Many of you may already know that I’ve been planning a trip to Cuba. I was hoping to go either in December of this year or February or March of next year. For the last few months I’ve been looking into all of the different ways to go there with out getting any hassle from the US Government on return. Looks like most people just go illegally and don’t mention anything to customs when they return. Apparently Cuba will not stamp your passport if you’re from the US. The illegal aspect of Cuba for US citizens is not the going there part (it is legal to go there) but it’s the spending money there, part. The US government put the controlling power in the Depart of Treasuries hands. So, it’s legal to go but you can not spend in money there. I decided to go ahead and give the legal method a try first by sending the Treasury Department a letter asking permission to go based on my “Journalist†background. I figured if I could get permission it would be a lot easier. Well, I got a letter back from the treasury department yesterday stating that they denied me. They said that I didn’t address a “portion of the relevant criteria in the Comprehensive†bla, bla, bla. First of all, I thought as a US citizen you have certain freedoms that allow you to be able to go anywhere you want? Did you know that the US is the only country that still expects its citizens to pay income tax, even if you don’t live and work in the US? I probably should rant too much about this because I’m sure if I do, I’ll get some guy in a black suit that’ll show up at my door. Anyway, I plan on redoing the letter to the Treasury department based on the relevant criteria. If that one doesn’t work then I guess I’ll be swimming from Miami.
If anyone has any suggestions for me on this, please leave me a comment.
Here’s the response letter from the Treasury Department.
technorati tags: cuba, travel, airlines, USA, american
