AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

The Right to Travel

In the News

Recent news items on US-Cuba scientific and academic collaboration, the right to travel, and Cuban science and technology.

U.S. Bars Cuban Envoy From University Lecture: The United States has barred a senior Cuban U.N. envoy from delivering a lecture on "Cuba after Castro'' at a Pennsylvania university, saying the speech was unrelated to his diplomatic duties. (Reuters, February 26, 2001)

Albright: Bush Can't Change Policy: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says President Bush would be unable to respond to creative change in Cuba because U.S. law prevents him from doing anything "until a near perfect democracy was in place."...Her remarks were directed at congressional action in recent years that prevents the executive branch from making changes in the U.S. embargo against Cuba or altering the rules governing travel by Americans to Cuba. (Associated Press, February 22, 2001).

U.S. Policy Experts Encouraged by Talks in Cuba: American foreign policy experts who produced a report recommending closer U.S.-Cuban ties said on Sunday they were encouraged by the Cuban government's private response to the proposals despite an initial public rejection. (By Pascal Fletcher, Reuters, February 18 ).

United State International Trade Commission Releases Report on the Economic Impact of U.S. Sanctions with Respect to Cuba. The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, prepared the report for the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives. As requested, the report provides an overview of U.S. sanctions with respect to Cuba; describes the Cuban economy, Cuban trade and investment policies, and trade and investment trends; analyzes the historical impact of U.S. sanctions on both the U.S. and Cuban economies; and evaluates the current impact on U.S.-Cuban bilateral trade, investment, employment, and consumers. (February 16, 2001).

Independent Task Force Report U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century: Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, Bernard W. Aronson and William D. Rogers Co-Chairs

Cuba Rejects U.S. Panel Proposals for Closer Ties: Cuba on Wednesday dismissed as nothing new a report by a panel of American experts that recommended increasing U.S. contacts with the Caribbean island nation to prepare for a post-Communist transition.(By Pascal Fletche, Reuters, December 27, 2000)

Cuba Blocks Phone Calls From US: The long-standing dispute over the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba has taken a new turn: Angry that U.S. phone companies won't pay a new Cuban tax, the Cuban government has blocked all phone calls from the United States. (By Kevin Gray, AP, December 16, 2000)

Group Recommends US-Cuban Dialogue: The United States should reject its "uncompromising approach'' to Cuba and push for an eventual democratic transition and an end to repression on the island, a hemispheric policy group said Thursday. (By George Gedda, AP, December 14, 2000)

Brigade to Cuba Gets Lesson in Community Rebuilding: In January, 25 United States citizens will travel abroad to learn about rebuilding a community in a country where reconstruction is a way of life. The group will travel to La Guniera, Cuba, to get hands-on experience in community development and home construction. Fifteen years ago, a group of women from La Guniera decided to spearhead a restoration of their community. In 1995, The United Nations called the city, which lies 40 miles outside of Havana, a global model of a community working together to create a better place to live. (Latino Link, December 4, 2000)

Some U.S. Legislators Vow to Alter Cuba Embargo: U.S. legislators opposed to the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba said on Wednesday they are confident they will overturn restrictions on travel and credit for food and medicine sales in the next session of Congress. (By Anthony Boadle, Reuters, November 15, 2000)

Cuba Appeals to New U.S. President on Embargo: The U.N. General Assembly, for the ninth year, called on Thursday for an end to the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, and Cuba appealed to the new U.S. president to scrap the 38-year-old blockade. (Reuters, November 9, 2000)

U.N. Wants Cuba Sanctions Lifted: The General Assembly resoundingly criticized the United States on Thursday for maintaining sanctions on Cuba for nearly four decades and urged Washington to lift them as soon as possible. (By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, November 9, 2000)

Two Against the Tide: If Cuban-Americans find it no easier to travel to the island to visit their families in the year ahead, and if other Americans find their constitutional right to travel where they wish to have been further infringed, they can thank the two Cuban-American congressmen from Miami, Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. (Editorial by Wayne S. Smith, Sun-Sentinel Fort Lauderdale, November 2, 2000)

Florida International University Cuba Poll: A survey that compares the views of Miami-area Cuban-Americans, Miami-area non Cuban-Americans and the national views on a variety of Cuba related issues, including the Elian Gonzalez case and travel restrictions. (Conducted by Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute and the Institute for Public Opinion Research and the Center for Labor Research and Studies)

Travel Rules An Issue on U.S-Cuba Easing: A congressional proposal to relax a four-decade-old U.S. embargo on Cuba by allowing food and medicine sales ran into trouble on Tuesday because of a dispute over travel restrictions to the Caribbean island. (by Charles Abbott, Reuter, October 4, 2000)

Cuban Denied Permission To Travel: A senior Cuban official called the U.S. refusal to allow National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon to travel to Washington "incredible,'' charging that it was a political decision to win the support of anti-Castro Cubans in Florida. (AP, September 12, 2000)

Talks on Cuban Migration To Resume: Despite their public feuding, Cuba and the United States have agreed to resume talks on legal migration of Cubans to the United States under accords signed in 1994 and 1995. (AP September 1, 2000)

Roundup Ready Cigars?: Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Missouri) is a well-known champion of family farmers, but he's not telling the whole story when he cites their interests to explain why the United States should allow food exports to Cuba. (Americas.org, Resource Center for the Americas, article by Pam Keesey)

Miami-Havana Air Traffic Hits Record High: The number of people flying between the estranged cities of Miami and Havana doubled last year, according to U.S. government figures, a sign that changing politics and attitudes were breaking down barriers between the United States and communist-ruled Cuba. (Reuters August 18, 2000)

Ask The TIC: Guide to Export Controls: U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration, Export America (July 2000)

U.S. Economic Sanctions: Concerns for Mariners: Marine Navigation Department of Department of Defense National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Notice to Mariners No. 1 (January 1, 2000)

Direct Flights: News article detailing the January 1999 decision to expand direct charter flights to Cuba from New York and Los Angeles. (August 3, 1999)

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(Site Updated 2/27/2001)