Monday, November 3, 2014   The first in a series of seven entries; all delayed by one week.

As a U.S. citizen, there is but one place on this entire planet that I may not legally go. Canadians, Japanese and Europeans regularly vacation there but I am forbidden to join them. Tomorrow, however, I am going to that place because an exception to the law now exists. Some background information will help.

In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed legislation titled Trading With the Enemy Act and President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law. The objective of this law was to stop any American from trading with our enemies during World War I. Various countries from Germany to Japan and including Myanmar and Sudan have appeared on this list over the past 98 years.

North Korea was once on this list, but President George W. Bush in 2008 whittled the list to a single country, Cuba, which had first made the list during the final days of the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower. Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama have all annually renewed TWEA sanctions against Cuba.

What is now called the Cuban Embargo was initiated in response to the confiscation by the regime of Fidel Castro of private property owned by both Cubans and Americans in 1960. The current embargo—legally created by Congress under provisions of the Helms-Burton Act – implements strict economic sanctions, travel restrictions on Americans, and international legal penalties against other countries that trade with Cuba. It is intended to force Cuba to adopt democracy and free markets. Embargo and trade sanctions helped bring down apartheid in South Africa but it hasn't brought down the regime of Fidel (and now Raúl) Castro.

Last month, Cuba, for the 23rd time, saw U.N. General Assembly member nations condemn the U.S. economic and trade embargo of the island by a vote of 188 to 2 (the U.S. and Israel). That means that 188 votes (including Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, etc.) approved a resolution presented by Havana that condemns the U.S. for causing "over $1,126 trillion in damages" as a result of over 50 years of trade sanctions. The embargo - or blockade ("el bloqueo") as it's known in Cuba --is the most visible symbol of decades of contentious relations between my country and the nation of “Dictator” Fidel Castro.

In 2008, Fidel Castro, now 88, then and now in poor health, abdicated power to his younger brother Raúl Castro, now 83. Raúl Castro was re-elected as President in Feb. 2013, and announced that he would step down in 2018. In recent years, Cuba has implemented economic reforms designed to create free enterprise, some restrictions on property use have been lifted and some foreign travel by Cubans has been allowed. Many would agree that the 11 million Cubans continue to live in a nation of oppression and, it is said, suffer gross human rights abuses. But, even they would agree that the tide is slowly turning.

Five years ago, American government subcontractor Alan Gross made his fifth trip to Cuba posing as a tourist while actually working on what the New York Times called “a secretive program to expand Internet access” in Cuba. He was working for the U.S. Government at the time. He was arrested and is now in prison there. The Times is now calling for a “prisoner swap” to free him. The ingredients of this stew are all rotten with the fixings contributed by both sides.

In my opinion, the real issue in not ending the embargo may very well be U.S. Presidential politics. Florida looms large in elections for U.S. President. Since 1976, Florida’s 29 electoral college votes have gone to the ultimate winner of the Presidency every time (6 times for Republicans, 4 times for Democrats) except once: 1992 when Florida favored George H.W. Bush over winner Bill Clinton. Any proposal to end the embargo would severely anger older Cuban-American voters who, by my research, deliver well over 500,000 votes in each Presidential election. Even though recent polls show younger Cuban-American voters supporting an end to the embargo, they don’t vote with the same frequency.

During President Obama’s first term, travel sanctions were loosened to allow Americans to travel to Cuba as “licensed” travelers. To get a “license,” one must be “engaged in certain specified activities” including “purposeful” travel including religious, cultural, educational and people-to-people travel. But, having no “purposeful” travel in mind, I resigned myself to not visiting Cuba.

That remained the case until the evening of September 4, 2014, when true love BR and I dined with her dear friend Jeff at The Farmhouse in Kansas City. Small talk led to Jeff remarking that he and his wife, Joyce, were going to Cuba in November. “You should come,” he said, “but the trip is full.” The next day, Jeff called BR with news that a couple had canceled. We were in.

Our trip, sponsored by and benefiting The Pap Corps, Champions for Cancer Research®, one of the largest fundraising organizations in South Florida dedicated to supporting cancer research of all types is, however, a Jewish religious mission with a full time religious itinerary. There are only about 1,200 to 1,400 Jews (estimates differ) living in Cuba but there has been a vibrant Jewish renaissance in Cuba in the past couple of decades. Due to the embargo, while there we will not do anything that is not of a religious origin, for a religious purpose or to learn more about the plight of Jews in Cuba.

Logistically, travel to Cuba by Americans is complicated by the fact that the TWEA still prohibits American credit card companies from clearing charges from Cuba so we cannot use credit cards. American mobile phone companies cannot do business there so our phones don’t work. Phone cards purchased in the USA don’t work but local cards are available for use at pay phones at a rate of $2.05 per minute for calls back to the U.S. And, of course, it goes without saying that no scheduled airline, U.S. or foreign, may operate scheduled service between the two countries. Only charter airlines may operate and then may only carry licensed travelers.

Cuban hotels, we’re told, offer “spotty” Wi-Fi internet access. Americans may bring computers into the country but may not bring a modem, portable hot spot or satellite phone or any other satellite type devices. As for Cubans themselves, most do not have access to a computer and, therefore, have no e-mail capability. Electrical current in hotels is 220 volt so the plugs are unlike those in the U.S. and travelers must be careful when they plug things in lest they be “fried” by the higher voltage.

Cuba uses two currencies. The Cuban currency—the peso—may not legally be used by Americans. Foreigners must use “Convertible pesos,” known as CuCs. CuCs are currently pegged at 87 cents to the U.S. dollar. Cuban pesos have a much lower value than do Cucs. For example, a Cuban doctor, all of whom are government employees, is paid a salary of about 40 Cuban pesos per month. Trading currency on the street carries a legal penalty and a fraud potential. Trade a dollar and get just under one Cuc. Trade that same dollar and get around 24 pesos. But, as a foreigner, you cannot spend Cuban pesos. Foreigners may spend only CuCs. It is all very confusing.

Under U.S. law, when I return, I can bring home books, periodicals, paintings, sculptures, artifacts, art, records or tapes but I cannot bring cigars, local rum, coffee, or general “shopping” merchandise of any kind.

Cuban medical insurance is included in the price we paid for our mission. It covers 100% of medical expenses up to $25,000. It is recommended that we drink only bottled water and that we avoid ice cubes made with local tap water. Food safety here is similar to what one would expect in any “third-world” country.

The national beer of Cuba is Cristal (light) or Bucanero (dark). Cuban coffee is strong so many Americans instead order Cortado expresso with a bit of milk—Café Con Leche. Sugar substitutes such as Splenda or Equal don’t exist there due to the embargo. But, there is an abundance of real sugar because they produce it here.

Given the political situation in Cuba, at first, I was concerned about bringing my computer with me on this adventure. The details of my life are on the hard drive. The government of Cuba observes no right to privacy. What if they took my computer; what if they copied and read every document that I ever created and disliked something they found there?

I got over that fear and decided to not only bring the computer but to—at the urging of many friends—write my blog as I almost always do.

However, if occurred to me that it would be foolhardy to upload that blog day by day. I am told that there is much monitoring of electronic communication in Cuba. For that reason, I have decided to wait a week, day by day, to upload so that I am safe at home. I am well clear of Cuba and any recrimination that might occur because I wrote a thing that might displease a person in a position to express displeasure while at the same time holding authority over my movements.

Prudence is in order.