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Florida
Heavy political and economic tension
over Bush’s anti-Cuba measures
THE
restrictions imposed by President George W. Bush on
travel to Cuba have dealt a devastating blow to the
charter flight industry, but the economic effects
are barely the façade of a hotbed of political
tension, inefficient bureaucracies, and familiar
dramas that are today shaking up the Miami
community, according to El Nuevo Herald.
Three months after the White House implemented
measures to reduce the frequency of family visits
(June 30) and started a new procedure for
authorizing Cuban visits to the United States and
those to the island by Cuban Americans, the overall
picture for political activists, businesses and
travelers could not have been grimmer.
The
heart of the crisis is the virtual paralysis in
approving so called “special licenses” to potential
visitors, some of whom are in extreme situations
like that elderly Enma Cruz, who was unable to
travel to visit her dying daughter and is still
awaiting an official reply to her case, according to
the newspaper.
Since the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) issued new licensing forms on
July 2, only 70 of the 4,000 applicants have been
authorized to travel.
The
figures for approved licenses are reviewed weekly by
six of the seven charter flight companies who are
authorized to do business with Cuba. OFAC officials
in Washington have declined to confirm the number of
approved applications and have limited information
on the status of 1,500 petitions that they have
received since August 1. The processing of
applications does not in any way imply
authorization.
“The
OFAC is working hard to expedite the processing of
licenses related to family visits to Cuba,” affirmed
Molly Millerwise, spokeswoman for this federal
agency.
But
the neglible number of applications approved and the
thousands of pending ones are worrying the operators
of travel companies and agencies.
“It
is unacceptable,” business owner Maria Teresa Aral,
vice president of ABC Charters in Miami commented.
“To me it is as if they are playing with people.”
Aral
believes that OFAC’s own application forms are
inconsistent in relation to the information
requested, which has caused numerous applicants to
be rejected and has added to the confusion.
Armando Garcia, vice president of Marazul, agrees
that the OFAC is acting dishonestly and not meeting
its own regulations.
“They have been acting with a total lack of respect
towards people,” Garcia stated. “We realized that
from the first from the first list that they
returned.”
OFAC’s procedures are highly questionable. Many
lists have been returned because the applicants did
not answer a question about their date of
immigration from Cuba in cases where the applicants
were born in the United States.
Others can not provide the date of the last trip
they made under their general licenses because this
is the first time that they are trying to go to
Cuba. In some cases an application has been rejected
because the mother’s married name does not coincide
with that of a child who is a minor.
“These cases are incredible,” Garcia remarked. The
problem is that the OFAC does not provide
instructions on filling out the forms, and it is
criminal of it to return forms six weeks later
without any explanation just because people failed
to explain something in a box that only asked for a
date.”
Millerwise avoided referring to specific cases but
recommended “applying for licenses 10 weeks before
the planned travel date to Cuba. “
However, other factors appear to influence OFAC’s
operations. Richard Newcomb, its director for 17
years, resigned from his post in the midst of rumors
over his dissatisfaction with the implementation of
travel restrictions.
Millerwise only stated that Newcomb will remain at
OFAC until October 1, when he leaves to work for a
legal practice. Newcomb has been replaced by Bob
Werner, who previously worked for OFAC as an
attorney on intelligence matters.
In
addition, at the end of September, the OFAC
headquarters in Miami, responsible for reviewing
applications, moved its offices. Officials from the
Treasury Department confirmed a move to “to another
location in the Miami-Dade area,” but declined to
make any further comment.
The
impact on the travel industry to Cuba was
immediately visible.
Although the number of weekly flights is still
around 20, the actual seat capacity on the flights
is scarcely half the 1,700 seats available up to
July.
Companies have decided to use smaller planes to
offset the enormous drop in demand. The majority of
tickets sold in the last three months went to
academic and religious groups and to people
returning to Cuba after a family visit.
The
number of weekly flights to Havana has been reduced
to nine with 60 seats available on each flight.
There are another seven flights to Havana but on
18-seater aircraft. There is one weekly flight to
Cienfuegos, Camagüey, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba
with 60 seats available on each flight.
“It
appears that the intention is to bankrupt all this
business’s flight companies,” commented Aral, who
has had to lay off 10 ABC Charter employees and has
reduced wages and health care benefits for the rest
of the employees.”
The
forced unemployment caused by substantial economic
losses is equally affecting the flight and travel
industry.
“The
blow that these restrictions represents to the
charter flight industry is devastating and could
bring a sharp reduction in the many business ties
related to Cuban travel,” predicted John Kavulich,
president of the U.S-Cuba Economic and Trade
Council.
The
executive has also taken note of the palpable
effects the measures have had on the Cuban tourist
industry.
The
Cuban Minister of Tourism agrees and notes that the
number of travelers to Cuba has suffered a 25%
reduction after Washington implemented its
restrictions on family visits this summer.
It
is estimated that this past year some 154,000 people
legally traveled to Cuba from the United States, and
85% of those were family visits.
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