Boaters charged over race to Cuba:Federal prosecutors charged two Key Wes

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Jun. 11, 2004


THE KEYS

Boaters charged over race to Cuba

Federal prosecutors charged two Key West residents with violating the trade embargo against Cuba by organizing sailboat races to Havana.

BY JENNIFER BABSON

[e-mail]


KEY WEST - In the first case of its kind against pleasure boaters, federal prosecutors on Thursday charged the organizers of several Key West-Cuba sailboat races with violating the U.S. embargo.
(snip)

While Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has levied a number of civil penalties upon tourists and other individuals who have illegally spent money in Cuba, criminal prosecutions are not common.

Goldsmith and Geslin promoted, organized, and administered a series of boat races between Key West and Cuba in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003, according to a two-count indictment released Thursday.
(snip)

''I think it can best be explained by the current politics in southern Florida,'' Heitzer said. ``The Bush Administration is trying to rev up the extreme right-wing elements in the Cuban American community and they are now going to put some people on criminal trial to show how they tough they are.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8894500.htm?ERIGHTS=6220390306770567264miami:&KRD_RM=3mkmlmmlnkjppmjjjjjjjjjsko

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More on story from :

Both are charged with trading with the enemy, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

They also face related conspiracy charges, punishable by up to five years.

"The embargo against the Cuban regime cannot be ignored or flouted," U.S. Attorney Marcos Daniel Jiménez said. He added that embargo regulations "are in place to protect the people of the United States, while hindering the endeavors of communist or oppressive regimes."

The two defendants were freed on $50,000 bail. They were given time to hire lawyers and return to court next week.

Boaters have been sailing to Cuba for regattas from Key West, St. Petersburg and other Florida cities and participating in fishing tournaments in Cuba for years.
(snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-dcuba11jun11,0,7270150.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Article written by Conch Republic regatta people:

There are numerous political issues related to travel to Cuba and we have tried our best to remain nonpartisan. We believe Cuba no longer presents a military threat to our shores. Her government has sustained itself for over 40 years. Granted, it is a socialist country, not offering the freedoms we Americans embrace. That is their choice not ours. What we are most concerned about is American's civil liberties, particularly in our freedom to travel and learn about other countries and cultures. We are most concerned about our liberty to travel and return to this country without harassment from public officials who mistake us for people who are not obeying the law of our land.

Key West, Florida only 90 miles from Cuba has for centuries been a sister city to many of Cuba's ports. It's only natural for sailors from this "Southernmost City" to continue to reach out to friends and sailors across the Gulf Stream.

We joined 3rd Annual Conch Republic Regatta, a wonderful group of sailors and humanitarians on a fully sponsored, good will visit to Veradero and Havana, Cuba, The regatta departed Key West on the evening of May 23, 2003. The purpose of the trip was to develop and encourage the sport of sailing in Cuba and to deliver some much needed medical and hygienic supplies (approved and licensed by our Department of Commerce) to the Cuban people. Our Host in Cuba provided marina slips and power, many meals, tours and entertainment. In other words we had no reason to spend American Dollars ( which we are prohibited from doing as part of the embargo).

For gratuities we took along Chocolate Candy, T shirts, paper towels, tissue, toilet paper, soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, razors and various "sundries" which are not normally available to the Cuban public. It's amazing how simply these people live, but, with such dignity. The streets are impeccably clean, even if you wander off of the beaten path. Children's school uniforms are freshly ironed crisp and clean. Litter and trash are virtually non existent.
(snip/...)

http://shearwater-sailing.com/Cruising%202003/Cuba/Cuba.htm

[Best_man23]

1. Conchs have a reputation of saying F*** You to the Feds

Was just down there visiting family a couple of weeks ago. Saw extremely strong support for Kerry and intense distate for the Chimp in Charge.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. The Hispanic community in Florida has turned against Bush

My brother married an Hispanic woman -- her whole family thinks Bush is Satan's baby brother. They loved Reagan, too, but even that affection has soured.

--bkl

[Stuckinthebush]

3. I saw a "Viva Bush!" sticker on a car the other day

The car also had a decal of the Honduras flag.

I thought to myself, "This person isn't paying attention."

Perhaps he/she was an aberration.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. There's still support for Bush, *but*...

... the tide has turned.

Most of the Cubans want rapprochment with Cuba; the Puerto Ricans are fed up with being foreigners in their own country, and the Mexicans are fed up with being exploited for stoop labor. My sister-in-law is well-educated and was born and raised in Peru, but once she moved here, the only doors that were open to her were low-paid positions. It's taken her ten years just to re-acquire her initial technician's license (she is a medical artist who now mainly sculpts teeth for dentists).

These are all atrocities that Democratic politics has traditionally addressed. Viva Bush, pero Muerte a Conservatismo Nuevo.

--bkl
Translation: "Bush Lives, but Death to Neo-Conservatism."
(Language corrections welcomed.)

[Mika]

4. This group stands for decency, humanitarianism

They arrange and bring with them much needed medicines that are embargoed by the US's extraterritorial Helms-Burton Law.

To crush this group is to crush a lifeline to some sick Cubans.



Damn _Bush and his cabal of mercenary bastards.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Is Paul Martin ready for a U.S. attack on Cuba?

Is Paul Martin ready for a U.S. attack on Cuba?


>by Murray Dobbin
June 11, 2004

Prime Minister Paul Martin chatted with George W. Bush at the G8 meeting last week and apparently talked about the same old topic — American bullying on the trade front — with predictable results. What he should have added to the list was the U.S. plan for military action against Cuba.

What plan, you ask? Good question. And it is one that Martin and his policy advisors and foreign affairs analysts ought to be asking themselves right now. Given the unending foreign policy catastrophe of Iraq, rational thinking would suggest that such a question need not even be posed. But rational thinking in the White House is an oxymoron. These people are not humbled or chastened by defeat — they seem emboldened by it.
(snip)

And he has a further problem. While he is desperate to please the U.S., and is under unrelenting pressure from the Bay Street's Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) to do whatever the U.S. asks, Martin is sitting on a long-standing Canadian policy regarding Cuba, a policy that differs dramatically from that of the U.S. Indeed, our Cuba policy is the single most dramatic expression of Canadian foreign policy independence. Will Paul Martin simply jettison this policy to please George W. Bush and CCCE president, Tom d'Aquino?

Would Bush actually invade Cuba or is he just playing tough guy to ensure he scoops Florida in the November election? What seems inconceivable is tragically quite possible given recent moves by Bush and his cabal of “regime-changers.” They have already implemented moves that are clearly in violation of international law and transparently designed to provoke Cuba into an action that can be spun to justify an attack.
(snip/...)

http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=32698


Santa Clara, Cuba

1961, teachers & students waving giant pencils
to celebrate their new literacy program, which
has worked VERY well.


José Martí Provincial Library, Santa Clara

At the end of this site, you can find 3 Cuban songs. Very interesting. Also, material on Cuban libraries, and the beginning of their developing computer literacy. Remember, due to the embargo, they don't have fiber optics, and their advancement is very slow, as they are operating under some handicaps.

This article is also dated, as I saw it a couple of years ago or more.

http://www.communitytechnology.org/cuba/photos.html

[struggle4progress]

7. Tough call, isn't it? Should we go after bin Laden or the sailboats?