Senator Menendez & Cuba Travel

[This is a response I received from Senator Menendez' office concerning his non-support of the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act. My comments are in red.]

 

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jimenez:

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act.  Your opinion is very important to me, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you on what, for me, is a principled issue.

 

The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act would prohibit the President from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by United States citizens or legal residents except in time of war or armed hostilities between the U.S. and Cuba.  I have been a lifelong advocate for democratic change in Cuba and have interacted with many of my colleagues in the Senate on these issues over the years.  Although I am opposed to recent efforts to loosen the embargo such as the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, I have worked with the Obama Administration in hopes of encouraging democratic change on the island. [What, other than demanding that we continue the embargo would the Obama Administration say you have done "in hopes of encouraging" democratic change in Cuba? Other than keeping the noose tightened, of course; and, which has worked so well against every other communist/socialist entity that we have embargoed to date. But why stop at Cuba? If embargoes are so effective, I can think of 3/4 of the world's countries that we can embargo to get our way. Let's EMBARGO for it works wonders for global outreach. ]  

 

The Castro regime has been most adept, not at spreading prosperity, but at instilling fear to perpetuate their own power through a Stalinist police state.  According to the State Department, the following human rights problems are reported in Cuba: "beatings and abuse of detainees and prisoners carried out with impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; harassment, beatings, and threats against political opponents by government-recruited mobs, police, and State Security officials." [Stalinist? My Cuban family and friends must be very adept at circumventing Castro's Stalinism because I know of none who has spent so much as an hour in jail and, also, in the letters I receive, they hold back little about the economic conditions there; so, there isn't that much fear going around. By the way, what prosperity do you want Castro's regime to spread if you and the diaspora embargo with impunity? Maintaining any government is difficult for any society where there is wealth disparity but here in the U.S. we have the resources to play the Stalinist game more civilly than in Cuba. What do we do with whistle-blowers, for instance? Do you want to compare notes, sir?]  

 

Multiple independent human rights organizations confirm that the Castro regime is still holding more than 200 political prisoners—independent journalists, economists, human rights workers and doctors—all jailed for speaking their minds.  The regime did recently agree to release 52 political prisoners, but the only prisoners released thus far have been immediately deported rather than allowed to remain free in Cuba and peacefully advocate for change.  Given the fact that the regime once again refused to let the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Torture visit the island, one can only assume what kinds of conditions these political prisoners and the other 5000 people arrested for "dangerousness" are subjected to. [Nice round number, 5000. Have you ever checked out the U.S. incarceration record? Our number is about 500,000 for what could certainly be lumped under a similar "dangerousness" category; i.e., drug possession. Here, have a gander: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Prisons_and_Drugs  It's seems odd, by the way, that you object to the deportation of political prisoners. This affirms that you want democratic change to come from within the population. This is just the way we always allow things to happen. . . where? In Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Eqypt? We intervene everywhere but in Cuba and we can't even allow a passive action like permitting more travel. What would happen if we allowed free travel to Cuba? Can you think outside the box? Or is the thought of Castro [even temporarily] getting himself a gold toilet so abhorrent to you that you will stop at nothing to prevent it? ]

 

Furthermore, tourism to Cuba from other democratic nations has not translated to democratic change or improved conditions for the Cuban people.  It is reported that 2.5 million tourists visit Cuba annually, bringing nearly $2 billion in revenue for the Castro regime. Nevertheless, food is still rationed and Cubans are kept waiting in long lines for a subsistence meal. [and what do we do here with government revenue? Do you even know that 57% of the U.S. discretionary fund is spent on the military and nuclear weapons programs?]

 

American citizens currently can travel to Cuba to visit family members, and thousands of Americans travel to Cuba for educational or humanitarian reasons.  However, further lifting the U.S. travel restrictions would only enrich the Castro regime at the expense of its democratic Caribbean neighbors who depend on tourism without bringing about democratic change in Cuba. [no offense to my brothers in Santo Domingo but why are you tying-in their prosperity to Cuban food shortages? Oh, I forgot. Yeah, baby! Kidding aside, sir, what would happen to its Caribbean neighbors if Cuba were to become democratic and tourism returned to the heydays of Mafia-run casinos (to offer one possible outcome)? Do you not see the speciousness of your argument? Are you saying that democracy is so important that Caribbean nations be damned so long as Cuba goes democratic? Or, are you saying that you will do everything possible to stifle Cuban tourism because you have found a new Caribbean home to love? ]

 

I appreciate you taking the time to express your opinion on this important issue, and please be assured that I will keep your views in mind.  [and I know that that is just where they will stay on this issue!] Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of more assistance. [yes, please keep all the assistance coming. I like what you did for me with regard to the FOIA. About as much as you do for the MAJORITY of the Cuban diaspora and their descendants who want free travel to Cuba.] I invite you to visit my website (http://menendez.senate.gov) to learn more about how I am standing up for New Jersey families in the United States Senate.  [I invite you to read my blogs at thepowerstruggle.blogspot.com to learn more about how I am standing up for families everywhere.]