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US GOVERNMENTS REPORTS |
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17 October 2003
U.S. Official
Outlines Measures to Inhibit Illegal Travel to Cuba
Says increased enforcement of restrictions will deny funds to Castro
Although "illegal travel to Cuba -- especially tourist travel -- may seem
harmless, it is in fact an important source of revenue" for the regime of
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, says R. Richard Newcomb, director of the U.S.
Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
In October 16 testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Newcomb
said that President Bush's recent decision to strengthen enforcement of U.S.
travel restrictions to Cuba will help "ensure that permitted travel to Cuba,
such as visits to relatives or humanitarian missions, are not abused for
illegal business trips and tourism." The restriction on tourism to Cuba is
critical because "a dollar paid to a tourist hotel in Cuba goes mostly to
the regime, leaving only pennies in worthless pesos for the workers," he
added. "Tourist dollars provide vital hard currency that Castro and his
cronies use to continue to oppress Cuba."
Newcomb described the heightened measures that his office will adopt in
order to carry out the president's directive. "As we have in the past," OFAC
"will work closely with the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of
Customs and Border Protection, at all ports, but in particular JFK [New York
City], LAX [Los Angeles], and Miami [airports] -- where charter flights
operate under OFAC license," he told lawmakers. "We will also coordinate
closely with Homeland Security at other locations used by unlicensed
travelers and remittance couriers to travel to and from Cuba via third
countries. In addition, we will also enhance our investigation and
enforcement efforts against individuals and companies that provide travel
and remittance services to Cuba without an OFAC license."
He indicated that OFAC will cooperate with other federal agencies to
facilitate seizure of unauthorized currency destined for Cuba and to
"achieve maximum results in coordination with U.S. attorneys identifying
promising cases for criminal prosecution of embargo violators," as well. "In
short, we at OFAC are well positioned to implement -- fully and with
alacrity -- the new enforcement policy announced by the president," Newcomb
said.
Following is a transcript of Newcomb's testimony:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Washington, D.C.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2003
Oral Statement of R. Richard Newcomb,
Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control,
United States Department of the Treasury,
before the
Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness Committee on Government Reform,
U.S. House of Representatives
Mr. Chairman, today's hearing is especially timely. Last Friday, Assistant
Secretary Noriega and I joined President Bush in the Rose Garden where he
announced a number of important new initiatives to assist the Cuban people
in their struggle for democracy and to prepare for the happy day when Fidel
Castro's tyrannical regime falls and the Cuban people can at last know
freedom. In his speech, the president called for increased enforcement of
travel restrictions to ensure that permitted travel to Cuba, such as visits
to relatives or humanitarian missions, are not abused for illegal business
trips and tourism.
Mr. Chairman, while illegal travel to Cuba -- especially tourist travel --
may seem harmless, it is in fact an important source of revenue for the
Castro regime. A dollar paid to a tourist hotel in Cuba goes mostly to the
regime, leaving only pennies in worthless pesos for the workers. Tourist
dollars provide vital hard currency that Castro and his cronies use to
continue to oppress Cuba. President Bush said it best Friday: "Illegal
tourism perpetuates the misery of the Cuban people."
OFAC looks forward to working with the Department of Homeland Security to
answer the president's call to step up the enforcement of illegal travel to
Cuba and to deny Fidel Castro the financial wherewithal to perpetuate the
despair he has visited on the Cuban people for more than four decades.
As we have in the past, the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") will
work closely with the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Customs and
Border Protection, at all ports, but in particular JFK, LAX, and Miami --
where charter flights to Cuba operate under OFAC license. We will also
coordinate closely with Homeland Security at other locations used by
unlicensed travelers and remittance couriers to travel to and from Cuba via
third countries. In addition, we will also enhance our investigation and
enforcement efforts against individuals and companies that provide travel
and remittance services to Cuba without an OFAC license.
Already, in response to the president's announcement, Customs and Border
Protection inspectors have stepped up their efforts by examining nearly all
of the charter flights departing from Miami. We will work with Homeland
Security to have similar levels of scrutiny in other ports of departure to
Cuba -- JFK, LAX and other locations used as third-country transit points by
Americans for travel to Cuba. In one operation this last weekend, inspectors
seized approximately $10,000 in unlicensed currency from a charter flight
passenger. I am also pleased to report that today, OFAC hosted an
interagency meeting with Homeland Security, State Department, Commerce and
U.S. Coast Guard officials to develop an effective enforcement strategy to
ensure that this program is implemented fully and effectively on a
nation-wide basis. OFAC will provide training, advice and assistance to
inspectors at the affected U.S. ports.
We have procedures in place with Homeland Security to receive currency
seizure reports and take appropriate penalty action against violators and
work with our interagency partners to refine enforcement strategies and
operations to achieve maximum results in coordination with U.S. attorneys
identifying promising cases for criminal prosecution of embargo violators.
With regard to licensing, we eliminated altogether a category of travel
related to non-accredited educational exchanges, where licenses were largely
being abused to pursue tourist activities. Following through on a commitment
I made at a congressional hearing in 2002, OFAC published the Comprehensive
Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in Travel-Related Transactions
Involving Cuba (the "Comprehensive Application Guidelines") on its web site
on April 29 of this year, providing clearly articulated criteria for
applying for licenses pursuant to each of the eleven categories of
activities for which specific licenses may be granted. Examples are often
included to provide additional guidance to applicants in furtherance of our
goal to promote transparency and understanding by the public of OFAC's
administrative process.
The criteria set forth in the Comprehensive Application Guidelines seek to
more strictly define licensing parameters and criteria and ensure that
existing policy is clear and properly carried out through OFAC's licensing
process. In particular, the Comprehensive Application Guidelines seek to
eliminate the abusive practice of allowing unaffiliated persons to travel
under a license issued to another party, and ensure that there exists a
sufficient nexus between the qualifications of persons traveling under the
authority of a license and the full-time agenda of authorized activities
they will engage in while in Cuba. OFAC will continue to monitor activities
of licensed travelers to ensure that conduct does not deviate from that
which has been authorized. Licenses themselves may also be suspended and
revoked if their parameters are not met or are otherwise violated.
OFAC is also in the process of carrying out a statutory mandate involving
the initiation of hearings before an administrative law judge ("ALJ") on the
imposition of civil penalties for engaging in unauthorized travel-related
transactions. I have forwarded more than 50 hearing requests to the Treasury
Department's Office of General Counsel for hearings before these ALJs.
In short, we at OFAC are well positioned to implement -- fully and with
alacrity -- the new enforcement policy announced by the president.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) |
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