Cuba

[Terry Hull]

I am trying to determine if it is possible, legally, to visit Cuba. I have looked at the OFAC (Treasury)regulations and think it may make sense to build a case in one of two ways.
The first I am working on, involves a non-profit Spanish Society (Sociedad Hispana Doylestown) I organized several years ago. The other leads me to believe a photographer to photographer exchange might be better way to do so. My questions are the following: Has anyone done this without paying the exorbitant fees the few companies that get licenses charge? Would anyone have an interest in this if I were successful in getting a license? Does anyone know any Cuban resident photographers?

Sorry for the US centric post, and jealousy of those that can travel freely to Cuba.

[Raymond Bleesz]

Terry,

I may not be able to answers your questions, however, a fellow photographer may as he has been to Cuba numerous times and has and is offering photo workshops to Cuba---He seems to know the rules & regs as well as people of note.

"Steve Anchell" in Montana.

Raymond, in the Vail Valley, Colo

[Joanna Carter]

Sorry for the US centric post, and jealousy of those that can travel freely to Cuba.
Now, you do surprise me. I thought it was only communist countries that stopped their people travelling :eek:

[msk2193]

There are several ways of doing this....

1. Fly via Canada or Mexico and the immigration guys in Cuba will NOT stamp your passport. It is like you've never been there.

2. Do it as a journalistic exploratory trip which is allowed under the rules. You can then fly via Miami. This is also the same as doing it via a religion-based trip.

In either case, please understand that you cannot use a U.S.-based bank credit card for any expenses and wil have to take all of the costs with you in cash. Most hotels can be pre-paid via the Canadian or Mexican travel agencies.

Enjoy.

[Vaughn]

A good APUG thread -- wanders a bit, of course!

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum49/87683-travel-cuba.html

[Ed Kelsey]

Mark Tucker has images from Cuba on his website. He's from Nashville, TN. You could contact him.

http://marktucker.com

[Terry Hull]

I want to do it legally-hence no Canada, Mexico. I have read the OFAC rules vis, cultural, or journalistic, or religious, etc. approach, but wonder if anyone knows Cuban resident photographers? I think I want to organize this myself for cost reasons, as the available tours of Cuba I find are premium priced, nearly $5,000 for nine days, land portion only. Thanks for the Steve Anchell name, I will contact him.

[Steven Tribe]

I think the Cuban authorities are the source of the "group/charter/theme" restriction which means that accomodation has to be booked before entry for the first couple of days at least. It applies to non-USA visitors too.

Getting about (transport) is the only problem - a really big problem.

[Noah A]

I've been to Cuba several times in 2001 and 2003, though at the time I was employed as a full time staff photojournalist.

Nevertheless, I always flew through Canada since the direct flights from the US are (or were, all of my info is old I'm afraid) very expensive and hard to book. I always booked a flight from Toronto via a canadian travel agent and then just booked my flight from the states to Toronto online.

Going through customs in Cuba is a breeze and they won't stamp your passport if you're from the US. We stayed in private homes and at the time paid $10-20 a night depending on the room and the city. Before you leave write down the name and address of one of the 'official' hotels and tell the cuban immigration guys that's where you are staying. If you don't, they'll make you book anywhere from a few nights to your whole trip in advance, on the spot, at a hotel of their choosing. It can be an expensive mistake. If you're really cautious, you could actually book a night or two in an official hotel, but in general the casa particulares are much nicer, much cheaper and in some cases they'll cook great food for you.

You will need to carry all cash since US debit and credit cards won't work in Cuba.

If you're a fulltime accredited journalist for a legitimate newsgathering organization, at least in 2003, you didn't need to do any paperwork or get advance permission to go from the US government. You just needed to carry news credentials and maybe a letter of assignment. If you're freelance, I've heard the process and paperwork involved are quite a hassle.

I don't know if things have eased up, but back when I was going going through the official channels to get OFAC permission was really difficult and a few people I know who tried either were denied or gave up.

Good luck though. It's a wonderful place.

[Noah A]

Oh, and I had no problems getting around. I traveled on everything from a jet to a donkey cart...obviously speaking at least some Spanish helps.

[Scott Davis]

Has anyone here taken the Steve Anchell tour to Cuba? I'm thinking of going on his March 2013 excursion, and wondered what other folks' experience has been like.

[Jody_S]

I can't tell you about what restrictions you face as an American trying to visit Cuba, I have been several times myself with 0 problems. Interesting place. I've heard that US authorities have no trouble identifying Americans who fly to Cuba from Canada, even if they don't stamp your passport. All Canadian flights to Cuba fly over US airspace, and since 9/11 all passenger lists (complete with passport numbers) are transmitted to DHS. Also, using US currency is becoming something of a bother in Cuba, I took a substantial loss on the exchange and had to wait for an hour in line at a currency exchange before I was able to get tourist pesos.

Finally, there are many amazing things to photograph in Cuba, just don't count on Cubans guiding you to them. Their nationalistic indoctrination is very cult-like, they view foreigners as decadent and inferior, and will simply pretend not to know of anything they're not supposed to tell you about. I found a Soviet-era playground by pure chance, and had to guide my taxi driver to the spot from memory (even though he was from that town, and played baseball just a hundred yards from said playground...). When we first drove around, we found it charming to see kids come out and wave at us... then we noticed a look of pure fear on the face of one child who forgot! I don't know what the hell they hold over them, but it wasn't so charming after that to see dozens of kids run out to the end of their walkway to wave. Cuba is also the only place I had to yield to an ox cart that was carrying another ox, as I tried to negotiate a steep dirt road.


Soviet-era playground, near Holguin, Cuba: Speed Graphic & Symmar 150/5.6 on Velvia 50
(my apologies for the cartoonish color, I really don't use Velvia very often and it was a poor choice for mid-day tropical sun)
80732

[msk2193]

Scott, going in a group is no issue! As a US citizen, there are no travel restrictions as long as you are with a registered group focusing on cultural, religious, etc interactions.
Your USA-issued credit cards will NOT work in Cuba, so make sure the tour is all inclusive and paid for, then bring enough cash for fun, tips, trinkets, etc.

Jody, as far as non-organized trips to Cuba, the preferred departure points for US citizens are through the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, or Cancun in Mexico. As far as I know those are not reported to the US since there is no passage required in US Airspace.

[Dan Henderson]

Has anyone here taken the Steve Anchell tour to Cuba? I'm thinking of going on his March 2013 excursion, and wondered what other folks' experience has been like.

I have a space reserved for Steve's March 2013 trip. I was able to talk at length this summer with a photographer who went on one of Steve's earlier trips and he had many good things to say about Steve and the trip.

[dperez]

I spent three weeks in Cuba in 2003. The only thing I will add is that the restrictions have tightened in recent years, especially under Bush. Travel licenses were most difficult to obtain under the Bush Administration's second term. Typically, politicians from both camps will tighten Cuba restrictions during election years, when they are trying to gain Florida votes by showing how tough they can be towards Cuba.

A really good source of information on Cuba is the yahoo group CubaNews: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/ It is very difficult to find good information on Cuba that is not politically motivated, and you will find nothing in the American press that paints a positive light on Cuba. I recommend reading up on Cuban history before you go. Here are some recommended readings:

Louis Perez, Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution (http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Revolution-Louis-P%C3%A9rez-Jr/dp/0195392965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348003972&sr=8-1&keywords=Cuba%3A+Between+Reform+and+Revolution)

Julio Garcia Luis (ed.) Cuban Revolution Reader: A Documentary History of 40 Key Moments of the Cuban Revolution (http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Revolution-Reader-Documentary-History/dp/1920888896/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348004253&sr=1-1&keywords=Cuban+Revolution+Reader%3A+A+Documentary)

Max Azicri, Cuba Today and Tomorrow: Reinventing Socialism (http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Today-Tomorrow-Reinventing-Contemporary/dp/0813017564/ref=la_B001KIGP1Y_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348004581&sr=1-1) This book is a bit dated, but is very good.

Cuban people are very nice. Just be aware of scams like Noah mentioned, and have accommodations worked out a head of time if possible. There are a lot of young men of working age that work the informal sector and will see you coming from miles away. Be polite, but also don't advertise where you are from. Not that people will have a problem with you, but if you are in Havana wearing a USA shirt or something of that sort, expect to be hit up by a lot of guys offering you cigars, asking you if you like baseball, and other things.

Good luck,

-Daniel Perez

[Scott Davis]

Well, I'll be going on one of those pre-programmed tours (the Steve Anchell tour in March), so everything will be pre-booked and pre-paid other than my food and incidentals. I can't help but look like a Yanqui (I'm fat, something probably 99% of Cubans are not unless they're in the upper echelon of the Party). But on the upside, I speak much better than passable Spanish. I'll still sound like a foreigner, but one with a strange accent they can't quite place as my Spanish is good Castilian Spanish (I still do the theta thing).

[Dan Henderson]

Well, I'll be going on one of those pre-programmed tours (the Steve Anchell tour in March), so everything will be pre-booked and pre-paid other than my food and incidentals. I can't help but look like a Yanqui (I'm fat, something probably 99% of Cubans are not unless they're in the upper echelon of the Party). But on the upside, I speak much better than passable Spanish. I'll still sound like a foreigner, but one with a strange accent they can't quite place as my Spanish is good Castilian Spanish (I still do the theta thing).

I'll look forward to meeting you, Scott.

[Scott Davis]

Dan - same here. And we're more or less kinda sorta neighbors in a thermonuclear weapons blast zone kind of way. I'm in Washington DC.