Cuba & Costa Rica blog
About this blog
Written by Cuba and Costa Rica expert Christopher P. Baker, this blog will update readers on life in these two diverse and exciting countries.
Recent Posts
- Costa Rica Elects its First Female President
- Costa Ricans Assist Haiti Earthquake Rescue & Relief
- Second U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit Scheduled in Cancun
- National Geographic Expeditions cruise to traverse Panama Canal
- Castro's Guerrilla Headquarters in Cuba open to visitors
- Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano Erupts
- Passengers arriving from Cuba face enhanced security screening
- Havana's Che Guevara mural gets a twin
- Join Cuba expert Christopher P Baker in Orlando for a public lecture on Cuba
- Four recent changes in Cuba that affect tourists
- Howler Monkeys of Costa Rica (and their lion-like roar)
- Exploring Costa Rica's Bat Jungle in Monteverde
- Costa Rica's Oscar Arias Administration Pulling Down Hotels
- Ten Pointers for Ethical Tourism in Costa Rica
- Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast gets its first contemporary hotel

Big push to end Cuba travel restrictions
As I've written before, momentum is building in Washington to rescind the ban on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. On Monday, the White House fulfilled a campaign promise to lift all restrictions for Cuban-American travel. Tremendous, and long overdue. See my comments on ABC News Channel 3 in response.
And you can listen in to my live interview on KGO Newstalk with Travels with John Hamilton , Saturday, April 18.
The White House statement also announced that U.S. telecommunications companies will be allowed to operate in Cuba, and that Cuba will henceforth have access to a broad band fiber optic cable. I might soon be able to use my BlackBerry in Cuba.
Meanwhile, President Obama has so far said nothing about the rights of all other U.S. citizens. And the language used in last Monday's announcement maintained the same old counterproductive and provocative tone. Clearly the administration is still concerned to pander to anti-engagement hardliners rather than the two-thirds of U.S. voters who recently said they favor lifting all travel restrictions.
Hopefully he'll come clean at this Friday's Summit of the Americas, in Trinidad, where leaders from throughout the continent are expected to pressure Obama to lift the embargo entirely.
The good news is that last week the adamantly anti-Castroite Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), also came out in favor of engaging with Cuba.
And a bipartisan bill (H.R. 874) to end ALL travel restrictions currently in Congress requires YOUR support. Here's what you can do to get this bill passed...
1. Communicate your message directly to the White House through the phone-in line 202-456-1111. Here's what you might say:
I congratulate the President for the courage and human decency of restoring to Cuban Americans the precious ability to visit and send financial support to their families.
I urge the President to announce that he will support and sign legislation to restore the fundamental human right of travel to Cuba for all U.S. citizens, without discrimination based on national origin. All Americans should have the opportunity to go to Cuba for educational, religious, humanitarian, cultural, and recreational purposes, connecting people to people.
2. Contact your Congressional representatives to support this bill. You can do so easily via the website of the Latin American Working Group (424 C St. NE, Washington, DC 20002, 202/546-7010).
See my blog post of February 8, 2009, for a fuller description of the bill.

Travel Restrictions
Posted by Wayne Bernhardson on April 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm
While I agree that all the travel restrictions should be lifted, this is a huge step in the right direction. I don't think it'll long, since the only ones who really want the embargo are the hard Republican right - and Fidel Castro.