Ease in Cuban travel may hinge on election

Will Fidel Castro’s retirement make it easier for travelers to visit Cuba?

“Definitely,” says one of the nation’s foremost experts on Cuban travel. “But I can’t see it happening until after the election.”

Bob Guild, who arranges U.S.-approved travel to Cuba, says: “Things will be drastically different; it doesn’t matter which candidate is elected. Polls have shown Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to the embargo.”

Guild is a consultant for the New Jersey-based firm Marazul, a U.S. government-approved travel agency that is allowed to make hotel reservations or book flights to Cuba.

Guild has seen vast changes in the number of U.S. citizens allowed to visit Cuba since Marazul began planning the trips in 1979.

“The restrictions changed with the administration that was in office at the time,” he said. The Reagan administration tightened up restrictions and fewer people were allowed to go; the Clinton administration loosened the restrictions.

But the biggest changes came in the last few years during the Bush administration.

“We sent 40,000 Americans to Cuba in 2003,” Guild said. “Last year only 9,000 people were allowed to go.”

Cuba has never imposed any restrictions on American travelers; restrictions have always been laid down by the U.S. government. The regulations are complicated, but basically, only three groups of travelers are allowed easy access to Cuba: U.S. officials on government business, full-time professionals traveling for research or to attend conferences and full-time journalists.

These groups are allowed to travel under a general license, meaning they do not need to fill out an application to go there. Others can visit Cuba if they apply for and obtain a specific license from the U.S. government; these licenses are granted for a variety of reasons, including travel for educational, religious or humanitarian purposes.

Family members who wish to visit relatives in Cuba must also obtain a specific license. For more details, see the Treasury Department overview “What You Need to Know About the Cuban Embargo.”

Americans who travel to Cuba from a third country, such as Mexico, Canada, Jamaica or the Bahamas, risk fines and criminal prosecution. In general, travel agencies abroad that claim they can arrange legal travel for U.S. citizens to Cuba are misstating the facts.

Technically, it’s illegal for Americans to spend money in Cuba. All air and hotel arrangements must be booked through a U.S.-authorized travel agency, such as Marazul Charters, 4100 Park Ave., Weehawken, NJ 07086; (877) 756-1433.