Obama Officials Ask Court to Overturn Florida Cuba Travel Law

[magbana]

"Obama officials ask court to overturn Florida Cuba travel law

Comments (13)
Recommend (8)
By Lesley Clark | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Wading into a legal battle between the state of Florida and 16 Miami agencies that sell travel to Cuba, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday that controversial amendments to a state travel law "interfere with the federal government's ability to speak for the U.S. with one voice in foreign affairs."

The Justice Department argues in a 35-page "statement of interest" that the 2008 amendments to state law that seek to cut travel to Cuba were "not a consumer protection measure... The Florida amendments are instead an attempt by the state of Florida to conduct its own foreign policy."

The court filing notes that the legislative history "demonstrates that the amendments were enacted to denounce the Cuban government and its practices."

The government argues for the amendments to be struck, noting that they could "limit travel that the federal government has deemed consistent with U.S. foreign policy initiatives." The government argues the amendments could put travel sellers out of business.

And noting that Treasury recently relaxed Cuba travel rules, it argues "by effectively reducing the number of sellers of travel to Cuba, the Florida amendment will limit the federal government's intended expansion of family travel."

ON THE WEB

Read the filing."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/64540.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Great news. Because of "exile" politicians, Florida has created its OWN foreign policy

against Cuba which is separate from the country's foreign policy, which the "exiles" ALSO have dominated and controlled.

Once this unforgivable power they took for themselves has been correctly withdrawn, things will be a whole lot cleaner for any President wanting to remove us from a laughable, and absurd position regarding that small but impressive, independent country.

[Mika]

2. Did you see this comment on the McClatchy story..

thirdparty wrote on March 21, 10:45 PM:

We are told, and I believed, that the news is heavily censored in Cuba, foreign news sources are inaccessible and, as a result, Cubans know only what their government wants them to know. Fair enough -- except that on my first day in Havana, just walking the streets, I passed two hotels whose bars, complete with large flat-screen televisions, faced the windows I was looking through. I was watching CNN with Spanish subtitles. Later, I discovered that all the big hotels, as well as the office of a man I went to meet, had CNN with Spanish subtitles. When I asked, back in the U.S., how this fact of Cuban life squared with what we were told about censorship, I was told that I was naive, that ordinary Cubans were not allowed in those hotels. Maybe so. But I saw many 'ordinary Cubans' watching CNN through the windows, as I did. And what about the very young bartenders, and other hotel employees? They had access to CNN 24/7.

There is nothing to be gained by continuing the embargo.

Recommend (9) Report abuse

[Judi Lynn]

3. It's a good comment to see in the Miami Herald.

If more people who know better personally took the time to add a comment like that to public discussion areas, eventually those who refuse to wake up would have no choice but to have to start thinking about it, from the mere repetition. Once you can coax their brains out of hibernation, they are capable of memory, and semi-consciousness, and with any luck, they'll start thinking about it. Once they THINK about things, they'll start asking questions, and looking for answers themselves, then we're all off to the races!

What a shame the "American Dream" has often meant sleepwalking through their lives for so many people.

Too bad "thirdparty" didn't stay there long enough to look around off the main avenues, and away from the hotels and restaurants to see the antennas, hear tv stations and radio stations from the US playing through open doors, etc. Even taking a Walkman will startle visitors, as Canadian DU'er "Freecancat" said, when they realize they can pick up Miami stations walking down the street in Havana.