Benefits and Risks of Travel to Cuba

Travel Restrictions Designed to Fill Households – Not Hotel Rooms

Nov 16, 2009 Karen T Escalona

The allure of Cuba attracts U.S. citizens. Obama's new travel policy reunites Cuban relatives, but other travelers take risks.

The recent softening of U.S.travel restrictions to Cuba by the Obama administration (April 13, 2009) has people testing the branches of their family trees. Despite a 50 year embargo of U.S. economic and diplomatic relations with Cuba, travel to the island nation is now possible for those proving a "close relation" with a Cuban national within three degrees of separation – parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, first and second cousins.

With over 100,00 American visitors expected to reach Cuba's shores this year, that's quite a family reunion. Great news if your name is Suarez or Ochoa, but as obvious as the benefits to reuniting households are, what if your ancestors never traversed the Florida Straits? Those without Cuban relatives feel left out of the party. As a result, U.S. citizens have been plunging into rather murky waters to enter Cuba illegally without fully understanding the risks involved.

Don't Ask – Don't Tell When Visiting Cuba

Canadian and Mexican travel and tour agencies tempt U.S. travelers with all-inclusive prepaid packages to Cuban resorts with the posture of "don't ask – don't tell" regarding their clients' legal status to visit the island. U.S. tourists not meeting the new travel requirements regularly add an extra leg to their itineraries through foreign airports to reach Cuban destinations and return home. But the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) enforces rules that make these prepaid packages risky, prohibiting any transaction for "travel related tourist attractions in Cuba including prepayment in third countries for Cuba-related expenses." Civil monetary penalties for breaking the law can reach up to $55,000, and, with over $2 million in civil penalties collected by the U.S. Treasury since 1992, people continually get caught.

New Cuban Travel Rules – It's All Relative

The newly softened travel restrictions may prove even more enticing. But the key to deciphering the new rules lies in the word "related". A U.S. citizen related by blood or marriage within three degrees to a Cuban national is free to reunite with relatives in Cuba, accompanied by other household members, for an unrestricted duration and frequency of visits. The Cuban government recently allowed Cuban nationals, once barred from tourist areas, to join their U.S. relatives in Cuban resorts, thereby boosting the yield of Cuban tourism.

The new Cuba travel policy promotes the growth of family trees, not Cuba's tourism industry. Up to $3000 is permitted as a gift or "remittance" to relatives, but travel-related expenses are limited to the current (Nov. 2009) State Department "per diem" of $179 per day for hotel, food, and transport while in Havana and $125 per day elsewhere in Cuba. Travelers meeting the State Department guidelines can also return to the U.S. with $100 in Cuban merchandise every six months.

The Cuban government instituted the "C.U.C" (pronounced say-oo-say), used to convert U.S. dollars into a local unit of currency. U.S. tourists must convert dollars at a rate of $1.20 for one C.U.C (or the local term "chavito") with an added 10% conversion fee for each exchange. Euros and pounds are exempt from the fee. Cuban nationals, however, are still paid in traditional pesos but obliged to use chavitos in tourist spots. As of August '09, it took 225 pesos to buy 10 C.U.C. Average monthly salaries for Cuban nationals range from 250 – 800 pesos and hotel rates average 100 C.U.C per day; without a U.S. relative to join them, locals refrain from flocking to the resorts.

Allure of Cuba – Worth the Risk?

U.S. citizens entering Cuba by air or boat without meeting the requirements leave a paper trail of travel-related transactions when using credit cards or traveler's checks for pre-paid tour packages, among other purchases. That's why third party travel and tour agents advise clients not to re-enter the U.S. with Cuban merchandise nor receipts that may incriminate them. Entering Cuban waters by pleasure boat is even riskier, even when emergencies arise, as Cuban policy against suspected smugglers carries strict prison terms. Another risk factor is the H1N1 virus. Tourists can be detained and quarantined by Cuban health authorities in an effort to control the virus for up to two weeks; and U.S. medical insurance is never accepted in Cuba.

The allure of Cuba has always tempted the adventurous tourist. Those U.S. citizens traveling against U.S. regulations would do well to carefully weigh the risks. In the meantime, Cuban Americans continue to re-graft whole sections of the family tree, aided by the new travel policy.

The copyright of the article Benefits and Risks of Travel to Cuba in Latin Am/Caribbean Travel is owned by Karen T Escalona. Permission to republish Benefits and Risks of Travel to Cuba in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Iberostar Resort Varadero, Cuba

Typical Scene in Shore Towns of Cuba

What do you think about this article?

---

NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.

post your comment

What is 6+0?