<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19298">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV class=ody-hgroup>
<H1>Ellen Creager: Is the door slamming shut for travel from U.S. to Cuba?</H1>
<H2></H2>
<H6><A href="javascript:void(null);"><SPAN
class="fontsize increase-font pluson"></SPAN></A> </H6></DIV>
<DIV class=ody-article>
<DIV id=article-bodytext class=ody-article-bodytext>
<DIV class=clear></DIV>
<DIV id=fb-root></DIV>
<DIV id=ody-pgwidget class=ody-pgwidget>
<DIV class=ody-pgwrap>
<DIV class=ody-pgcolumn1>
<DIV class=ody-pgarrows>
<DIV class=ic-leftarrow><A id=prevpic class="prevpic adreload"
onfocus=this.blur() href="javascript:void(null);"></A></DIV>
<DIV class=ic-rightarrow><A id=nextpic
class="next nextpic adreload pg-sntrackview" onfocus=this.blur()
href="javascript:void(null);"></A></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=ody-photoarea>
<DIV class=ody-activephoto>
<DIV id=ody-pgimgbcg class=ody-pgimgbcg><IMG id=ody-pgphotosrc
class=ody-pgphotosrc
title="Door to the the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana in Havana. People come each night to see the canon ceremony at 9 p.m. The grand fort was built by the Spanish in 1774.
"
alt="Door to the the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana in Havana. People come each night to see the canon ceremony at 9 p.m. The grand fort was built by the Spanish in 1774.
"
src="http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=C4&Date=20110825&Category=FEATURES&ArtNo=108250804&Ref=PH&Item=1&Maxw=640&Maxh=410&q=60"></DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DISPLAY: block" id=ody-caps class=ody-caps>
<DIV id=ody-pgcapstxt class=ody-pgcapstxt>Door to the the Fortress of San Carlos
de la Cabana in Havana. People come each night to see the canon ceremony at 9
p.m. The grand fort was built by the Spanish in 1774. </DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DISPLAY: block" id=ody-pgtools class=ody-pgtools>
<DIV class=ody-pgthumbsIcon></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=clear></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class="ody-bo-sm ">
<DIV class=ody-byline><A><IMG title="Ellen Creager" alt=""
src="http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/persbilde?Avis=C4&ID=ecreager&maxH=55&maxW=55"></A>
<H5>By <A href="mailto:ecreager@freepress.com">Ellen Creager</A><BR><BR>Detroit
Free Press Travel Writer </H5><BR>
<UL class=ody-filed>
<LI class=ody-filed></LI></UL></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=ody-asset-breakout class=ody-asset-breakout>
<DIV class=ody-img-wrapper>
<DIV style="POSITION: relative; WIDTH: 318px" class="ody-photo-land ody-photo">
<DIV style="POSITION: relative" class=ody-bottomdiv><IMG
alt="1952 Chevrolet in Havana."
src="http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20120822&Category=COL21&ArtNo=120822010&Ref=AR&MaxW=300&Border=0&Ellen-Creager-door-slamming-shut-travel-from-U-S-Cuba-">
<DIV class=ody-buypic><A class="ody-zoompic AR"
href="javascript:void(null);">Zoom</A> </DIV></DIV>
<H6>1952 Chevrolet in Havana. </H6></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=ody-image-wrapper-extra-a></DIV>
<DIV style="WIDTH: auto !important" class=ody-facts-wrapper></DIV>
<DIV class=ody-image-wrapper-extra-b></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=artpagination>
<DIV style="FLOAT: none" class=content-wrap>
<DIV class=gel-content>
<DIV class="gel-pane gpagediv">
<P>Why it is happening, nobody is sure. But the Cuba "People to People" travel
program touted so highly by President Obama in 2011 is coming to a screeching
halt, drowning in paperwork and non-renewed licenses for travel organizations.
<BR></P>
<P>Almost no organizations that got licenses from the U.S. Treasury Office of
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) last year to sponsor trips to Cuba have received
renewals. Trips that were advertised have been scrapped. Organizations are left
to wait without any updates or information.<BR></P>
<P>“We work with about 30 different non-profit organizations that have programs
to Cuba in next 12 months, and 100% of them have not received renewals of
licenses,” said Jim Friedlander, president of Academic Arrangements Abroad in
New York, a travel service provider, late Tuesday. <BR></P>
<P>He said that the practical effect of OFAC’s lack of activity is that it
disrupts the entire People to People program. <BR></P>
<P>To me, this is contrary to the whole purpose of the president's 2011
loosening of travel for Americans to Cuba.<BR></P>
<P>Because of the outdated U.S. embargo against Cuba that makes it illegal for
Americans to travel there, most Americans have never been to Cuba unless on a
family or religious visa. The People to People cultural travel program finally
allowed thousands of regular travelers to visit last year and early this year,
interacting with Cubans in a meaningful way.<BR></P>
<P>But in May, the OFAC application for a license to operate trips to Cuba under
People to People grew from 6 pages to essentially hundreds of pages.
Organizations seeking renewal had to document every minute of every day for
every single trip they had done in the past year to prove that they were doing
“People to People” activities and not tourism.<BR></P>
<P>Then, most of them heard nothing. Weeks and months passed. Licenses lapsed.
Since OFAC is notoriously closed-mouth about its work and does not make public
its list of licences, applicants have been able to get little information. But
gradually they realized they were all in the same predicament.<BR></P>
<P>The U.S. Treasury press office on Tuesday did email me a comment from Jeff
Braunger, program manager for Cuba Travel Licensing: “We have issued
approximately 140 people-to-people licenses. We are doing our best to process
both first-time applications and requests to renew existing licenses. We receive
numerous such requests which are being handled in turn. It is our goal to
respond in a timely matter.’’ <BR></P>
<P>I think this is approximately one paragraph more information than all the
organizations waiting for their renewals have gotten from his office.<BR></P>
<P>The thing that alarms me most is that the groups I’ve talked to seem
intimidated and scared. They are afraid of going public with their concern,
worried that if they seem to be complaining about months of delays that have
caused them to cancel trips, lose money and lay off staff, that OFAC will punish
them by stowing their application on the bottom of a giant pile.<BR></P>
<P>I don’t think that’s true, but the very fact that companies are so skittish
concerns me greatly. These are not fly-by-night groups. Typical groups that have
-- or had -- Cuba “People to People” licenses include Harvard Alumni, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Insight Cuba and the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, all reputable groups that ran ethical and very
good culturally-rich trips.<BR></P>
<P>Now, a look at their websites tells the story. Harvard has one trip planned
for Dec. 27 but with this caveat: “Pending ‘People to People” license renewal.”
The Met wiped Cuba off its itinerary for now. National Geographic, which has run
29 trips taking 703 people total in the past year, is taking only preliminary
waiting-list reservations for fall trips with no deposit. (A deposit, according
to OFAC rules, is engaging in financial transaction with Cuba and illegal if you
have no license) Insight Cuba has suspended all trips for the past two months
and is on hold, waiting for its renewal that expired in June. National Trust has
4 Cuba trips still on its 2012 itinerary, but with an asterisk: "Pending People
to People License Renewal." <BR></P>
<P>Whether you are pro-Cuba travel or anti-Cuba travel, this whole thing should
concern you a lot. There is something sinister to me about preventing citizens
from traveling, then allowing them to do so, then throwing giant roadblocks to
prevent them from going after all. <BR></P>
<P>So why is it happening?<BR></P>
<P>It could be election year politics, with OFAC personnel covering their bases
in case Democrats are out in November and Republicans take over.<BR></P>
<P>It could be undue influence from the small but mighty faction of anti-Cuba
types in Congress.<BR></P>
<P>It could be the White House consciously deciding to slow down the program for
political reasons in exchange for something it wants from Cuba.<BR></P>
<P>Or it could just be bureaucratic overload, with hapless workers struggling
under an avalanche of paperwork it thought it needed and no deadline, and
meanwhile these worthy groups that have done so much work to run People to
People trips to Cuba lose money, customers and confidence in their government
.<BR></P>
<P><I>Contact Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager at <A
href="mailto:ecreager@freepress.com">ecreager@freepress.com</A> or
313-222-6498.</I></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>