Havana Dreaming: More Reasons to Lift the Cuba Travel Ban

Newsweek
By Arian Campo-Flores
July 24, 2010

After 50 years, the U.S. travel ban on Cuba has not made the island any more free. But those Americans pressing to lift it are now closer to success than ever before.

Nobody would accuse Guillermo Fariñas of being soft on the Cuban government. The psychologist and dissident journalist has staged nearly two dozen hunger strikes to protest state repression. His belly is peppered with needle pricks from all the forced feedings. One stretch without food caused a lung to fill with blood and plunged him into a coma. During his most recent hunger strike—begun in February to press for the release of 25 ailing political prisoners—he nearly died when a blood clot formed in his jugular vein.

Freedom To Travel

U.S. Travel Ban on Cuba

For more than four decades, the United States has tried to isolate Cuba, economically and diplomatically.

When we look at Cuba news, we see an increasingly public and vigorous debate about the economy. We see the nations of the region conducting ordinary and even extraordinary relations with Cuba. What we don't see is a story line involving the United States, the effectiveness of U.S. policy, or even much of a presence or a role as the possibilities of change unfold.

Top 10 List

"This top ten list is a powerful reminder to Congress and all Americans that sanctions against Cuba do nothing but violate American values, cost American jobs, stain our image overseas, and breach our basic rights," said Sarah Stephens of the Center for Democracy in the Americas. "As Cuba enters a new era, so should America, and replace our policy of isolating Cuba with one favoring engagement, travel and trade."