Feds shut down Cuba travel scheme, arrest 2

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Feb. 23, 2007email thisprint this

Feds shut down Cuba travel scheme, arrest 2
Federal authorities charged two Florida men in a scheme to violate Cuba travel restrictions through travel licenses for fake churches.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
[email protected]

Two Florida men allegedly concocted a scheme to get around the restrictive Cuba travel ban by creating bogus churches and applying for licenses under the name of God that allowed thousands of travelers to visit the communist island nation.
(snip)

The case against Margolis and Vazquez is the first criminal prosecution of Cuba travel violations since formation in October of a special team of federal and local law enforcement investigators to root out breaches of the embargo.
(snip)

Two Florida men allegedly concocted a scheme to get around the restrictive Cuba travel ban by creating bogus churches and applying for licenses under the name of God that allowed thousands of travelers to visit the communist island nation.
(snip)

Investigators also found that more than 2,000 people had traveled to Cuba between March 2005 and April 2006 under the First Church of Christ license.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16763098.htm

[HuffleClaw]

1. erm, let me see if i understand this

they exploited a LEGAL 'loophole' and are being prosecuted for it ??????

[Kagemusha]

2. It's considered fraud

and fraud is a felony.

[yellowcanine]

11. Well yes, but so was bootlegging liquor during Prohibition. Stupid laws tend to make criminals out

of otherwise honest people and create new opportunities for those who are criminals already. Maintaining travel restrictions to Cuba is stupid law.

[Kagemusha]

14. No arguing about the law being stupid

Hell, I have a huge problem with devoting a special FBI/ local law enforcement task force to this. Isn't there anything more worthy of police resources?

[IndianaGreen]

12. The only fraud is the belief that America is a free country

Free citizens can travel to whichever country they choose!

[jhasp]

3. The US embargo of Cuba demonstrates the true lack of freedom in the US

Let's see.... the US government doesn't like the chosen form of government of a small island nation. This island nation poses no military threat to the US, but since our government doesn't like their form of government, we are restricted from going there. Mind you, there are few if any restrictions on travel to actual enemies of the US (Syria, Iran, etc.) :banghead:

[DBoon]

4. Nor are there similar restrictions on travel to other dictatorships

A vacation in Myanmar would go unchallenged.

[carla]

5. Dictatorship

is a loaded term. The Cubans are running a socialist democracy based on general elections that have a field of candidates numbering in the 10's of thousands. It is convenient to paint Cuba as a dictatorship, but my family lives there and they have visited me in Europe several times. Travel restrictions on US citizens shine a bad light on the US. Cubans travel, believe it or not, and they choose candidates within a relatively dynamic political system, just like many other countries here in Europe. If you are still buying into the "Fidel is a dictator" line, maybe you should try to find some actual information on the state of Cuban society instead of accepting the old saw about dictatorship, it would help you understand why the USGov. won't let you travel there. PS, I've been there and so have very many of my European friends and colleagues and their impressions of Cuba are considerably more positive than their impressions of the USA. Flame away, if you m,ust, but it would be better to remove the scales from your eyes.

[roody]

6. And go there as well!

I don't need some rich, white guys telling me what country I cannot visit. Try it incognito or make a big splash like Pastors for Peace.

www.ifconews.org

[Judi Lynn]

7. I've been wondering about how you learned so much about Cuba. This is WONDERFUL.

Hearing your remarks about the fact Cubans travel was a real gift. Many people have known this for years in South Florida, if they have known Cuban Americans there, as many of the Cuban Americans have been visited by their relatives in the years before _{George W. Bush.}

I've heard of those relatives even making trips to New York with their relatives for various reasons before returning home. For some reason, it's a fact they just don't discuss with people elsewhere in the country.

I'm convinced a lot of Americans actually don't know it's the AMERICAN government which keeps them from going to Cuba. It would do so much good for everyone concerned if these self-centered, ignorant people started taking an interest in what's going on in the world, after all!

[TreasonousBastard]

8. I'll pass at describing Cuba as a paradise, but I have...

Canadian friends who go there regularly on vacation (easier than flying to Florida now) and they all love the place.

Problems? Oh yeah, Cuba has lots of problems, but it's definitely not the hellhole it's so often described as. And what country doesn't have problems?

[DBoon]

13. If Fidel is not a dictator

then the ban is based on a mirage. That is obvious. It is not worth an argument.

If we assume Fidel is a dictator, then the ban is remarkably inconsistent for focusing on Fidel and no the dozens of other similar countries.

"If we cannot travel to Cuba because it is an evil regime, then why can I now travel to Libya legally?"

In either case, dictator or not) the ban on travel should not exist. It is either based on a false premise (Fidel is a dictator) or is wildly inconsistent (Cuba is a dictatorship but that doesn't prevent travels to dozens of other dictatorships)


The discussion about the nature of the Cuban regime should not affect our right to travel there.

[Mika]

15. Thanks for the post. Your description is right on.

Someone here posted that the cadidates are pre-selected.

Yes they are pre-selected. By the people - in candidacy nomination sessions that are open to any and all citizens to run and vote. The candidates are not chosen in secret smoky back room deals.


http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.

I've been to Cuba during an entire election season, plus I have attended these sessions.


:hi:

[Benhurst]

10. Of course we're free! We're the envy of the world. But what free

person would want to go to a godless communist country? The Leader is just protecting us from making such a mistake.

We're the World's Only Superpower, bringing Truth, Justice and The American Way to the little people of the world, one bullet at a time. Bombs away!

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Judi Lynn]

9. Americans Favor Re-Establishing Ties With Cuba

Friday, December 15, 2006
Americans Favor Re-Establishing Ties With Cuba
By James Joyner

A new Gallup poll shows that two-thirds of American favor renewing diplomatic ties with Cuba. This isn’t particularly surprising:

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2006/12/americans_favor_re-establishing_ties_with_cuba/

[WorldResident]

16. Why didn't they just fly to Canada to get to Cuba?

I agree with the defendant's motivations in this case, however.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Years ago the U.S. started sending FBI agents to the Canadian airports,

and they check passenger manifests of everyone coming and going to Cuba, looking for passengers who are from the U.S.

This operation really started irritating airport personel right after it began, and it was reported briefly in U.S. newspapers, but never given any publicity. Very few people seem to know about it, even now.

Apparently they are skulking around the airports around the clock, waiting to catch Americans who dare to travel to Cuba, as if they were terrorists.

Agents have been moved from other departments to simply work on tracking down American travelers to Cuba. It's a hideous waste of U.S. taxpayers' resources.

[dysfunctional press]

20. or mexico.

going from south florida to cuba by way of canada might be a bit pricey, as well.

[Judi Lynn]

18. L.A.Times, 2003: For Americans, the climate on travel to Cuba is getting chilly

For Americans, the climate on travel to Cuba is getting chilly
The government is limiting tour operators' licenses and cracking down on visitors who make the trip through Canada or Mexico.
August 17, 2003


The rumba party isn't over yet for U.S. travelers to Cuba, but the lights have dimmed, the music is fading and guests are starting to leave. It may be time to grab that last dance — or is it?

A year ago, business was booming for nonprofits that annually send an estimated 20,000 Americans to Cuba. Then in March the U.S. Treasury Department said it would stop issuing "people-to people" licenses, which many of these operators use. As the remaining licenses expire — most in November or December— so do these trips.
(snip)

The department last year penalized about 450 alleged violators, spokesman Taylor Griffin said. That's only a fraction of the estimated 22,000 to 60,000 people who go to Cuba illegally each year, but it's several times the number typically penalized under previous administrations. Fines can range up to $55,000 under civil law; criminal penalties can include 10 years in jail or a $250,000 fine.

Ignorance is no excuse. Joan Slote, a 75-year-old San Diego woman who has become a cause célèbre for advocates of Cuba travel, was fined nearly $8,000 in 2001 after joining a bicycle trip in Cuba sponsored by a Canadian company. She said she didn't know her visit was illegal. (Last month she negotiated the penalty down to $1,907.)
(snip)

About 154,000 Americans went to Cuba legally last year, said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council Inc., a New York-based company that advises businesses on dealing with the island. He estimated that at least 85% of them were people of Cuban descent visiting family.
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/travel/destinations/mexico/la-tr-insider17aug17,0,1205310.column?coll=la-travel-mexico

[Quantess]

19. K & R.