SJOGuy

Personally, I would not rely on this take if questioned about the legality of a backdoor Cuba trip. Look at the sticky that JDiver has thoughtfully compiled and appended to this forum.

GaryD

Not inconsistent. But, it IS unlikely that a U.S. person will find a non-U.S. person who is generous enough with their time and money, so as to avoid violating the regs.

I hadn't known about the "five years to keep records" rule. Enough already.

dhuey

Correct me if I'm wrong about this, but didn't U.S. officials stop caring about unlicensed American leisure trips to Cuba years ago? If that is right, I don't know why anyone would lose sleep over who paid for their flight from Canada (or wherever) to Cuba.

JDiver

This is not correct; read the Americans and Cuba Travel - the Facts, Resources, Related Experiences [only] thread. It indicates Treasury considers an overnight in Cuba "prima facie evidence" one spent money in (or getting to) Cuba.

Unlicensed leisure trips to Cuba are still OFAC violations, and personal fines can be up to $200,000. That being said the ones I have heard of are more like under $10,000. A salient case was a US teacher living in Mexico - Treasury took 14 years before they charged him $6,500 and the court ordered him to pay it.

It's worse for corporations violating OFAC - in July 2013, American Express was fined $5.2 million for violating the US travel ban on Cuba for ordinary citizens by selling the tickets to and from Cuba that were not for US citizens licensed to travel to Cuba (by AMEX offices overseas, mostly).

Whatever one may think of this policy, it may be prejudicially (or at least inconsistently) enforced, but it's still extant. These folks are serious.

Now, if an American gets seriously ill (or has other pressing problems), regardless of how they got there they can contact the U S Interests Section for assistance:

http://havana.usint.gov

They can, among other things, very likely arrange for transport on one of the many HAV-MIA (charter) flights (operated by airlines such as Sun Country and American Airlines). However, USINT staff are limited by current Cuban law from traveling outside of La Habana area without permission.

As well, visitors (who are required to purchase health insurance on arrival) can receive free, good medical care - though the universal and free healthcare system for Cubans is tiered (start with the neighborhood doctor, next tier the polyclinic, then the clinics and hospitals - though one can start at any level with necessity), and foreigners can access the Cira García Hospital in La Habana for excellent care (and smaller international clinics elsewhere) as well as the specialty clinics and hospitals available. Visitors must pay for medicines, and these are available form farmacias internacionales - the largest is near the Cira García Hospital. (Others may require calling ahead or visiting more than one pharmacy to find the medications you need.)

robyng

There are countries that are better in terms of medical emergencies - and those that are worse. Also some in the middle.

I guess one of my main points was don't think because you're < 100 miles away from the US in Cuba that you're better off in the case of a medical emergency than you might be thousands of miles away from a first world medical country (which Cuba isn't).

As between Mexico and Cuba in terms of health care - can I pick Israel instead ?

My point honestly wasn't political - just practical. Robyn

JDiver

Mexico has some excellent medical facilities - you may not know what they are (American British Cowdray Hospital is where many English-speaking travellers begin). Cuba has some very good medical facilities, as well (foreigners especially can take advantage of the Ciro García hospital in La Habana).

For emergencies, it's more likely the nature of the emergency (as well as exactly where you are) than anything - even cities in the USA have very different response rates and resources for, e.g., heart attacks, and different survival rates. Doubt that will stop people from travelling, but if they have specific issues, they need to research where they can go and reasonably expect to get necessary help.

When was the last time you were in Cuba, and when did you personally interact with the medical specialties and clinics available in Cuba? (For me it was less than two weeks ago.) It's not the best, nor the worst, place to have to get emergency treatment. But one can use the medical system - and one can contact the United States Interests Section for assistance whether one entered via the "back door" or not. http://havana.usint.gov

carpetbagger

When american travellers are so much concerned about health issues they should never go abroad and stay in US. Very easy.

JDiver

That could be said about anyone with significant health issues; they must make informed decisions and choose how they will manage their risks.

steppie

Just go, take the Delta non-stop out of JFK on a Saturday. Only advice is not to have your passport stamp. No licence need if you go for education reasons! Been there and loved the people.

robyng

I would say if anyone anywhere is concerned about continuing important health issues that may at times put one's life at risk - e.g., some serious cardiac issues - that person should stay stay close to home. Assuming that person has a good health care support system at home.

People should also look into the medical insurance they have (or what they need to buy) when traveling abroad (regardless of what country they're from). Which I'm sure varies enormously from person to person/country to country (and is a topic best discussed in another forum). Robyn

JDiver

That's not entirely correct; please see the Americans and Cuba Travel - the Facts, Resources, Related Experiences [only] thread for specific information for American citizens or residents contemplating visiting Cuba.

And the only Delta nonstop to HAV must be a charter flight, most likely chartered by Cuba Travel Service, which is not commercially bookable via Delta (nor does it appear on its route map nor schedule).

And per my experience, I had my passport stamped - twice! - on departing the country.

SJOGuy

It's interesting that since I've been reading these threads -- I want to do a licensed trip -- that I've been getting a lot of Wiki ads here at FT and on other sites for Insight Cuba, without having looked yet at the Insight site.

JDiver

They're prescient! They're magic! It's (literally) the cookie monster. In any case, do check out the various trips and - enjoy!

robyng

At least he/she isn't getting pop-up ads for the towels he/she bought on line 2 months ago (which is what I'm getting)! Robyn

JDiver

Thanks to effective popup suppression by my browser (and add-ons are available out there) I don't get those. (I do get the regular ads using that information, however.)