathy Thorton
National Coordinator
NETWORK, National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Washington, DC
Dr. Valora Washington
Executive Director
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Cambridge, MA
Alberto R. Coll
Newport, RI
Rubén G. Rumbaut
Professor of Sociology
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Prof. Nelson P. Valdes
Sociology Department
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dr. William M. LeoGrande
Professor of Political Science
Department of Government
American University
Julio Vernon Ruiz, M.D.
Cuban American Geriatric Educational Foundation
New York, NY
Dr. Juan Reardon
USA/Cuba Infomed
William Gudex
Editor, U.S. Farm News
Campbellsport, WI
Cindi Roberts-Hall
CUBAmistad - Bloomington (Indiana) - Santa Clara Sister City
Tina Phillips
Brunswick (Maine) - Trinidad Sister City Association
Margaret Lynch
Cambridge (Massachusetts) - Cuba Sister City Project
Peter Honerkamp
East Hampton (New York) -La Playa Sister Cities Association
Arnold Trujillo
Las Vegas (New Mexico) - Cuba Sister City Group
Ricardo Gonzalez
Madison (Wisconsin) - Camaguey Sister Cities Association
Arthur Heitzer
Milwaukee (Wisconsin) - Nuevitas Sister City
Randy Poindexter
New Orleans (Louisiana) - Mariel Sister City Association
James Sweet
Oakland (California) - Santiago de Cuba Sister City Association
Christina Alvarez
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) - Cardenas Sister City Initiative
Lisa Valanti
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) - Matanzas Sister Cities Association
Sharon Woods
Richmond (California) - Regla Sister City Committee
Dr. Rodney Peffer
San Diego (California) - Cuba Sister City Association
Melinda Rector
Seattle (Washington) - Granma Sister Cities Association
Michael Canney
St. Petersburg (Florida)- Guantanamo Sister City Association
Dr. Ana Marie Sierra
Tacoma (Washington) -Cienfuegos Sister City Committee
BACKGROUND
On Monday, February 11, 2002, the Senate Subcommittee on Treasury
and
General Government Appropriations will hold a hearing on the
enforcement of
the travel ban to Cuba.
Among the witnesses at the hearing will be Nancy Chang from
the Center for
Constitutional Rights, a New York-based organization assisting
hundreds of
American citizens who had traveled to Cuba in recent years and
received
threatening notices from the Treasury Department Office of Foreign
Assets
Control (OFAC) last summer. The Subcommittee hear testimony
from individual
citizens who have received such threats or fines, or who have
great
difficulty navigating the licensing procedures for legal travel
to Cuba.
OFAC's director, Richard Newcombe will be present to testify.
Immediately following the hearing, former Senator Dennis DeConcini,
Former
Chief of Mission in Havana, Wayne Smith, and Manny Hidalgo,
DC director of
the Cuban Committee for Democracy will give a press conference
on ending
travel controls to Cuba (in Dirkson Senate Office Building 628).
Catherine Gordon
Associate for International Issues
Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)
www.pcusa.org/washington
Phone: 202-543-1126
Fax: 202-543-7755
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