A complete collection of Cuba stories by David Allester and his cruising mate, Eileen Quinn, traveling minstrel of the Caribbean.

New rules may let ‘marine professionals,’ others attend Havana conferences

Continued from Home Page

Because of the Obama Administration’s relaxation of travel restrictions, events of this type free new classes of Americans to visit Havana. For one thing, the changes allow Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba freely so they would be able to attend. Many are Florida boaters and have an abiding interest in fishing and cruising their family homeland, just 90 miles from the Florida keys

Full-time journalists have always been allowed to travel to Cuba for work purposes under what is called a “General License” from the Treasury Department. The only requirement is that we swear an affidavit beforehand and document our time and expenses in case of questions upon our return stateside. Under Obama, General License exceptions to the travel ban were recently expanded to include “full-time professionals, whose travel transactions are directly related to research in their professional areas, provided that their research: 1) is of a noncommercial, academic nature; 2) comprises a full work schedule in Cuba; and 3) has a substantial likelihood of public dissemination.”

Professionals in the marine industry and anyone engaged in sportfishing for their livelihood might qualify to attend one or both of these conferences. Others might also qualify by obtaining a Specific License from the U.S. Treasury Department, which involves an exchange of paperwork with the Department beforehand. A Specific License may be granted to “persons traveling to Cuba to do professional research or to attend a professional meeting that do not meet the requirements of the relevant General License.”

The first thing to do is to visit the yacht club’s website www.hemingwayyachtclub.org and use the contact tab to email the club asking for an invitation to the events. Then visit the U.S. Treasury site at www.treasury.gov and find the 51-page PDF document that explains the exemptions to the travel ban and how to qualify.

The location of the yacht club has its own interesting history. Immediately before Castro’s revolution drove American organized crime from Cuba, mobster Meyer Lansky had begun excavating a canal villa development west of Havana like those in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Lansky used $10 million from a group of American investors that included singer Frank Sinatra. Castro’s ascent to power ended Lansky’s plan. But with the canals dug and two miles of side-tie dockage, the site later became home to a hotel complex and Cuba’s biggest marina, Marina Hemingway. The Hemingway International Yacht Club clubhouse was converted from a private home at the end of one of the canals.

One thing that continues to be banned is travel to Cuba in one’s own recreational vessel, whether one has Treasury permission or not. U.S. policy continues to require that anyone wishing to travel to Cuba in a vessel of less than 100 meters LOA apply for U.S. Commerce Department export permit, which is then reviewed by the Pentagon, State and Energy departments for their approval. It is a lengthy process and, although there may have been unpublicized exceptions, past applicants have been denied in writing.

Cuban marina records suggest that even after the administration of President George W. Bush cracked down on U.S. boat crossing to Cuba in 2004, as many as 200 American mariners continued to visit the island each year with no permission whatsoever, in furtherance of what might be called a “personal foreign policy.

This newspaper advertises urges readers to buy into the Barlovento development, today the site of Hemingway marina, a hotel complex and Hemingway International Yacht Club. It was once a housing development begun in 1958 by American mobster Meyer Lansky.

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