Freedom House asks Obama to lift travel to Cuba as means of promoting democracy there

Freedom House asks Obama to lift travel to Cuba as means of promoting
democracy there
By BARRY SCHWEID | AP Diplomatic Writer
11:02 AM EST, January 8, 2009

WASHINGTON - A human rights group is asking President-elect Barack Obama
to end immediately a ban on most American travel to Cuba.

The nonpartisan Freedom House made the public recommendation Wednesday
even as it sharply criticized Cuba's human rights record and said Raul
Castro had made only "nominal reforms" since succeeding his brother
Fidel as Cuba's president last February.

In his presidential campaign Obama proposed easing restrictions on
family-related travel and said he was open to meeting Raul Castro
without preconditions.

He also called for easing economic sanctions against Cuba, first imposed
in 1960, if Havana "begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change."

Current U.S. sanctions limit trade with Cuba to cash-only sale of U.S.
farm products and medical supplies. Freedom House asked Obama to
re-examine the embargo.

Ending the travel ban would expose Cubans to information about the
outside world, Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House,
said in a statement. She also called Cuba one of the most repressive
countries in the world.

Next week, Cuba is due for harsh criticism in an annual Freedom House
report on human rights worldwide.

The travel ban was imposed by President John F. Kennedy a year after the
crisis over the presence of Russian missiles in Cuba. President Jimmy
Carter let the ban lapse in 1977, but President Ronald Reagan reimposed
it in 1982.

Violators could face criminal penalties of up to $250,000 and 10 years
in prison.

Freedom House noted in its statement that the United States does not
impose similar travel sanctions on Americans going to other countries
with low freedom ratings, including Burma, Libya, North Korea, Somalia,
Sudan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Freedom House, founded in 1941, is an independent, non-governmental
organization that supports expansion of democracy, in the world. It
began monitoring the performance of governments worldwide in 1972.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-travelban0108,0,3608105.story