VI. Cuban Travel Policy

Despite the possible reluctance of scientists interviewed by the mission delegates to provide a full picture of the impediments placed on scientists by the Cuban government, this report outlines some of the procedural requirements that Cuban scientists must follow to conduct international travel. During our official meetings, scientists sometimes neglected to mention restrictive aspects of Cuban travel policies until asked about specific requirements, such as the need to consult the Communist Party nucleus of each organization when requesting permission to travel.

Mission delegates arranged separate meetings with three individuals whose right to travel outside of Cuba had been denied by Cuban authorities. The delegates were informed by individuals in Cuba who follow this issue that there are potentially hundreds of academics who suffer these restrictions, including many Cuban scientists who reportedly do not bother to apply for permission to travel abroad. Permission to travel has been described as a reward for political loyalty.

Cuban travel policy for scientists reflects the Cuban Communist Party’s relationship to academic institutions:

Every institution in Cuba has a direct relationship with the Cuban Communist Party. In making decisions about academic travel, the university rector, having conferred with the Party nucleus of the university department in question, makes the decision in consultation with the secretary of the Party Committee. The Party nucleus is made up of university faculty.

Organizations or individuals that invite Cuban scientists to attend international meetings or participate in exchange programs must send the invitation to that individual’s institution. Cuban scientists who wish to undertake international travel must seek permission from their place of employment and the corresponding Communist Party nucleus. The Party nucleus decides who will be permitted to travel.

Following approval by the responsible parties in the workplace, the request goes to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment, where applicable, and then to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The entire process is reported to routinely take up to forty-five days.

If an individual is denied permission to travel, there is no legal recourse. Many professors invited to the U.S. have been denied permission to travel by their departments, the Party nucleus, or the Cuban Ministry of Education without an explanation.

U.S. legislation, including most recently the Helms-Burton Act, has led to the implementation of increased restrictions by Cuba on scientists and academics. This is evidenced by newly instituted requirements for travel to the U.S. Travel to the U.S. must now be handled directly by the Foreign Ministry, and scientists falling under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment must now apply for a travel license from that Ministry as well. There is talk of extending this licensing requirement for all travel to the U.S.

Cuban officials described their restrictive travel policy as a defense mechanism against U.S. hostility in the face of Track Two exchanges. "Track Two," a term traditionally used in conflict management circles to describe "unofficial" efforts to defuse areas of conflict, such as meetings and seminars organized by community groups or religious organizations, has been used by the Clinton Administration to describe its new approach to travel to Cuba. In 1995, much to the dismay of a number of Cuba specialists and individuals interested in working in Cuba with whom the author has spoken, President Clinton announced an effort to use Track Two, the promotion of "unofficial" contacts between U.S. and Cuban citizens, to bring down Fidel Castro’s government. This policy has contributed to the perception that all individuals from the U.S. are pursuing U.S. governmental objectives.

Most recently, Cuban policymakers have instituted prohibitive licensing requirements that scrutinize all exchanges with the United States. Such exchanges, according to Cuban officials, are explicitly designed to destabilize the Cuban government. Any visas granted by the U.S. in the context of Track Two policies and the Helms-Burton Act are automatically regarded as suspect by Cuban authorities. The significant decrease in the number of exchanges between U.S. and Cuban scientists since 1995 is attributed to Track Two policies, according to Cuban officials at the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment. A representative from the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment provided mission participants with a summary of the license requests they had received since the implementation of the new license requirement. According to the summary, in 1996 the Ministry received thirty-three license requests. Eighteen came from Cuban scientists seeking to travel to the U.S.; eight were requests by U.S. scientists to conduct scientific work in Cuba; and seven concerned joint projects, such as meetings, research, workshops, etc. From January to May 1997, the Ministry granted 32 licenses for Cuban-U.S. collaborations: twenty-eight licenses were granted to Cuban scientists traveling to the U.S. and four were granted to U.S. scientists traveling to Cuba. However, the number of visas denied is reportedly not monitored. This summary, which also lists the instances of visa or travel license denials by the U.S. government, is attached as Appendix VI.

Hard-line reaction to U.S. policy culminated in a speech written by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and read by Raul Castro during the Party’s fifth plenary in April 1997. The speech, written in response to Track Two policies, warned against contacts with the U.S. Each Party nucleus can interpret it independently. Therefore, there is no single policy that establishes who can secure permission to travel to the U.S. Repercussions from the plenary have included the purge of individuals from a number of institutions who had developed close ties with their colleagues in the United States.

The following are descriptions of procedures followed within the individual disciplines:

Institute of History

The procedures at the Institute of History for employees seeking to travel were described as the following:

1. The individual receives the invitation at the institution.
2. The invitation is forwarded to the Department of International Affairs.
3. The Department of International Affairs consults with the president of the institution to determine if the proposed travel will interfere with the individual’s ability to complete current assignments.
4. The president confers with the Directing Council, Consejo de Direccion, including the Scientific Council, Consejo Cientifico.
5. If the individual belongs to the Communist Party, the decision is communicated to the Party nucleus.
6. If approved by the institution’s authorities, the application goes on to the Department of Immigration.

Medical Students

Cuban medical students are reportedly not permitted to travel abroad. Physicians can theoretically begin to travel when they have attained specialization in a given field of medicine. Similar procedures to those applied to other scientific fields pertain to medical professionals who wish to travel: invitations must be made to the individual’s institutional affiliation; the trip must be determined to be in the interest of the government; all expenses must be paid by the host institution; and the individual must be considered politically reliable. The last question is decided by the Directing Council, the Communist Party, and the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.

University of Havana

Prior to mid-1996, University staff seeking to travel to the U.S. requested permission to travel directly from the University Rector. This procedure is still in place for travel to countries other than the U.S. It is assumed that the host party will cover all travel expenses. Current policy towards travel to the U.S. is as follows:

1. University staff invited to travel to the U.S. must forward their invitation to the head of their department;
2. from there, it goes to the University’s International Relations Department, the bureaucratic administrator for visa requests;
3. the invitation is forwarded to the Commission on the United States;
4. it then goes to the Party nucleus, the syndicate, and the youth union (they each write to the dean with their decision);
5. the dean meets with the advisory council of the relevant University department;
6. the dean informs the rector of the decision; and
7. if approved by the rector, it goes on to the Ministry of Education.

Each department’s Party nucleus decides if the person invited to travel is in fact the appropriate person for the trip. Academics reportedly have all of their international contacts restricted. The University decides with whom they are allowed to meet.

If the individual’s field falls within the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment, he or she must receive a license to travel. Mission participants were told that the Foreign Ministry will not consider any request for travel to the U.S. unless it is received at least twenty-one days prior to the travel date. According to Ministry officials, the new licensing requirement for Cuban scientists has not limited their ability to travel. They estimate that in 1996 thirty-three licenses were granted. As of May 1997, thirty-two licenses had been granted, but there is no indication of the total number of requests received. The request reportedly takes two to three weeks to process.

Travel requests are reportedly judged by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment to determine how they fit with Cuba’s national priorities. If any exchanges are believed not to fall within the state’s priorities, they will be denied. Current exchanges with the U.S., in the opinion of Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment officials, are designed only to favor Untied States interests.