Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Congress To Vote On Lifting Travel Ban To Cuba
Aired October 25, 2003 - 18:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Cuba could be your next vacation spot. The Senate has joined the House in calling for an end to a 40-year travel band to the communist island. It says the ban harms Americans, not Cuban President Fidel Castro. For more, I'm joined by Tim Padgett, "Time" magazine's Miami Bureau Chief. Hi there Tim.
TIM PADGETT, TIME MAGAZINE: Hi.
LIN: So technically, the ban is still in effect right now?
PADGETT: Technically yes, and in all likelihood, President Bush is going to veto this legislation that was passed this week. Which essentially denies the funds to the treasury department to enforce the travel ban. And so we may not see the walls come tumbling down any time this year, but what's really news here is this anti-embargo movement in congress has shown so much resiliency.
Especially after 9/11, and especially after the crack down that we saw in Cuba earlier this year with Fidel Castro arresting some 75 dissidents and throwing them in jail. There was a general feeling that this anti-embargo movement was dead because of that. But the fact that we've seen such a resounding no to the travel ban in congress this past week shows what kind of resiliency this movement really has.
LIN: Why do you think that is?
PADGETT: Well I think one of the reasons is that we're feeling the post Elian Gonzales still. The behavior of the Cuban-American community during that fiasco really alienated a lot of the American public. And I think it gave the anti-embargo movement in Washington some momentum that it was looking for.
And I also think that there's just generally a feeling amongst Americans. They tend to by nature not like to be told where they can and can't go. And I think there's historical and touristic curiosity amongst Americans. Every travel section in a newspaper and travel magazines these days are showing in surveys that Cuba is one of the most desired tourist destinations in the Caribbean for Americans these days.
LIN: And don't you think -- I mean most Americans I know who talk about going to Cuba take it for granted that they can. I mean they have to go through a different country, they can't fly directly there, but that's really more a matter of inconvenience.
PADGETT: Right and I think one of the things that rubs a lot of Americans the wrong way these days is that we're supposed to be focused on a war on terror, and yet the Bush Administration because of the pressure, it feels to get votes in the Cuban-American community which is a valid concern. And my hats off to the Cuban-American community in Florida for having -- taking the vote far more seriously than most American communities do.
But by the same token, there's an I think, a growing feeling of resentment amongst a lot of Americans in the general public, that here we're supposed to be focused to be focused on a war on terrorism, and yet the Bush Administration seems to be intent on nabbing little old ladies from Chicago for example in one recent case, who go to Cuba through Cancun.
LIN: Did that really happen? What happened in that case?
I mean that's just one case that's been positive, for example by congressmen in Washington. The sort of the -- the senselessness of some of these prose -- their not prosecutions, but fines that have been levied on people. They seem to be a little trivial in comparison to the kind of threats that Homeland Security really should be going after they say.
LIN: But Tim isn't this really also about -- less about Congress listening to the average tourist, and more about congress listening to the American business, which sees foreign companies going in and investing in Cuba, and reaping millions, you know, tens of millions of dollars in tourism and trade.
PADGETT: Right, this is an island that's only 90 miles from Cuba that has a population of 11 million people. Their not affluent obviously, because they're a communist society, but they are a well- educated society. And there's a lot of business potential post-Castro (ph) there. Agriculture, and especially tourism don't want to be locked out of that island when Castro.
Especially since we've -- you know, Americans have been told for decades that contact with American people and products is one of the best ways to foster democracy in societies like Cuba.
LIN: An argument being made in other countries over seas, including the Middle East. Thanks very much, Tim Padgett.
PADGETT: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 25, 2003 - 18:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Cuba could be your next vacation spot. The Senate has joined the House in calling for an end to a 40-year travel band to the communist island. It says the ban harms Americans, not Cuban President Fidel Castro. For more, I'm joined by Tim Padgett, "Time" magazine's Miami Bureau Chief. Hi there Tim.
TIM PADGETT, TIME MAGAZINE: Hi.
LIN: So technically, the ban is still in effect right now?
PADGETT: Technically yes, and in all likelihood, President Bush is going to veto this legislation that was passed this week. Which essentially denies the funds to the treasury department to enforce the travel ban. And so we may not see the walls come tumbling down any time this year, but what's really news here is this anti-embargo movement in congress has shown so much resiliency.
Especially after 9/11, and especially after the crack down that we saw in Cuba earlier this year with Fidel Castro arresting some 75 dissidents and throwing them in jail. There was a general feeling that this anti-embargo movement was dead because of that. But the fact that we've seen such a resounding no to the travel ban in congress this past week shows what kind of resiliency this movement really has.
LIN: Why do you think that is?
PADGETT: Well I think one of the reasons is that we're feeling the post Elian Gonzales still. The behavior of the Cuban-American community during that fiasco really alienated a lot of the American public. And I think it gave the anti-embargo movement in Washington some momentum that it was looking for.
And I also think that there's just generally a feeling amongst Americans. They tend to by nature not like to be told where they can and can't go. And I think there's historical and touristic curiosity amongst Americans. Every travel section in a newspaper and travel magazines these days are showing in surveys that Cuba is one of the most desired tourist destinations in the Caribbean for Americans these days.
LIN: And don't you think -- I mean most Americans I know who talk about going to Cuba take it for granted that they can. I mean they have to go through a different country, they can't fly directly there, but that's really more a matter of inconvenience.
PADGETT: Right and I think one of the things that rubs a lot of Americans the wrong way these days is that we're supposed to be focused on a war on terror, and yet the Bush Administration because of the pressure, it feels to get votes in the Cuban-American community which is a valid concern. And my hats off to the Cuban-American community in Florida for having -- taking the vote far more seriously than most American communities do.
But by the same token, there's an I think, a growing feeling of resentment amongst a lot of Americans in the general public, that here we're supposed to be focused to be focused on a war on terrorism, and yet the Bush Administration seems to be intent on nabbing little old ladies from Chicago for example in one recent case, who go to Cuba through Cancun.
LIN: Did that really happen? What happened in that case?
I mean that's just one case that's been positive, for example by congressmen in Washington. The sort of the -- the senselessness of some of these prose -- their not prosecutions, but fines that have been levied on people. They seem to be a little trivial in comparison to the kind of threats that Homeland Security really should be going after they say.
LIN: But Tim isn't this really also about -- less about Congress listening to the average tourist, and more about congress listening to the American business, which sees foreign companies going in and investing in Cuba, and reaping millions, you know, tens of millions of dollars in tourism and trade.
PADGETT: Right, this is an island that's only 90 miles from Cuba that has a population of 11 million people. Their not affluent obviously, because they're a communist society, but they are a well- educated society. And there's a lot of business potential post-Castro (ph) there. Agriculture, and especially tourism don't want to be locked out of that island when Castro.
Especially since we've -- you know, Americans have been told for decades that contact with American people and products is one of the best ways to foster democracy in societies like Cuba.
LIN: An argument being made in other countries over seas, including the Middle East. Thanks very much, Tim Padgett.
PADGETT: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
