un LONG texte, en anglais, sur les modalités datant de 2004 mises en place par le gouvernement Bush et ses alliés de
Tel Aviv pour empecher la libre circulation des résidents US vers
Cuba :
le texte de loi se nomme très précisément OFAC et il empèche l'exportation de capitaux pour lutter contre le..... terrorisme (on sait que la seule arme cubaine de destruction massive est.... le rhum
Havana Club !)
ainsi on ne va pas dire n'importe quoi à ce sujet, voici très précisément l'info sur la loi qui empéche ma cousine, habitant à 200 km de sa famille et ayant un PASSEPORT FRANCAIS de traverser le détroit de
Floride et se rendre à
la Havane quand elle en a envie et si elle peut s'offrir le billet
ah oui, j' oubliais, si vous travaillez dans un organisme d'état ou municipal US et que vous êtes pris en flagrant délit de visite à
Cuba VOUS PERDEZ VOTRE JOB ! et les dénonciations entre cubains aux US.....
lien vers l' OFAC, le meme service de la Treasury qui sert à traquer Ben Laden sur le plan financier joue pour
Cubawww.ustreas.gov/...es/enforcement/ofac/
extrait : on ne peut être plus clair, non !!
Specific licenses to visit immediate family members* in Cuba: OFAC may issue specific licenses authorizing travel-related transactions incident to
one visit lasting no more than 14 days to immediate family members* who are nationals of Cuba per three-year period. For those who emigrated to the United
States from
Cuba, and have not since that time visited a family member in
Cuba, the three year period will be counted from the date they left
Cuba.
For all others, the three year period will be counted from the date they last left Cuba pursuant to the preexisting family visit general license, or from the date their family visit specific license was issued. Travelers wishing to visit an immediate family member in
Cuba who is authorized to be in
Cuba but not a national of
Cuba may be granted a specific license in exigent circumstances provided that the U.S. Interests Section in
Havana concurs in the issuance of such a license. Applications for these specific licenses should be mailed to OFAC's
Miami Office at: Office of Foreign Assets Control U.S. Department of Treasury P.O. Box 229008
Miami, FL 33122-9008
- -
Restrictions on Travel from the US to CubaNote: As of June 30, 2004, the U.S. government further tightened travel restriction to Cuba so it is now virtually impossible for people under their jurisdiction to get first-hand information on conditions on the island or to visit members of their family who live their. The government of Cuba imposes virtually no restrictions on educational, tourist, or family visits to the island.Most everybody in the world, except Cuban-born-non-Cuban citizens, and ANYBODY under United
States jurisdiction, can travel to and from
Cuba freely. If you are a Cuban-born non-Cuban citizen, you will need to apply for a visa at a Cuban Embassy. For all other North American and EEC citizens, traveling to
Cuba as short-term visitors, you need a passport and the tourist cards that is issued with your plane ticket to
Cuba.
Cuba welcomes non-Cuban born U.S. tourists with no red tape.
For anybody under United
States jurisdiction there is one additional level of complexity. The U.S. has a partial embargo of trade with
Cuba. The embargo is enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as part of their work as a lead agency against terrorism (1/6th of their anti-terrorism work is focused at going after Americans who visit
Cuba.) In conjunction with this, OFAC is increasingly limiting people opportunities to learn about
Cuba. For the official word on US policies to
www.ustreas.gov/ofac
. To learn about travel sanctions for
Cuba search for "travel transactions
Cuba". For general information on sanctions, click on the "Sanctions Program" link. Here is the gist of what is said on travel to
Cuba:
It is legal for Americans to go to
Cuba.
It is illegal for American to have transactions (spend money or receive gifts) in
Cuba under most circumstances.
It is legal for American to have transactions (spend money or receive gifts) in
Cuba if they have a "license", but the government is arbitrary about how it interprets its rule and who it issues licenses to.
If you are a journalists, government officials, have relatives in
Cuba, are a full-time professionals (including doctors, dental hygienists, environmentalists and actors) going to conferences or doing research, you might be able to go to
Cuba, under a "General License" -- with no red tape.
Other activities they MAY be approve under Specific Licenses:
- Humanitarian Travel
- Free-Lance Journalism
- Professional doing research or going to meetings that don't meet the criteria for a general license.
- Educational Activities - including educational exchanges not involving academic study pursuant to a degree program when those exchanges take place under the auspices of an organization that sponsors and organizes such programs to promote people-to-people contact. NOTE: On March 24, 2003, OFAC gave notice that this category would be eliminated on May 24, 2003.
- Religious activities - i.e. seeing the Pope
- Public Performances, Clinics, Workshops, Athletic and Other Competitions, and Exhibits (i.e. Baltimore Orioles) - all profits from the event after costs must be donated to an independent nongovernmental organization in Cuba or a U.S.-based charity, with the objective, to the extent possible, of promoting people-to-people contacts or otherwise benefiting the Cuban people.
- Activities of Private Foundations or Research or Educational Institutions
- Exportation, Importation, or Transmission of information or Informational Materials
Note: it is easier for a Little League player or high school student to go to
Cuba than a registered voter who wants to inform themselves about foreign policy issues.
U.S. citizens traveling to
Cuba than have several options:
- Determine you qualify under the general licenses

- Apply for a specific license under 515.565 (b) (2) and see if you can get a timely reply from OFAC. NOTE: On March 24, 2003, OFAC gave notice that it was revising this section and the most popular category for licenses would be eliminated on May 24, 2003. (see #3 below)
- Go to Cuba without a license. (see Returning from Cuba
)
Getting A Specific License As An Individual for Travel to CubaOFAC’s complete instructions for applying for a specific license says:
“Applying for a specific license: Persons wishing to travel to
Cuba under a specific license should send a letter specifying the details of the proposed travel, including any accompanying documentation, to Chief of Licensing, Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of Treasury, 1500
Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Washington DC 20220.”
The up side of applying for a license is some are granted. If it is denied and you are one of the people fingered by OFAC and IF the process got to a hearing, you could try to argue that OFAC is in error in not granting the license, that they actions are arbitrary and capricious and in violation of provisions for equal protection. But this approach hasn’t been tested, in part because OFAC has avoided holding hearings in the past.
Note: In the past, individuals who have participate on Atenas de
Cuba programs have gotten specific licenses. If you are applying it is probably best not to mention IBF, Atenas de
Cuba or traveling by bike, because these are all likely to prejudice your application. Best results on applications seem to come when you keep it simple, narrowly focused and limited -- nothing multidiscipline and no complex concepts. (
Sample OFAC license application letters
that have received licenses.)
NOTE: According to April 2004, Congressional testimony by OFAC, Between 1990 and 2003 it opened just 93 enforcement investigations related to terrorism and collected just $9, 425 in fines for terrorism financing violations since 1994.
In contrast, OFAC opened 10, 683 enforcement investigations since 1990 for possible violations of the long-standing economic embargo against Fidel Castro's regime, and collected more than $8 million in fines since 1994, mostly from people who sent money to, did business with or traveled to
Cuba without permission.
At the end of 2003, OFAC had just 4 full-time employees dedicated to investigating Ousama Bin Ladin's and Sadam Hussien's wealth, while nearly two dozen were working on the terrorism of Cuban embargo violation.