New Cuba vessel limits are issued
Measure targets boats under 100 meters
By GRANT BOXLEITNER ,
Published by news-press.com on July 12, 2004
New U.S. traveling restrictions at sea require vessels less than 100 meters
going from the United States into Cuban territorial waters to first obtain a
Coast Guard-issued permit.
Violators may face civil penalties up to $25,000 a day and an on-the-spot
ticket of up to $10,000 and vessel forfeiture if the Coast Guard can prove
the operator went to Cuba.
The new boat restrictions, effective Thursday, accompany new restrictions on
Cuban-American travel to the communist nation and the shipment of gift
parcels.
Few boats less than 100 meters travel to Cuba from Florida. Before Thursday,
the permit requirement applied only to Florida-based vessels, and 263
permits were issued between September 2002 and Oct. 1, 2003, said Petty
Officer 2nd Class Anastasia Burns, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard in
Miami. Just 68 permits have been requested between October 2003 and June 15,
2004, Burns said.
Only Florida-based boats less than 50 meters long needed a permit before the
new rule took effect. To get the permit, applicants must show they hold the
proper licenses from the U.S. Department of Treasury and Commerce.
Vessels that don't declare a nation also are subject to the Coast Guard
permit requirement under the new security laws signed by President Bush in
February.
The new law is designed to ensure mariners comply with the Cuban embargo and
prevent international incidents such as the one in 1996, when Cuba shot down
two U.S. aircraft invading international airspace.
The new restrictions placed on Cuban-American travel to the communist nation
and the shipment of gift parcels were sought by federal officials who say
Cuba leader Fidel Castro uses American dollars to repress his people.
Alfredo Chunaciro, 50, a native of Cuba who now lives in Cape Coral, has
many relatives still in the country and said the new restrictions will hurt
the Cuban people, and the person to blame is Castro.
"In Cuba, you can find anything - Coca-Cola, Marlboro cigarettes - but you
have to have the dollar to get it.
"But America let it happen. We provided millions of dollars to the economy
by sending money to our families. Now they don't have the dollars for
anything, and they have become accustomed to the American way of life.
"It is hurting the Cuban people, but it will also be the collapse of the
government," Chunaciro said.
- Staff writer Angela Hill contributed to this report
http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040712cubaboat.html
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