OFAC Threatens Cuba Medical/Educators Tour from Maine Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Csohara@aol.com If these folks don't come under a professional license, who does???? "they wait until the last possible moment until people have spent their money and made their plans. They want to inflict as much pain as possible. They have a history of this behavior and now they've done it to us." -- Barbara West, of the Maine teachers/health care workers delegation threatened with US prosecution. The 10 teachers and health care professionals who will leave for Cuba from Montreal on the night of April 20 have been threatened with prosecution by the US Treasury Department when they return to the US. People everywhere who stand against the illegal and immoral blockade of Cuba should be prepared to support these brave travelers. In Solidarity, Steve Burke - Let Cuba Live of Maine FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - APRIL 12, 2002 Medical / Educational Tour To Cuba Under Fire From Feds Teachers, Nurses and Docs Determined To Go On the night of April 10, twenty five health care workers and teachers from around the state of Maine who had been packing their bags and brushing up on their Spanish for a week long trip to Cuba received bad news from their tour organizer. A day earlier Charles Bishop from OFAC (The Office of Foreign Assets Control) had placed a call to Merri Ansara of Common Ground Travel in Cambridge, Mass and informed her that the Maine tour she was working with did not meet the requirements for traveling to Cuba and the travelers could face prosecution from the federal government if the trip went forward as planned. He also warned her that her license to organize such tours could be revoked if she proceeded with the tour. Common Ground Travel is one of 100 licensed travel service providers who are granted permission from OFAC, a department of the US Treasury, to organize tours to Cuba for specific and narrowly defined groups of individuals that include professionals, like medical personal and teachers, who travel to the island to interact with their Cuban counterparts. The Maine teachers had planned to visit a variety of schools, from preschool centers to universities, including schools for handicapped children and schools for young people with special interests and talents. Some teachers were especially interested in learning about the Cuban literacy campaign of 1961 that raised the literacy rate to nearly 100% with in a year. Maine medical workers had looked forward to learning about the Cuban system of family doctors which has become a model worldwide for the effective delivery of primary health care. The schools, universities and medical facilities the delegation was to have visited are located in the Holguin, Cuba's eastern most and second largest city and the historic city of Santiago. Barbara West from Arrowsic who is a member of Let Cuba Live, a Maine based Cuba solidarity group, and was involved in the initial planning stages of the trip said, "these people are devastated, they have saved and planned for this experience for months. The feds have a mean spirited attitude toward Cuba and toward people who would like to go there that I just don't understand. If they are going to hit your delegation", She added,"they wait until the last possible moment until people have spent their money and made their plans. They want to inflict as much pain as possible. They have a history of this behavior and now they've done it to us." Tom Whitney a pediatrician from Norway, Me. and his wife Allison a school nurse, also members of Let Cuba Live who have traveled to the island many times intended to go along to provide guidance. Whitney expressed anger and dismay, "Among them, the travelers have lost $9000.00 in non refundable airline tickets, not to mention all the disappointed students and clinic workers who collected humanitarian aid for the trip." Whitney explained that his group was involved in early stage planning for the tour before it was taken over by Common Ground Travel. As of Friday morning ten members of the tour have declared their intent to continue with the trip. These individuals believe that the right to travel to other countries and meet with their counterparts on a professional level is essential and must be defended. The small but determined group met in Brunswick Thursday night to discuss their options. Janet Caldwell - A teacher from Portland, "I intend to travel to Cuba with the honorable intention of acquiring educational strategies regarding literacy, to understand how a country can increase their literacy to almost 100% through solidarity and with meager financial expenditures, and to open my heart and mind to the values of another culture. I am an English teacher, member of a school department's literacy committee, and plan to teach a course called "Crossing Cultural Borders." Some Spanish 4 students have written letters hoping to begin communication with Cuban students. My research in Cuba can be a great asset to the educational system in the United States which is financially overextended and finds fewer and fewer young people regarding school as a meaningful experience. I can not see any humane or professional reason to cancel my trip to Cuba". Tasha Jansen - A school nurse from Pemaquid, "I have been nursing for 22 years., and have seen the US health care system go through many changes, and have seen many needs not met. Cuba has been very successful with their health care and I feel we could learn from them. I'm not interested in politics, just the well being of the American people, especially the children who are our future". Sara Stalman - An MD from Penobscot, "As a physician, I have been impressed by Cuban Health Care for years -- particularly their focus on the needs of children. As a psychiatrist, I have spent my professional life studying the effects of fear on the developing brain of the child, and the relationship of that fear to the development of adult psychiatric illness. Visiting Cuba gives me the opportunity to share my research interest with other physicians focused on childhood development. Moreover, at 53 I cannot let anyone make me afraid: this last minute decision of the US government's could make me feel intimidated if I let it. Since I know that I am traveling within the legal research guidelines. I must go." For confirmation or information call Renee Cote - 207-786-4325 or Steve Burke - 207-273-3247 ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytact-04.13.02-11:08:15-19218