Lift the travel ban

By Staff
October 26, 2003
U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, both R-Miss., joined the majority of their colleagues last week in voting on a move to lift the 40-year ban on travel to Cuba. They were among senators who opposed lifting the ban, as illustrated in a procedural vote.
The ban on traveling to Cuba is one of those post-Cold War measures implemented at a time when the U.S. apparently thought it could influence Cuba's government to be more liberal and lenient. The fact is, however, that the travel ban has not produced a more democratic Cuba, and never will.
There is no ban on travel to other communist nations China, for example, where American tourists have stood on the Great Wall and enjoyed other elements of the Asian culture. Congress does appear to be on the verge of prohibiting travel to China.
America is good at using money as a whip to seduce other nations into our way of government; it's been an effective technique at times but clearly does not work all of the time.
The Cuba language is part of an appropriations bill for the Transportation and Treasury departments. President Bush is threatening to veto the bill if the language remains in the measure.
Here in the land of the free, Americans should be free to travel Cuba. President Bush can find other ways to express displeasure at Cuba's government and who knows, the Cuban people may actually benefit from exposure to more Americans.