Cuban Tourism Articles

Major Cruise Lines Hold Meeting in Cuba (+Photos)

Havana, Nov 28 (Prensa Latina) The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) began today a two-day meeting in this capital city as part of its foray into Cuban tourism.

Due to the boom of tourism in Cuba, CLIA organized at the Parque Central Hotel in Havana the first symposium on cruise journeys, in which the main managers of 12 cruise companies, especially from the United States, participate.

Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade, Investment and Foreign Collaboration, mentioned in the opening ceremony the benefits and potential of Cuba for cruise ships, as well as the details to be targeted by business with this country.

The meeting was also attended by minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero and head of the General Direction of the United States of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Josefina Vidal.

Amid the companies participating in the meeting are American Cruise Line, Virgin Voyager, Carnival Corporation and Pic, Holland American Line, Carinval Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruises Linea Holgings, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Club Cruises.

The meeting is also attended by Silversea Cruises, Celestyal Cruises and Disney Cruises Line.

Currently, the companies Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holding (NCLH) and Pearl Seas LLP, are operating in Cuba with results considered by authorities as mutually beneficial.

Spokespeople said that Cuba seeks to implement a large program of port infrastructure targeting cruise activities in different ports of the country.

They also said that the economic and commercial blockade set up by the United States against Cuba for more than 50 years hinder the development in this field, as well as others in the country.

Cuban tourism has had a steady rising trend in the most recent years, while envisaging an increased number of hotel rooms, reaching 130,000 ones in the next 10 years.

Cuba is expected to be visited by the unprecedented total number of 4.7 million foreign tourists in 2017.

These sources also pointed out that Cuban ports and their terminals are certified according to the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code).

Cuban authorities have also signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with nine port authorities in the United States (Virginia, Louisiana, Lake Charles and New Orleans, Alabama, Gulf Port, Pascagoula, Houston and Cleveland).

Until late October 2017, a steady flow of tourists aboard cruise ships was reported, with the main docking port in Havana, a city that has been already visited by 28 cruise ships, with more than 270 port calls.

A report issued on November 4th by the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.,headquartered in New York, indicated that three U.S. cruise companies, which include Cuba in their journeys, will have incomes of $ 623 million USD from 2017 to 2019.

According to that report, the 286 trips to Cuba expected to be made in those years by Norwegian Cruises Lines (NCL), Carnival and Royal Caribbean will carry 455,000 passengers.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is made up of the 25 most important cruise lines in the United States, and it is the largest cruise association in the world, seeking constantly promotion and development.

http://plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=21626&SEO=major-cruise-lines-hold-meeting-in-cuba-photos

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Cuba Close to 4,7 Million Tourist Arrivals

Havana, Nov 29 (Prensa Latina) Cuba had by November 26 some 4,2 million tourist arrivals, and tourism authorities expect to close 2017 with more than 4,7 million, the president of Viajes Cuba travel agency, Jose Manuel Bisbe, told here Wednesday representatives of important cruise lines.

Bisbe told foreign executives of the largest cruise companies who are meeting in Havana with tourism authorities that 248,000 travelers visited the Island from the U.S. in 2016, compared to this year's 573,000 despite hurdles put up by the administration of Donald Trump.

After highlighting that safety and hospitality are two of the island's values, Bisbe recalled that Cuba has 9 World Heritage sites, 14 National Parks and 257 National Monuments, besides Biosphere Reserves, with a yearly increase of 10 percent in tourist arrivals.

He added there are 68,000 hotel rooms, 69 percent of hotels is ranked as four and five stars and Cuban tourism authorities are carrying out 140 investment projects that include new hotels, properties development associated to golf courses and there is a favorable foreign investment law.

Bisbe further said there are 20 foreign hotel chains with 88 establishments operating in Cuba, representing almost 65 percent of the total, and 27 joint ventures operate 4,500 four and five stars rooms.

The tourist executive envisioned that Cuba hope to have 103,000 hotel rooms by 2030, with 23 marinas, 24 golf courses and 47 projects devoted to adventure. He illustrated that in Peninsula Ramon, eastern province of Holguin, a large tourist destination with 19,159 rooms is under construction.

He added that in Sabinal Key, to the north of the central province of Camaguey, a hotel complex with 12,785 rooms is being developed, while constructions in Paredon Grande Key and Las Brujas Key include 2,895 rooms. The latter will host next May the International Tourism Fair, FITCuba 2018.

The Cruise Lines International Association chose Havana for its meeting as Cuba is enjoying a tourist boom. Executives from the 12 most important cruise lines, most of them based in the U.S. are attending the gathering.

http://plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=21670&SEO=cuba-close-to-47-million-tourist-arrivals

Tour Operator Affirms Right to Independent Travel

You Can Still Travel To Cuba Individually. Here’s How:

11/29/2017

Confusion over President Trump’s new policy has led Americans to reconsider their travel to the island. Fear not, Americans. Your trip to Cuba is still legal.

What’s changed?

The State Department released a list of entities with which Americans are banned from doing business. The list included a handful but not all hotels, an unpopular rum brand, a popular soda brand (adios, Cachito), and a few gift shops. Yes, the American government really banned the consumption of Cachito soda. Moving on.

The 12 categories of travel that permit US travel to the island (journalism, religious activities, etc.) have been shuffled around a bit with slight changes. Under Obama’s policy, Americans wishing to travel on their own to Cuba could travel under a category called “people-to-people”. The only requirement: spending all your time interacting with Cubans on the island.

Now, Americans “going rogue” have to use the “Support for the Cuban People” category. The criteria are nearly the same; just now, Americans should have an itinerary of their trip if they are ever audited. That’s it. It’s the same as before, just check a different box and keep your Cuba schedule on file in case someone asks. You will not be asked for an itinerary at the airport in the US or in Cuba, and you can still buy your visa to Cuba at the airports in the US. Remember: this is an American law, not a Cuban law, and you will not be bothered in Cuba for being American.

So, how do you “support the Cuban people”? One of the easiest ways is engaging with Cuba’s private sector full-time, which is not hard to do given the plethora of private dining and Airbnbs’ there are in the country. Additionally, visiting an art studio or drinking a mojito at a private bar counts as “supporting the Cuban people,” especially if you strike up conversations with artists and entrepreneurs along the way. Buying a t-shirt from a private business like Clandestina counts as well.

Hitting the local agricultural market to score some fruit or a city tour in a classic American car will also get you there.

The Clandestina clothing store is an example of a private shop in Old Havana.

You’ll notice: a lot of these things you would be doing anyways.

Companies like Cuba Educational Travel can help you certify that your itinerary is compliant with U.S. government rules. The policy was intended to be confusing to discourage American travel to Cuba without making it illegal. Don’t let it affect your trip – solo travel to Cuba is as legal and incredible as ever.

Isabel Albee works for travel company Cuba Educational Travel. For help planning a trip, contact info@cubaeducationaltravel.com

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/you-can-still-travel-to-cuba-individually-heres-how_us_5a1ed477e4b039242f8c8096

New Regs and a New License for Independent Travel

Comment on Misinterpretation of New Regulations

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article183405526.html

This Miami Herald article misstates the revised character of the general license for travel to support the Cuban people. In its previous form, it was the license for undertaking anti-state activity. In effect it has become the replacement for the individual general license for people to people travel.

From the Treasury Department press release:

"In accordance with the NSPM, OFAC is requiring that each traveler under this travel category engage in a full-time schedule of activities that result in meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba. Such activities must also enhance contact with the Cuban people.... Renting a room in a private Cuban residence (casa particular), eating at privately owned Cuban restaurants (paladares), and shopping at privately owned stores run by self-employed Cubans (cuentapropistas) are examples of authorized activities; however, in order to meet the requirement of a full-time schedule, a traveler must engage in additional authorized Support for the Cuban People activities. ", i.e. meaningful interaction, enhanced contact.

The intrusive activities that I have deleted from the above for clarity are "or" alternatives, "support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities." Similar language appeared in the old individual general license, written originally to get Sen. Rubio to lift a confirmation block.

John McAuliff

Fund for Reconciliation and Development

www.ffrd.org

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Press Release

New Cuba Regulations Protect Independent Travelers

Individual visits still easy under revised category

Americans who want to freely travel to Cuba independent of groups and at lower cost have not been affected by new regulations issued on November 9th by the Treasury Department.

The individual general license for people to people travel has been abolished, but equal if not more freedom is now available through a revised category of Support for the Cuban People.

The only limit it imposes is that the travelers must stay in a private bed and breakfast (casa particular) instead of a government owned hotel.  They must "engage in a full-time schedule of activities that result in meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba. Such activities must also enhance contact with the Cuban people".  

This undiminished opportunity for independent visitors will be good news to US airlines Jet Blue, American, Delta, United and South West as well as AirBnB. The fast growing Cuban private sector that benefits includes owners of bed and breakfasts, restaurants, taxis and support businesses.

The only practical consequence of the new regulations for American visitors on group tours is that they are not supposed to use hotels, bars and stores in Old Havana owned by Habaguanex, including Ernest Hemingway's former hotel home, Ambos Mundos.  This is because the Habaguanex company last year was taken away from the Office of the Historian by GAESA, a military linked holding company.  Should it be restored to the Historians' Office, or transferred to another State entity like Cubanacan, the hotels will become accessible to Americans again.

A different psychological obstacle to US visitors is the Travel Warning that was issued in September when the US withdrew 60% of the staff from its embassy in Havana.  The warning was a bureaucratic requirement of the drawdown and the reduced ability of the embassy to provide routine citizen services, but had no substantive justification.  Although the Travel Warning had no legal force, it created a negative atmosphere for new visitors and affected some institutional insurance, presumably as an unintended consequence. 

Significantly Senator Rubio and his hard line colleagues in Miami are not happy with the new regulations.   Have they explained to constituents yet that their pressure on the State Department led to withdrawal of US consular staff from Havana so grandma and grandpa are not going to be able to get visas to celebrate New Years with them in Miami? 

Official text describing Support for the Cuban People, and links to complete US government documents can be found below.


The Fund for Reconciliation and Development is a non-governmental organization founded in 1985 to support normal US relations with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  For the past twenty years it has undertaken projects seeking the same with Cuba.  Our most recent program was a performance tour by Irish and Irish American traditional musicians to Holguin and Santiago, November 11 to 18.

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Official descriptions of Support for the Cuban People

Frequently Asked Questions

20. What constitutes “support for the Cuban people” for generally authorized travel and other transactions? This general license authorizes, subject to conditions, travel-related transactions and other transactions that are intended to provide support for the Cuban people, which include activities of recognized human rights organizations; independent organizations designed to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy; and individuals and non-governmental organizations that promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba. In accordance with the NSPM, OFAC is amending this general license to require that each traveler utilizing this authorization engage in a full-time schedule of activities that enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people’s independence from Cuban authorities and that result in meaningful interactions with individuals in Cuba. OFAC is also amending this general license to exclude from the authorization certain direct financial transactions with entities and subentities identified on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List. The traveler’s schedule of activities must not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule in Cuba. For a complete description of what this general license authorizes and the restrictions that apply, see 31 CFR § 515.574. 


New Regulations

§ 515.574 Support for the Cuban people.

(a) * * *

Each traveler engages in a full-time schedule of activities that:

Enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people’s independence from Cuban authorities; and

Result in meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba.

* * * * *

Note 2 to paragraph (a): Staying in a room at a rented accommodation in a private Cuban residence (casa particular), eating at privately-owned Cuban restaurants (paladares), and shopping at privately-owned stores run by self-employed Cubans (cuentapropista) are examples of activities that qualify for this general license. However, in order to meet the requirement for a full-time schedule, a traveler must engage in additional authorized Support for the Cuban People activities.


Treasury Dept Press Release

Support for the Cuban People TravelIn accordance with the NSPM, OFAC is requiring that each traveler under this travel category engage in a full-time schedule of activities that result in meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba. Such activities must also enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities. Renting a room in a private Cuban residence (casa particular), eating at privately owned Cuban restaurants (paladares), and shopping at privately owned stores run by self-employed Cubans (cuentapropistas) are examples of authorized activities; however, in order to meet the requirement of a full-time schedule, a traveler must engage in additional authorized Support for the Cuban People activities.

Full text of Support for the Cuban People section

CUBAN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS

§515.574   Support for the Cuban People.

(a) General license. The travel-related transactions set forth in §515.560(c) and other transactions that are intended to provide support for the Cuban people are authorized, provided that:

(1) The activities are of:

(i) Recognized human rights organizations;

(ii) Independent organizations designed to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy; or

(iii) Individuals and non-governmental organizations that promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba; and

(2) Each traveler engages in a full-time schedule of activities that:

(i) Enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities; and

(ii) Result in meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba.

(3) The traveler's schedule of activities does not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule.

Note that virtually identical language describes authorized people to people educational travel for groups:

 (2) Travel-related transactions pursuant to this authorization are for the purpose of engaging, while in Cuba, in a full-time schedule of activities that enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities;

(3) Each traveler has a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that result in meaningful interaction between the traveler and individuals in Cuba;

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=37bf4f2d6625a976add5c8a750e9d070&mc=true&node=pt31.3.515&rgn=div5#se31.3.515_1574

My layman's interpretation:  if your view of your goal is to promote independent activity to strengthen civil society and your activities enhance contact with the result of meaningful interaction, your presence in Cuba will be positive in support of the emerging private sector and you qualify for this general license.  If you are motivated by the other listed goals and act on them, your presence will be regarded as intrusive and not respectful of Cuba's sovereignty. -- John McAuliff

Complete US government documents

New Regulations

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cacr_11082017.pdf


Frequently Asked Questions

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_faqs_new.pdf


Treasury Department Fact Sheet

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_fact_sheet_11082017.pdf

Full text of Cuban Assets Control Regulations

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=37bf4f2d6625a976add5c8a750e9d070&mc=true&node=pt31.3.515&rgn=div5#se31.3.515_1574

The Cuban Missile Crisis, 55 Years Ago

The October Crisis, when everyone won.

October 22d marked fifty-five years since the beginning of the most dangerous crisis during the Cold War, a moment when the world was on the brink of a nuclear war. Fortunately, seven days later, on October 28, the United States and the Soviet Union reached an agreement that ended the confrontation over the nuclear missiles installed in Cuba, an agreement that was received with universal relief.

Because the world has never been so close to a nuclear war, and the magnitude and drama of the events, the whole process is periodically analyzed from all possible approaches- e.g. military, diplomatic, and political. Some analysts try to draw lessons for the future; others study the negotiations between President John F. Kennedy and the Secretary General of the CPSU and Prime Minister of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev. It’s also examined what was the fate of these two leaders, and of then Prime Minister Fidel Castro who rejected the part assigned to Cuba by the two superpowers. Many others are dedicated to determine which side gained more, ignoring that in fact –as Khrushchev expressed then– who won was world peace. Or, rather, all parties involved.

In order to make a judgment on who won in the Missile Crisis it’s not enough to look at the agreement that ended it; you have to appreciate how relations between the superpowers evolved from that moment and the impact in Cuba. An additional interest is to know what the future brought to each one of the three leaders involved.

Reviewing the various versions of the reasons that led Khrushchev to propose the installation of the missiles in Cuba –and Fidel Castro to accept it–, it is clear that the Soviet Union intended to change the strategic situation vis-a-vis the United States and also to safeguard Cuba. The Cuban leader, for his part, accepted because Cuba was under threat of a direct invasion of the United States -and also because he was politically compelled to show solidarity with the Soviet Union for ideological reasons and in response to the considerable essential aid it provided to Cuba.

The United States reacted against a fait accompli, the missiles were in Cuba. If they remained there a change in the strategic balance will have been achieved and for the first time a hostile power would use the Cuban territory as a base, something that the United States had try to avert for a very long time.

The objectives of the Soviet Union and Cuba were to modify the correlation of forces between the two superpowers and to prevent a direct aggression against Cuba. The reaction of the United States sought to reverse the initiative taken by the Soviet Union and to ratify their principle that strategic armaments that would threaten them could not be installed in Cuba

As a result of the negotiations, the Soviet Union withdrew all strategic weapons from Cuba, including the Il-18 bombers, allowing verification of their withdrawal, accepting in fact that the territory of the island could not be used for these purposes. In exchange, Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba and withdraw the missiles installed in Turkey.

Considering that the United States maintained its missiles in Italy and the United Kingdom and that it had great superiority in the total amount of nuclear warheads and vehicles capable of transporting them, the nuclear strategic balance in its favor was maintained.

But the Soviet Union achieved the withdrawal of those which it considered most threatening to its security and also to stop the possibility of an invasion to Cuba, which helped to consolidate the only socialist revolution in the Western Hemisphere in a country that had declared its adherence to socialism and preserved it without the need of Soviet tanks and troops, as was the case in Eastern Europe.

In addition, and as a follow up result of the negotiations during the crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Testing Limitation Treaty, stopping the tests of these weapons in the atmosphere, established the so-called "hot line" for immediate and direct communications that would help to avoid a conflict due to misinterpretation of actions, and started the road that led to the adoption in 1969 of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty whose importance has only increased over time.

In the Western Hemisphere, the Government of Mexico called on the Latin American countries to negotiate a denuclearization treaty for the region. To this end, in 1963, the Preparatory Commission for the Denuclearization of Latin America was established, whose negotiations culminated in the first treaty of its kind in the world for an entire populated region, the well-known Treaty of Tlatelolco signed in 1967 by all the Latin American states, except Cuba, and two from the Caribbean. Although Cuba did not endorse it until 1995, it always respected its spirit and essence by placing its research and activities in the peaceful use of atom under safeguard agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The reaction of the Cuban leader to the agreement reached by Khrushchev and Kennedy was of indignation. Fidel reacted to the fact that Cuba had been ignored in the process of negotiating the agreement. The great socialist power had treated Cuba as a mere pawn. History had already given Cubans a bitter lesson in this regard when in 1898, in the Treaty of Paris, the fate of the island was decided between the United States and Spain without representatives of the people who had fought so hard in the war that was being negotiated.

Cuba rejected the part assigned to it by the United States and the Soviet Union by refusing to allow on its territory the inspection of the withdrawal of the armaments. This demonstration of independence vis-a-vis the two major world powers made it clear that the main political basis of the Cuban Revolution was, and is, the defense at any cost of its sovereignty and independence. Alternatively, the American airplanes would control from the air the rockets and airplanes that returned in Soviet ships.

But Washington's commitment not to invade Cuba would provide it with a major element of security. Although the United States continued its plan of subversion, terrorist acts and financial, economic and commercial blockade, the Revolutionary Government was now able to concentrate on defeating all actions of subversion, including the promotion of a civil war through the organization and delivery of weapons and supplies from the United States to counterrevolutionary gangs in Cuba.

In April 1963, Fidel Castro made his first visit to the Soviet Union, a visit that lasted for 38 days, receiving unique honors such as being the first foreign Head of Government to speak to the Moscow people from the mausoleum of Lenin, and the first to visit a submarine base with strategic nuclear weapons. Most importantly, it achieved important economic and military supply agreements and a reiteration of the Soviet commitment to the defense of Cuba.

Because of the results of this visit and the United States' commitment not to directly attack it, Cuba strengthened its external security.

Negotiating firmly and calmly President Kennedy forced the withdrawal of Soviet weapons from Cuba and opened a path of fruitful negotiations with the Soviet Union that would benefit the position of the United States in the world. He emerged before public opinion as the great winner in the crisis, but was assassinated thirteen months later, on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

Nikita Khrushchev –who secured assurances for Cuba, got the American missiles withdraw from Turkey and opened the way to negotiations with Washington that were a strategic interest for the Soviet Union– was deposed from his positions in the Communist Party and the Soviet government on October 14, 1964.

Fidel Castro continued as the leader of the Cuban revolution. The consolidation of the external and internal security of the country led to the beginning of the period known as the "revolutionary offensive”, which with the total eradication of private activity in the economy in 1968, laid the foundations of the economic model prevalent on the island. In political terms in 1975 the First Congress of the Cuban Communist Party and the adoption in 1976 of the current Constitution completed the main aspects of the system.

José Raúl Viera Linares.

La Habana, October 17, 2017.

OnCuba Analysis of New Migratory Rules (in Spanish)

DIEZ PREGUNTAS SOBRE

LOS CAMBIOS EN LA

POLÍTICA MIGRATORIA

Por: Redacción OnCuba

De acuerdo con los anuncios realizados ayer por el canciller cubano, Bruno Rodríguez, a partir del 1ro de enero de 2018 se elimina el requisito de Habilita-ción de pasaporte para los viajes a Cuba de los emi-grados cubanos; se autoriza la entrada y salida a la Isla de ciudadanos cubanos residentes en el exterior en embarcaciones de recreo, así como la entrada a Cuba de quienes salieron ilegalmente del país (excepto aquellos que lo hicieron a través de la Base Naval de Guantánamo). Además, se elimina el requisito de avecindamiento para que los hijos de cubanos residentes en el exterior, nacidos en el extranjero, pue dan obtener ciudadanía cubana y su documento de identidad.

No son pocas las preguntas que han surgido a pro-pósito de esta noticia. Las autoridades cubanas han anunciado más cambios por venir. Mientras, OnCuba contesta algunas interrogantes.

1. ¿Qué es la habilitación de pasaporte que va a elimi-narse el 1ro de enero de 2018?

La habilitación del pasaporte cubano es una especie de visa o permiso de entrada que permite a los emi-grados cubanos viajar a Cuba y permanecer en el territorio nacional hasta 90 días, prorrogable por situa-ciones excepcionales. Este trámite se hace una sola vez; realizada la habilitación, la validez de esta es por tiempo indefinido, salvo revocación. Es una autorización de entradas múltiples y cada nuevo pasaporte lleva el sello de habilitación si esta ha sido otorgada previamente.

Este trámite no aplicaba para los cubanos residentes en el exterior, es decir aquellos cubanos que tienen un Permiso de Residencia en el Exterior (PRE) o que hayan ido a residir en el exterior después de la nue-va política migratoria de 2013, siempre que cumplan con no exceder su estancia el exterior hasta dos años consecutivos sin entrar a Cuba.

La obtención de la habilitación es libre de costo si se realiza a la vez que se tramita un pasaporte nuevo o una de sus prórrogas, o si se hace acto de presen-cia en el Consulado Cubano en Estados Unidos. Si se hace a través de una agencia autorizada tiene un costo de alrededor de 40 USD, según la agencia.

A partir de enero de 2018 no será necesario habilitar el pasaporte para realizar entradas a Cuba. Bastará tener el pasaporte vigente.

2. ¿Todos los cubanos que residen fuera de Cuba ne-cesitan la habilitación?

No. La habilitación (que se eliminará a partir del 1ro de enero de 2018) es necesaria cuando la persona se considera emigrado. Si está bajo condición de ciuda-dano cubano residente en el exterior, no la necesita y deberá entrar a Cuba antes de los 2 años si quiere conservar ese estatus.

3. ¿Que eliminen la habilitación cambia en algo la pró-rroga de pasaporte?

No. Para habilitar el pasaporte es necesario contar con un pasaporte vigente, que es válido por 6 años y debe ser prorrogado cada 2. Este requisito se man-tendrá tal cual después de la eliminación de la ha-bilitación. La habilitación de pasaporte es un proce-so independiente de la solicitud de pasaporte, de su prórroga y su renovación.

4. ¿Que eliminen la habilitación cambia en algo la renovación de pasaporte?

No. El pasaporte cubano sólo es válido por 6 años y debe ser prorrogado cada 2. Transcurridos los 6 años, es necesario hacer un nuevo pasaporte. Este requi-sito se mantendrá tal cual después de la eliminación de la habilitación. La habilitación de pasaporte es un proceso independiente de la solicitud de pasaporte, de su prórroga y su renovación.

5. ¿La eliminación de la habilitación cambia en algo el tiempo que se puede permanecer en Cuba?

No. A las personas emigradas se les permite la per-manencia en Cuba por un máximo de 90 días segui-dos, prorrogable solo en casos excepcionales.

6. ¿Los médicos, deportistas o cualquiera que haya abandonado misión se benefician por la nueva me-dida?

No. La medida contempla solo a los ciudadanos cu-banos que salieron ilegalmente del país, excepto aquellos que lo hicieron a través de la Base Naval de los Estados Unidos en Guantánamo.

Las personas que hayan emigrado habiendo aban-donado misiones o eventos, no salieron de Cuba ile-galmente. Médicos y deportistas siguen sujetos a la regulación que les impide regresar a la Isla antes de transcurridos 8 años; para personas pertenecientes a otros organismos el tiempo requerido es de 5 años.

7. ¿Los cubanos ya tenían permitido entrar al país en barco?

En cruceros sí, pero no en embarcaciones personales. Ahora se autoriza la entrada y salida a Cuba de ciu-dadanos cubanos residentes en el exterior en embar-caciones de recreo, a través de las Marinas Turísticas Internacionales Hemingway y Gaviota-Varadero.

Las autoridades anunciaron que la disponibilidad se ampliaría progresivamente a otras marinas.

8. ¿Con la eliminación de la Habilitación de pasaporte, se elimina la prórroga de 24 meses?

La eliminación de la Habilitación de pasaporte no compromete en absoluto el proceso de prórroga de pasaporte (requerido cada 2 años), ni el de renovación (requerido cada 6 años). Lo que esta medida supone es que a partir del 1ro de enero de 2018 los cubanos residentes en el exterior, considerados Emi-grados, podrán viajar a Cuba sin necesidad de solici-tar un permiso de entrada.

9. ¿Se bajará el precio del pasaporte?

La eliminación de la Habilitación de pasaporte no compromete en absoluto el proceso de obtención de pasaporte (entre 380 y 420 dólares) ni el reque-rimiento de que este sea prorrogado cada dos años (entre 180 y 220 dólares) y renovado cada 6; así como los precios de los trámites mencionados.

10. ¿Quedan muchas demandas pendientes que la política migratoria debe corregir?

Muchas.

BOLETÍN [ OCTUBRE 28 - NOVIEMBRE 4 ]

www.oncuba.com

Religious Group Provides Water Filters

Christian organization to install water filters in Cuba, Guatemala

They will install filters for more than 400 families

Christina Morales, Staff Writer

For the third year in a row, UF’s branch of Cru, the Campus Crusade for Christ, will go on a mission trip to Cuba and Guatemala to install water filters.

About 30 students will leave for Cuba on Dec. 16 and return Dec. 22, and about 50 students will travel to Guatemala from March 3 to March 9, said Wade Bayless, one of the organizers of the mission trip.

Despite safety concerns, Bayless said he thought there was a greater need to provide clean water to Cubans after the effects Hurricane Irma had on the island.

“Safety will be a very big concern,” the 26-year-old said. “We really thought it through and seeing the greater need for clean water there over the potential risk, we just felt this trip is worth taking.”

Students will receive five water filters each to install in the homes of 250 families in Guatemala and 165 families in Cuba, Bayless said. Each filter costs $40 and is expected to last about 10 years, he said.

Bayless said the filter is like many tiny straws 0.1 microns in diameter, which enables the filter to pick up any larger bacteria.

“I’ve used it multiple times demonstrating to people, and I’ve never gotten sick,” Bayless said. “I mean, we take some pretty nasty water and put it in there and demo it for people and it’s just a really incredible filter.”

Bayless said he expects students to gain a change in perspective on these mission trips.

“We seem to have all of these things that seem like a big deal, but then you meet these people who live in these really tough conditions and don’t have really anything as far as social status or financial income,” he said. “It just really changes your whole perspective on life.”

Ricky Aldridge, a student leader at Cru, wrote in an email that the church has partners in each country they visit. He said they pick which families get a filter based on who needs it the most. Aldridge said there’s a waiting list in Guatemala and Cuba.

Aldridge, a UF psychology junior, said these mission trips are different from ordinary mission trips because of the families they impact. “Each family has a story,” the 20-year-old said. “Our purpose is going into their homes and giving them not only clean water, but clean spiritual water through the Holy Spirit for life.”

Aldridge said helping out will give students a broader look at their beliefs.

“The students will take away a new look on their faith,” Aldridge said. “They will see Christianity unboxed.”

@Christina_M18

cmorales@alligator.org

http://www.alligator.org/news/article_3401a240-c01b-11e7-bb8c-ebfb1afec32e.html

Rufus Wainwright Plays Havana,

Wainwright Libre: Rufus Wainwright Plays Havana, Seeks To Keep U.S.-Cuba Dialogue Afloat
The Canadian-American artist leads a music and cultural exchange during an especially tense time for U.S.-Cuba relations.

Written By Caine O'Rear // October 31, 2017


It’s Sunday afternoon in Havana, in late September. Tonight Rufus Wainwright will perform on the stage of the Garcia Lorca Auditorium, an opulent theater space in the Gran Teatro de la Habana, a neo-Baroque showpiece that is one of the architectural marvels of Old Havana. It was here — back in 2016 — that President Obama delivered his historic address to the island, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge did so in 1928.

Tonight, the classically trained Wainwright will play alongside the theater’s symphony orchestra. Carlos Varela, a Cuban folk-rocker and occasional protest singer who rarely performs live anymore, will open the show, sounding at times like a Latin mashup of Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.

The concert is a big affair. The patrons arrive shortly before the 5 p.m showtime. They are dressed with a casual elegance and get out of their taxis at the entrance to the theater. The humidity is oppressive. It is just weeks after Hurricane Irma has menaced the island, leaving 10 Cubans dead, massive flooding in the streets, and much of the island without electricity for more than a week. To the tourist eye, there are few signs of the hurricane’s mark in downtown Havana, other than the closing of the Malecón, the esplanade along the water that runs through seven kilometers of the town. But there are Canadian diplomats sitting next to me, talking about the damage in other parts of the country and the suffering it has caused.

Wainwright’s show is part of a music and cultural tour of Havana that was put together by the U.S. travel company Music Arts Live, with Wainwright performing two shows during the week. The Sunday performance is the final accent on a week-long moveable feast of food, art and music, capped every night with performances from some of Havana’s top musicians at various locales throughout the city.

Tonight’s show is special, in part because it finds Wainwright performing with Cuban musicians for the first time. The theater, with its wraparound balconies, chandeliers and frescoed ceiling, boasts an old-world elegance. So much of the Cuba experience is about the illusion of feeling “back in time,” and this night is no exception. The Montreal native performs frequently with orchestras, and his music is well suited to the format. There is also the understanding that an event like this — a prominent American musician performing with a Cuban orchestra — may not happen for some time, as relations are not good between the two countries.

Halfway through his set on Sunday night, Wainwright, speaking through an interpreter, tells the crowd: “I am American and Canadian. And let’s just say that in Cuba I feel more Canadian. I love the United States … ”

Suddenly, there is a problem with his mic.

“Is that Donald Trump cutting off the sound?” he quips to much laughter.

And then he continues: “I do feel that at the start of the Obama years that things started to look more positive between Cuba and the United States. And now the cat’s been let out of the bag, and we must come together as people, no matter what the Orange Monster says.”

And with that, Wainwright breaks into the darkly foreboding “Going To A Town.”

I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down

I’m going to a place that has already been disgraced

I’m gonna see some folks who have already been let down

I’m so tired of America

There is a sustained and solemn applause from the crowd and the Cuban girl sitting next to me is crying.

*****

A few weeks after the show, the situation between U.S. and Cuba deteriorated. The U.S. State Department expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the Cuban embassy in Washington, and the Trump administration sent home 60 percent of its embassy staff in Havana, citing a series of “sonic attacks” against American diplomats living there. The attacks, most of which allegedly occurred in 2016, reportedly caused brain swelling and permanent hearing loss in some victims. As a result, Cuban diplomats were kicked out of Washington for not protecting Americans on Cuban soil. The State Department also issued a travel warning saying Americans could be attacked if they visit the island. The U.S. government stopped short of blaming the Cuban government for the attacks, and some have speculated the attacks were the work of Russia, a country whose ties to the island run long and deep. Recently, the Cuban government released a statement saying the noise came from cicadas, believe it or not.

******

Early on in the trip, Wainwright tells his fans at the Melia Habana hotel that the mission of the trip is to help keep U.S-Cuban relations intact. It’s a quixotic statement but one that’s sincere.

Wainwright fell in love with Cuba five years ago, when he first visited the island with his husband, Jorn. At the time, they wanted to see Cuba while Fidel Castro, who died in 2016, was still at the helm. “We were seduced by the architecture and climate, but it was really the people who brought us back,” Wainwright says. “And there was a period with Obama about reconnecting and moving on and it was exciting to be a part of it. And now that the American situation [with Cuba] is not so great, I thought it was important to keep the conversation [that Obama started] going.”

During his time in office, Obama sought rapprochement between the long-time adversaries, even calling for Congress to lift the 54-year embargo on the Communist-ruled country: a plea that would fail to materialize. But progress was made. Diplomatic relations resumed for the first time since the Castro-led revolution in 1959, and foreign embassies in both countries reopened. Some restrictions on American travel to the island were eased, and tourists could bring rum and cigars back to the States. Trump has since sought to overturn several of these measures.

“For all of our differences, the Cuban and American people share common values in their own lives, a sense of patriotism and a sense of pride, a lot of pride,” Obama said during his speech in 2016. “And that’s just why I believe our grandchildren will look back on this period of isolation as an aberration, as just one chapter in a longer story of family and of friendship.”

With the way things are going, that may very well not be the case. But this night at the Gran Teatro is about friendship, it seems. The Cuban minister of culture is even reported to be in the crowd. During the show, Wainwright plays a cross-section of his hits from his nearly 20-year career, including the old chestnut “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” a paean to his former indulgences and wilder days. We also hear a selection from his 2010 debut opera Prima Donna. Symphony conductor Giovanni Duarte commands the baton and works well with Wainwright, who comments throughout the show on his classical influences and notes which songs were informed by composers like Ravel and Verdi. Carlos Varela joins Wainwright late in the set. There is also a performance of the Leonard Cohen standard “Hallelujah,” a staple of Wainwright’s repertoire.

*******

A few days before the show at the Gran Teatro, Wainwright and his coterie of fans pay a visit to the National School of Art, a division of the Instituto Superior de Arte. The students, high schoolers, are dressed in uniform — white button-downs with brown pants for the boys and brown skirts for the girls. They represent some of the most promising young musical talents in Cuba, and the school’s list of alumni is long and distinguished.

We are seated outside near a courtyard, and the air is suffocating. Wainwright is there for a Q&A session. He is joined by symphony conductor Giovanni Duarte, an alumnus of the school. Duarte tells the students he lived outside of Havana as a student and had to rise at 4 a.m. each day to make it there on time. “The only thing that saved us all [in those days] was music,” he tells the students, speaking of Cuba’s Especial period, a time in the ‘90s that found Cuba suffering extreme economic distress in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, who had subsidized much of the island’s economy during the Cold War.

An NSA student by the name of Brayan Alvarez dazzles us with his gifts on piano. His piece incorporates elements of classical, ragtime and native Cuban influences. The students at NSA receive general education courses, but the focus here is on the music. They are tested at the pre-kindergarten level, and those who score high in music aptitude are put on a specific track.

Javier Mendez, a self-assured 16-year-old student, steps up to the mic (“I speak English” he says) and volunteers his talents to the crowd, performing Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way.”

Later, during the Q&A session, Wainwright speaks through an interpreter. There is very little English in Cuba, outside of the tourist center, though private English instruction is reportedly on the rise.

“I always knew I wanted to be a popular performer,” he tells the students at one point. “I chose to use my classical influences as a secret weapon. I like to do that without them knowing what is happening.”

He adds that Nina Simone was the first artist he heard that made him believe it was possible to fuse classical and popular music.

But more than anything else, Wainwright says, he considers himself a songwriter. Early on in his career, he says he would work on his songwriting for hours a day. And then it got easier, he says, and the songs started coming faster. It was then that he decided he needed to challenge himself, so he started writing operas. “When it gets easy, maybe it’s time to try another avenue,” he says.

Wainwright’s first opera, Prima Donna, debuted in 2010, and he’s currently at work on another called Hadrian, set to premiere in Toronto in the fall of 2018.

As the morning winds down, a student from the audience asks Wainwright if he’ll play a song. He responds that he won’t play anything on the piano but will perform a tune with just the vocal.

He then relates a story about his late mother, the Canadian folk-singer Kate McGarrigle. He says that after she died, even though he’s not particularly religious, he went to three churches in New York to light a candle for her, and none of the churches had any candles in stock. “At first I took it as a message [from her],” he said, [that said], “I’m okay, you don’t have to do this anymore. Then I went to Paris and visited Notre Dame Cathedral and lit a candle and I realized my mother just wanted a very different venue.”

Then he proceeded to sing “Candles.”

It’s always just that little bit more

That doesn’t get you what you’re looking for

But gets you where you need to go

But the churches have run out of candles

*****

On the second night of the trip, Wainwright’s group of 100 or so fans — mostly Americans with a smattering of Australians, Europeans and Canadians thrown in the mix — are treated to a private, stripped-down concert at the Teatro de Belles Artes in Old Havana. The show is heavy on banter and Wainwright alternates between a Steinway and Sons piano and a Martin acoustic. We hear two Leonard Cohen covers, including “So Long, Marianne,” as well as few numbers from Wainwright’s recent Shakespearean sonnets album.

The following evening involves a concert at Palacia de la Rumba in the neighborhood of Vedado, a cool and happening arts neighborhood that is also home to the University of Havana. The first band we hear is Yoruba Adabo, one of Cuba’s best-known purveyors of rumba, a style of Cuban music and dance that originated in the late 19th century. Yoruba Adabo practice Yoruba, a West African religion that is often incorporated into Santeria, which mixes West African religions with Roman Catholicism and is practiced widely in Cuba. The group’s performance is attended by dancers, and the crowd, including Wainwright, joins in, giving it their best despite the awkward spectacle it provides.

Next up is the group Interactivo, a jazz collective that has collaborated with many world-class artists, including Wynton Marsalis. The leader of the group is Roberto Carcassés, a keyboard player who graduated from the National School of the Arts in the early ‘90s. For many in attendance this is one of the musical high water marks of the trip.

*******

International tourism has grown substantially in Cuba over the last decade. Even when the U.S. government said it was verboten for Americans to travel to the island — a violation of the Treasury Department’s “Trading With The Enemy Act” — the more enterprising found their way around the restrictions. But for many on this trip, this seemed like it might be the last time they could legally visit Cuba for a while.

In 2010, Raul Castro loosened restrictions to allow for more private enterprise. One local I met there, who did not want her name published, lives in an apartment that her father bought her for $30,000 cash. (The buying and selling of property officially became legal in Cuba in 2011.) Airbnb’s are also now legal in Cuba, and this writer stayed at three different locations, with rates ranging from $20 to $50 per night.

Much of the Cuban economy now operates on the black market. Standard state-sponsored “straight jobs,” even ones that require a higher education degree, pay very little, so many Cubans take up side hustles to make ends meet. The average Cuban salary is around $25 per month. Black market gigs could involve things like driving an unmarked taxi and catering to tourists or selling fake Cuban cigars on the street. Food rationing still exists, and all Cubans receive a monthly allotment of rice, sugar and oil, but it’s not enough to live on.

There seems to be a constant shortage of humanitarian goods. One of my Airbnb hosts tells me there is only one store in Havana that is carrying toilet paper at the moment. “This is how it is in Havana,” he says with a laugh.

Another Cuban I meet says he had an opportunity to move to the United States, under a very special circumstance allowed by the Cuban government, but decided against it, reasoning that life as an immigrant in the U.S. would prove too difficult. “I’m not rich but I have a nice life here,” he says.

Monuments to the revolution pervade the town. A sign along the road to the airport reads “Socialism or death” in Spanish. Another billboard advertises the upcoming elections in 2017 and 2018, with the tagline “a genuine demonstration of democracy.” One sees very few images of Fidel Castro, as the former leader requested that his image not be reproduced across the country, but the visage of Che Guevara, who was Argentinian but fought with Castro in the revolution, is ubiquitous.

Some Cubans harbor hope for political reform when Raul Castro steps down as president in 2018. Miguel Diaz-Canel, a Communist Party official that currently serves as one of the country’s vice presidents, is said to be the logical successor. The name of Raul’s daughter, Mariela, a social progressive, has also been mentioned.

One is tempted to avoid the romanticized portrait of a place that often attends a vacation, but there is no denying that the people in Cuba are incredibly friendly and warm. There is also very little violent crime in Cuba — guns and drugs are basically non-existent— so the place feels unnaturally safe from those threats, at least. Hitchhiking is a national pastime, along with baseball and flirting, I’m told. You always feel like a fiesta could strike up anywhere.

*****

On Sunday night, after the show at the Gran Teatro, Wainwright and his group head to the house of his friend Pamela Ruiz, an American expat who grew up in New York City and now lives in Havana. Ruiz runs a paladar — a unique Cuban concept whereby the owner runs a restaurant out of their place of residence — from her villa in Vedado. Ruiz’s husband is a Cuban visual and mixed media artist named Damian Aquiles. (Their home, which was the subject of a 2015 New York Times magazine profile, has entertained the likes of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.)

The evening is the perfect cap to a great week of music, art, friendship and history. Aquiles’ artwork adorns the walls, and there are two bars serving mojitos. Later, we are served paella out of a huge vat. This is the best meal we’ve had all week by a long shot, and we all feel lucky to get a privileged glimpse into this secret garden of Havana.

http://americansongwriter.com/2017/10/wainwright-libre-rufus-wainwright-havana/