Cuba travel?

by Tricia
(Minneapolis, MN)

I thought Cuba was illegal for leisure travel. You mention it as a good destination, yet everything I read tells me I can only travel there if I'm not going as a tourist but as a specific kind of visitor, like journalist or similar.

PS. Love your site.

Answer:

Hi Tricia, Cuba IS a magnificent destination! Unfortunately, it is illegal for US tourists - although not for anyone else.

Here's hoping the travel embargo will be lifted at some point, and as this is a travel site I don't get too deeply into politics, but let me say that even if it's illegal, that doesn't stop thousands of Americans from taking the risk and visiting, either via Canada, Mexico or another of the Caribbean islands.

It's a bit like travel to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries - you can go to Israel but other countries had better not find out about it or you won't be allowed in.

In Cuba's case, there has been a strict travel and trade embargo for a number of years, which I document in The Cuban Embargo, a story I wrote more than ten years ago but which remains largely relevant today.

Just for fun I Googled 'cuban embargo' and came up with highly relevant results, both for and against the embargo. Definitely worth reading!

For the sake of American travelers (not to mention Cubans) I hope this gets resolved sooner rather than later - Cuba is an amazing country and definitely in my Top Ten list.

And PS: thanks for the kind words about my site!

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