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Sign the petition to open travel to Cuba
Americans today have the right to travel to any country in the world except Cuba. Recently, the OpenCuba.org campaign, which gives people a way to petition U.S. leaders to end the 50-year Cuba travel ban and give all Americans the freedom to travel to Cuba, has been creating some buzz on the web because of the positive developments happening on Capitol Hill regarding lifting travel restrictions to Cuba.
159 Congressmen and 29 Senators recently sponsored the bipartisan Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, which seeks to open up travel to Cuba for all U.S. citizens. The opportunity to end the 50-year ban hangs in the balance. Each of us can take part in the movement to give Americans the right to travel wherever they choose by signing the petition.
The momentum behind this issue is growing. A recent poll shows that 67% of Americans favor allowing all Americans to travel to Cuba. Cuban American groups such as the Cuban American Alliance and the Cuban American Commission for Family Rights have also endorsed the initiatives sparked by OpenCuba.org. Over 50,000 people have already visited OpenCuba.org to make their opinion heard.
To seize the moment and join the growing number of OpenCuba.org supporters in urging U.S. leaders to give all Americans the freedom to travel to Cuba, visit http://www.OpenCuba.org, and encourage others to do so as well.
Americans have long had the freedom to travel almost anywhere in the world, and should continue to exercise this freedom wherever possible. This ability to travel and the resulting exchange of ideas between people from different countries can be a powerful force for positive change.
For information on my own travels to Cuba earlier this year, check out my Cuba Libre series HERE.
Filed under: History, Learning, North America, Cuba, United States, Internet Tools, News, Caribbean
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Craig Aug 4th 2009 6:23PM
Sign right up to guarantee you'll be thoroughly searched and questioned every time you return to the US from abroad!
John McAuliff Aug 4th 2009 11:27PM
Craig is wrong and may be trying to scare off potential signers. Over 70,000 have joined the Opentravel campaign to date, thanks to Orbitz. Two thirds of Americans want to end all restrictions on travel to Cuba.
John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
www.ffrd.org
Wise Aug 5th 2009 9:55AM
My family has taken trips to Cuba and I must beg those considering signing to rethink their positions.
Europeans and Canadians are exploiting an oppressed people to get cheap hotel labor. I have watched as an "unlicensed" artist was dragged away by secret police for trying to sell my sister a painting for US dollars. My mother was also begged by a hotel maid to get insulin for her son.
Some might argue that opening Cuba to American tourism will help the people, but this could not be further from the truth. Cuba issues a tourists-only currency, and unapproved locals caught with it are subjected to "harsh" interrogations. All tourist money is used to enrich a regime whose brutality is a matter of public record.
If you would be unwilling to visit a hotel in the United States that used slave labor, how could you fight to visit a nation of slaves? There is a reason Cubans are literally dying to escape.
When Cubans have the right to vote in multiparty elections, choose their job, speak freely without fear of imprisonment and enrich themselves from their labor, I will be the first to scream for an end of the ban.
John McAuliff Aug 7th 2009 8:04PM
The preceding comment is so propagandistic and political that it serves as an object lesson in what the enemies of Cuba are prepared to do. It is hard to dispute anecdotal assertions. Cuba like everyplace in the world has problems. However, one lie stands out and raises questions about the credibility of the whole post.
Cuba does have a currency that was designed for use by foreigners, the CUC, an effect of the abnormal situation created by the US embargo and in particular Bush Administration efforts to stop Cuba from trading dollars internationally. However, there is no restriction on Cubans holding and spending CUCs. In fact, some people receive part of their salary in CUC.
Does the courageous Mr or Ms Wise also oppose tourism to China and Egypt and Saudi Arabia, all of which have serious human rights problems?
John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development