BF2S Forums Cuba!

Major_Spittle wrote:

Give Castro a big Hug for me, and if castro decides your a foriegn informant and decides to torture you for information just remember that it won't be nearly as bad as what the Americans did to those poor terrorist in Abu Grab.

He sends his love. He thanks you for having a respectable institution such as Camp X'ray associated with la Republica de Cuba.

Last edited by CameronPoe (2006-09-22 13:17:23)

CameronPoe wrote:

He thanks you for having a respectable institution such as Camp X'ray associated with la Republica de Cuba.

Yes.  It would not be like Castro to oppress people.  I bet Cuban prisoners are treated much better under Castro than the US.

usmarine2005 wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

He thanks you for having a respectable institution such as Camp X'ray associated with la Republica de Cuba.

Yes.  It would not be like Castro to oppress people.  I bet Cuban prisoners are treated much better under Castro than the US.

Well obviously I´m not going to be getting any tours of prisons but I think that according to Amnesty International the oppression of which you speak is not as bad as it seems and certainly not as bad as Gitmo. I´ll have to look up the Amnesty website when I get a chance. Probably censored here though!

doctastrangelove1964 wrote:

I like cuba because it reminds me of Venezuala and Hugo Chavez. Hugo is funny he gives free oil to old people in NYC ghettoes and bough his tird-world country better gunz then America uses! Its so funny when ou give it real thought.

An odd thing at the moment here in Havana is that everywhere you go you see tons of Venezuela flags as well as Cuban ones. I sense some kind of an alliance forming!!!! *shock horror*

Although the government of Cuba permits U.S. citizens to visit, the U.S. itself restricts its citizens from traveling there, except with a license issued by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The specific restriction is against spending money in Cuba, however U.S. authorities consider any visit of more than one day to be prima facie proof that one has spent money there. Furthermore, OFAC also holds that U.S. citizens also may not receive goods or services for free from any Cuban national, eliminating any attempts to circumvent the regulation based on that premise.
Licenses are granted to certain classes of people for particular purposes, however. A general license (i.e. no paperwork) applies – if certain requirements are met – for professional journalists on assignment, official government business (including international organizations), academic research, and international professional conferences. You can apply for a specific permit for visiting immediate relatives, college-sponsored educational programs, organizational religious activities, humanitarian projects, freelance journalism, not-for-profit cultural exhibitions, amateur athletic competitions, and several other specific purposes. U.S. citizens whose primary interest is tourism can get authorization to travel under the auspices of a program whose activities are sufficiently religious, educational, cultural, or otherwise exempt to qualify for a license. It is even possible for an individual with a credible background in, say, freelance journalism or academics, to craft a "mission" for their visit which successfully gets them a permit. Further details and forms are available from the U.S. Dept. of State [2].
Some U.S. citizens instead travel without a license, doing so by way of other countries (many of which have routine flights to and from Cuba) to escape detection. Cuban travel agents now recommend against using Canada or the Bahamas as a gateway, since U.S. pre-clearance customs agents in Toronto, Montreal, and Nassau actively look for U.S. citizens getting off planes from Cuba. Mexico is considered a safer route, although not entirely without risk; two Mexican entry stamps in your passport without an intervening stamp from another country (Cuba doesn't stamp U.S. passports) would raise suspicions. Some take advantage of the soon-to-end ability to travel between the U.S. and Mexico with just a photo ID, presenting their passport only for the Mexico/Cuba leg of their travels. U.S. citizens also travel via countries without U.S. customs stations (Guatemala, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Haiti, etc.) to reduce the likelihood of being caught. A substantial number simply take their chances, hoping they will not be questioned. U.S. citizens are advised by Cuban travel agents not to bring back anything identifiably Cuban, and to dispose of all Cuban tickets and receipts before re-entering the country.
U.S. citizens caught traveling to Cuba without a license will not be denied re-entry, but may be subject to fines of several thousand dollars and/or criminal prosecution. Perjury can be added to the charges if you falsely report your travels (i.e. omiting Cuba) upon re-entry, which leads some travelers to give an honest declaration along with an attempt to justify their visit under the general license if they come under scrutiny. Exercising your Fifth-Amendment right to silence may also come in handy when filling out forms or answering questions whose answers might incriminate you. Many violators successfully avoid fines by contesting the notices, with the government backing down rather than putting the effort into prosecution and testing their restrictions in court. (The constitutionality of OFAC's "presumption of guilt" regarding spending money in Cuba has not been tested in the courts thus far.) Currently, the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights provide legal representation for U.S. citizens accused of violating these restrictions.
Whether or not a traveller has a license to visit, it is illegal to bring into the U.S. any Cuban cigars; cigars without labels may be presumed to be Cuban, and confiscated. Violating this is likely to compound unlicensed travelers' woes, making them easier targets for prosecution.
There is no U.S. Embassy or consulate in Cuba. The United States is represented by the United States Interests Section, which is technically part of the Swiss Embassy in Havana, though physically separate.

Few small additional observations, having spent the day concentrating on photography around the Habana Vieja district, etc -

- Internet access here must be through polystyrene cups joined by string. Seriously.
- Not as many ´jineteros´(annoying beggar, hustler types) encountered as I expected. Same or less than in any developing country I´ve been to. I always ignore them blankly anyway.
- Met some genuine Cubans who I taught some Irish to and traded stories about history with at Plaza de la Catedral. They were friendly and not out to scam me at all. No catches, nothing. Conversation ended with handshakes. Alleviated my concerns about the whole place being a scamming operation a little.
- People on the face of it seem to be very happy even though the place is a bit (a lot) of a mess and material wealth is a no-no. The place is similar but in better condition to capitalist Casco Viejo in Panama City though I have to say.
- The Capitolio REALLY reminded me of the Cuba portion of the Godfather Part II!!!! An impressive place.

CameronPoe wrote:

usmarine2005 wrote:

CameronPoe wrote:

He thanks you for having a respectable institution such as Camp X'ray associated with la Republica de Cuba.

Yes.  It would not be like Castro to oppress people.  I bet Cuban prisoners are treated much better under Castro than the US.

Well obviously I´m not going to be getting any tours of prisons but I think that according to Amnesty International the oppression of which you speak is not as bad as it seems and certainly not as bad as Gitmo. I´ll have to look up the Amnesty website when I get a chance. Probably censored here though!

Right Right.  That is why the were dancing in the streets of Miami when he became ill.  That is why they float over here in small rafts or anything that floats risking almost certain death.

Last edited by usmarine2005 (2006-09-22 13:50:00)

Hope you have fun Cam, i hope to go there some day.

Btw, more pics please

Major_Spittle wrote:

Give Castro a big Hug for me, and if castro decides your a foriegn informant and decides to torture you for information just remember that it won't be nearly as bad as what the Americans did to those poor terrorist in Abu Grab.

are you kidding me? getting a full body shave and led around on a leash by a chick? that's great!!!! what pisses me off about abu ghraib was they got the treatment free, that shit's expensive here.

Hey Cam, any chance of grabbing me some of Fidel's stash?  A little bit of cuban skunk would be the shit

Hey Poe, do me a favor and kick Castro in the junk and take a pic!!!!! j/k Take some pics of the casinos

Kmarion wrote:

sergeriver wrote:

Kmarion wrote:

I have heard that as well. I live in Tampa and supposedly the Cubans(Sandwiches) are better here than Cuba ..lol

I've been to Tampa a couple of times, nice place dude.  You had an argentine kicker in the Tampa Bay Bucs, I think he's name was Gramatica, right?
Anyway I liked it there.

Thx

Yes we did have a argentine kicker Martin Gramatica, his brother actually kicked for our University (USF) also. Martin is gone now. I'll never forget everytime he kicked a field goal he had to do a huge celebration. He jumped so much one time he actually pulled a muscle and was out for a bit..lol

The Indianapolis Colts just signed Martin Gramatica to kick Field Goals for Adam Vinitiera (sp) who happens to be hurt.  It is one of those couple of weeks contracts.   GO COLTS

Have fun in Cuba Cameron.  Whatch what you say on here you never know who is watching????

Don't go near Gitmo, I think they already have your pic and are on the lookout for ya.    J/K  Enjoy

Last edited by JG1567JG (2006-09-22 21:30:15)