About US Tourist Visas and Travelling to Cuba

guacharaca says on Mar 1, 2008, 09:18:

No. Only if she is an American Citizen or holds a US permanent resident card will there be a problem. The days of being paranoid over communism are gone. The Cuba thing is purely a political agenda to put financial pressure onto Cuba, to force them into being a democratic society. I have heard that some Americans get the Cuba stamp put onto a removable slip of paper.

Colombianos: Las armas os han dado independencia, las leyes os daran libertad. (Santander)

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Boatygringo says on Mar 1, 2008, 12:54:

When I visited Cuba theý didn,t stamp US passports but gave you a slip of yellow paper with the entry stamp on it, if you visit be shure to ask the immigration officer not to stamp the pasport and but give you the paper stamp in its place.

Boatygringo

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durito says on Mar 1, 2008, 13:04:

I'm assuming she is not a US citizen or resident, if so she won't have any problem.

These days Cuban immigration automatically stamps a tourist card for US visitors instead of the passport -- they don't want anybody to get in trouble.

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miamimike says on Mar 2, 2008, 07:56:

Lots of Miami Residents are traveling daily to Cuba thru Caracas, Bahamas, Santo Domingo. My choice would be thru Caracas on a Venezuelan Registered Plane as if US Authorities ever wanted to check a Passenger Manifest list of who flew to Cuba(so called terrorist nation, but so is North Korea but the US Philharmonic Band played there last week) on their Planes, US Authorities would get the least cooperation from Venezuela on this type of investigation.Some US Residents who were truthful about travel to Cuba have received Fines of $8000-$10,000 for their Honesty. Meanwhile Cuban Americans can travel to Cuba with impunity, Talk about blatant discrimination, one nationality and group can freely travel to one country, the rest of cannot. And it has nothing to do with Communism, otherwise we couldn't travel to China, North Korea, North Vietnam. All are Communist and we can get Visas to travel to all three, not to Cuba though. CRAZY, HIPOCRACY!

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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rhydewithdis says on Mar 2, 2008, 07:59:

Check out this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20704879/

They said I couldn't play football I was too small / They say I couldn't play basketball I wasn't tall / They say I couldn't play baseball at all / And now everyday of my life I ball.

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miamimike says on Mar 2, 2008, 08:02:

We wanted to get here before all the other Americans come and ruin it all," said Bridget, a 20-year-old from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who wandered Old Havana's colonial streets with her friend Erik in August. They wouldn't give their last names.

"It's forbidden treasure," said Erik, also from the Twin Cities. "It will be so Americanized in a few years. Just like Cancun," where U.S. franchises from Hard Rock Cafe to Hooters tend to drown out Mexican culture.

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Another Good Point!

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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el flaco says on Mar 3, 2008, 03:18:

Cuba doesn't stamp any passports. It stamps the tourist card you need to enter Cuba instead. Nobody will know from your passport that you have been to Cuba.

Note to Americans, despite the politics Cubans have nothing against Americans unlike some Latin American countries, you will be treated well.

Note to everyone: they are super poor please bring old clothes and shoes that you don't want to give to them.

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Chriscan says on Mar 29, 2008, 00:14:

There are lots of cheap flights from Canada to Cuba - especially last minute

************* WARNING ************* my words often come from my ass

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DodgerDogs says on Mar 29, 2008, 00:23:

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Raul Castro: Cubans can have cell phones By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 10 minutes ago March 29 , 2008


HAVANA - First microwaves, now cell phones. Is this the new Cuba? Raul Castro is revolutionizing his brother's island in small but significant ways — the latest in a decree Friday allowing ordinary Cubans to have cell phone service, a luxury previously reserved for the select few. The new president could be betting greater access to such modern gadgets will quell demand for deeper change.

Many Cubans hope cell phones and new appliances are only the beginning for a post-Fidel Castro government that will improve their lives. Communist bureaucracy currently limits everything from Internet access to home ownership.

Could cellular phones in dissidents' hands give state security forces an edge in monitoring their conversations or tracking their movements by satellite? Perhaps, but government opponents — including the few who have cell phones — already assume someone's always listening.

Until now, the only people legally allowed to have a cell plan were foreigners, Cubans working for foreign companies and top government officials. Thousands more illegally use phones registered to foreign friends or relatives.

"Finally. We have waited too long for this," said Elizabeth, a middle-aged housewife waiting in line to pay her home telephone bill. She wouldn't give her last name because she already has a cell phone through a foreign co-worker of her husband.

The new program could put phones in the hands of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, especially those with relatives abroad who send them hard currency. But they will remain out of reach for most on the island because minutes are billed in convertible pesos — which cost Cubans 24 times the regular pesos they are paid in.

"I'd love one!" said Juan Quiala, a retiree living on a $10 monthly pension. "But how am I going to pay for it?"

The government controls over 90 percent of the economy, and while the communist system ensures most Cubans have free housing, education and health care and receive ration cards that cover basic food needs, the average monthly state salary is less than $20.

Nobody should expect to see iPhones for sale in Havana anytime soon. Although visitors who bring their Internet-equipped phones to Cuba can use them through Cuba's network, Cuba's cellular phone company offers such phones to only a limited number of corporate clients.

And despite cell-phone images from Tibet and Myanmar that gave the world a glimpse of repression in those closed societies, Cuba has made no attempt to ban phones with photo or video technology. In fact, some models are sold in government-run stores, and Cubans with illegally registered phones already use them to send snapshots off the island after uploading them onto a computer.

Of course, if unrest were to develop, Cuba's phone monopoly could close down such transmissions with the flick of a switch.

Friday's announcement came in a small black box on page 2 of the Communist Party newspaper Granma, which said details would be announced in the coming days. It was signed by the state-controlled telecommunications monopoly, a joint venture of Cuba's government and Italy's Telecom Italia.

Limited cell phone service has been available in Cuba since 1991. Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., or ETECSA, has invested heavily in Cuba's fiber optic network in recent years and clearly believes it is ready to handle heavier traffic.

It also expects a nice profit — enough to let it offer cellular lines in regular Cuban pesos at some point in the future.

It's unclear which manufacturers will be tapped to provide cell phones to an expanded Cuban market. For now, very basic phones bought in bulk from Nokia Corp. or Motorola Inc. are sold. A few phones on sale Friday offered basic camera functions, but those retailed for as much as $280.

The decree came a week after a resolution promising consumer goods including PCs, DVD players, car alarms and televisions of all sizes will go on sale in state-run stores Tuesday. Those goods previously could be purchased only by foreigners and companies.

And in December, the government distributed about 3,000 microwaves made by South Korea's Daewoo Electronics. Local authorities say the pilot program, in a town outside Havana, could lead to a nationwide offering of microwaves on long-term credit.

"We are progressing with the world," said Havana resident Jorge Chavez. "Progress had to reach us, too."

The small steps could help push back demands for greater change that many Cubans have made since an ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro stepped down from the presidency last month.

His 76-year-old brother has repeatedly said there will be no major changes in the island's economic and political systems, but has also made clear he understands that Cubans' salaries barely cover their most basic needs.

Some of the measures he has promoted appear designed to make life more pleasant without requiring any major systemic reforms. The younger Castro has pushed for an overhaul of the dilapidated public transportation system with thousands of new buses, and for increased agricultural production to ensure everyone has plenty to eat.

But some said the latest measure was less than revolutionary.

"Suddenly, there will be a lot more people talking on the phone," said Quiala, the retiree. "But not much else will change."

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

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durito says on Mar 29, 2008, 08:15:

$280 is more than the average annual Cuban salary, I doubt many are getting phones any time soon.

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