"According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, the U.S. Department of Treasury will not allow fans to travel to Cuba for the U.S.-Cuba World Cup qualifier on Sept. 6. The U.S.S.F was told that "travel to Cuba for tourism or for purposes of observing specific public performances, including sporting events, is prohibited under U.S. law." There, it's official. Mom says you can't go the party. It's off-limits, young man, do you hear me? And if you even think of sneaking out the back door and going you'll be on super double secret restriction, understand?
All I was saying that the legal way into Cuba is closed. If you want to go illegally, that's your decision.
There is one legal way, at least. If you have dual citizenship, or a link to a foreign country that allows for that nation's citizenship, then you can use that other passport to enter Cuba. What happens in the Liechtenstein Embassy stays in the Liechtenstein Embassy
But, travel to Cuba for the purpose of PARTICIPATING in a sporting event is still allowed. That is how we are going.
My personal comments - this is incredibly annoying. Why does the U.S. government think that their way is the "right" way so much that they will not even allow its citizens (in a "free" society) to visit Cuba if they so wish? Unbelievable. Cuba wants to run its society its own way - how on earth does that affect the United States one iota? We need to grow up as a country and let them be whatever they want to be without these stupid bans on buying Cuban products or traveling there. If I had the money (and the legal means), I would be there in a heartbeat, not to support the Cuban economy (not that I have any problem with that whatsoever), but to support the U.S. team in an important qualifier.
Broadcast for USMNT @ Cuba http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_7831554.html Here's the part of the release I can't figure out: This doesn’t add up. I don’t see how the match is going to be shown LIVE on ESPN2. The following College Football is already set for ESPN2 that day: 12:00 PM Miami (OH) @ Michigan or Ohio @ Ohio State 3:30 PM Oregon St. @ Penn St. or Ole Miss @ Wake Forest (reverse mirror broadcast) 7:00 PM South Florida @ Central Florida 10:15 PM Texas @ UTEP
99.9% of Congress feels the same way. It's the powerful Cuban-American lobby that causes them to uphold the embargo despite their true feelings. Think about it, you had several wealthy Cubans have their property confiscated by Castro's regime. They still have hope that they can defeat Castro and get their property back.
Re: Broadcast for USMNT @ Cuba There are going to be some pissed off posters on BigCollegeFootball if one of those games is pre-empted for soccer.
IMHO ... not trying to debate or change minds, but IMHO ... 1. The policy of isolating Cuba has been going on for 50 or so years, give or take, and took the form it largely has today under Kennedy (that whole Cuban Missile Crisis thing). The only thing really outdated about it is the Cold War mentality, and that threat only went away 10-15 years ago. I don't think the continuation of the policy is meant to say "we're always right" or to make some "freedom v. communism" point (that war is already won) or to poke a stick in the eye of USMNT supporters. I think ... 2. ... one of the core responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens. Part of protecting them means warning them against travel to squirrelly areas and prohibiting travel to outright dangerous areas. While government's application of this may not be perfect or even efficient, it is, IMHO, one of its core responsibilities. The government is not prohibiting travel ... especially in the same way that Cuba, China, etc. prohibit travel. You can go to almost any place in the world, including Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala. It is prohibiting travel to a place that is particularly dangerous for and hostile to Americans, and has been for decades. So why all the griping? Until the government's practice of restricting travel reaches some China-like level ... which it is far from ... we can put some level of trust that Cuba is really dangerous and the government is trying to protect Americans. And no, people aren't smart enough to stay away on their own ... see also the grousing on this thread. OOTH, we have South Africa, a place where many are not going but the US government thinks is okay. Why is this? One guess (mine) is that we hear about the crime and problems in South Africa because it is an open society. Cuba has those same problems with crime, electricity, etc., but reports of them are censored out of what reaches us. I wonder how much complaining would ensue if the US government prohibited travel to the WCF? Also ... imagine the uproar should the US allow travel and then 100 people get kidnapped/killed there when it *KNEW* Cuba was a dangerous place for Americans. 3. The Castros are old and the existing Cuban government will fall of its own accord, my *guess* is in the next decade or so. Once it does, Cuba will soon become a nation where American travel is not restricted ... see also post-Nazi Germany, post-Soviet Russia, etc. ... although decades of anti-American propoganda may take some time to fight through before it becomes truly safe like Germany is now. Anyway, that's my $0.02.
I agree that one of the core responsibilities of the government is to protect its citizens and appropriately warn or even ban travel. However, I just don't trust our government and the more trust we give to it the more it gets away with. Also, the way I understand it is that the United States is banning Americans traveling to Cuba solely for economic reasons. Americans can travel to Iraq http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_921.html, but they can't travel to Cuba?
Perhaps b/c there is not a strong lobby supporting a ban on travel to Iraq . . . Same with China, Saudi Arabia (quite the opposite in fact) and other places of questionable liberty.
If all travel restrictions on every country in the world were lifted, something tells me there would be a few more Americans traveling to Cuba than Iraq. Plus, the Iraqi government is an ally of the US. There are thousands of American civilians doing perfectly legitimate and legal work over there.
having been to cuba, the locals aren't hostile at all... far safer than most major american cities... suggest going to canada and doing it thru them... you can even travel to places like north korea, although it's far more scary than cuba... just bring US$ and you get whatever you want, might need to bribe some folk, but it's not too costly
Why close this thread when we have lots of discussion about locating P2P, torrents, etc. on this site? IMO, using your logic, if we close this thread, then those should close too. After all, "the legal way is a no-no" right? The Stars & Stripes will fly over Cuba. People will find a way to go to that game.
Dudes, it's just my opinion. If you don't like it, fine. So glad you ridicule it, though. Very open-minded of you. And brave of you to not offer your own.
I'm sure the locals are as cool/uncool as locals you'll find anywhere on the planet. I'm not sure the locals are the problem, but the governments. Maybe you can bribe them ... but maybe not. Point is, *if* you were to get into trouble - whether or not you actually did something wrong - who's to say you won't get your head cut off or become some sort of massive political pawn between the nations? In South Africa or Germany - while I'm sure local authorities are as corrupt/uncorrupt as anywhere else - there at least is the good relations between the governments. I say, why bother, just go to some match more meaningful than an early group stage semifinal WCQ - like MEX or CAN or CRC - or a place more fun - like TRI or JAM. Why does it absolutely *have* to be Cuba?
I don't understand why it has to be Cuba either, but I'm pretty sure the odds of getting your head chopped off there are much closer to none than slim. Personally, I think the embargo sucks, and I'm pretty sure that if it had gone away when the rest of the Communist world pretty much fell apart in the early 90s Cuba would probably be democratic by now. However, I'm not willing to risk travel there as long as the embargo is in place, and that has nothing to do with the Cuban government but rather everything to do with our own.
That's probably true. But I wouldn't want to get crosswise with "authorities" on that brutal island, that's for sure. Cuba is not a fun place to be right now. I wonder how much security will surround the Cuban team when it travels to DC in October, given that several of the OQ team defected last March?
Well, if you want to blame our government for Castro's treatment of his people, that's your opinion, but it seems like a stretch to me. Castro has only himself to blame for the results of the government he imposes and the foreign policy he chooses, affects his people. It's not GWB's, or WJC's, or GHB's, or RWR's, or JEC's, or GRF's, or RMN's, or LBJ's, or JFK's, or DDE's, or HST's fault. The consistency, across time and political party, of American policy, should say something to what is actually going on there. Embargo-ing a nation because of human rights violations is one of the most common international reactions to atrocities ... see also protests along the route of the Olympic torch. Why would it surprise you that the US government also uses that tool? As for Cuba becoming a democracy ... that will happen when the Castros die, the Castros change the government themselves, or the people revolt. I hope it happens soon ... I hear Cuba has great cigars and rum.
My point was that if we had lifted the embargo, the Castros would no longer be in power. Free influx of American goods, tourists, money, etc, and those people would've had a counter-revolution decades ago. The time was ripe in 1989-1990. It's a shame it didn't happen then. Hell, if Poland can become part of the EU and the Czechs can be in NATO, why the hell couldn't Cuba have become an ally of the USA?