The Cuban Crisis

On the 3rd of June the Trump administration decided it was banning ‘people to people’ travel to Cuba as well as all cruise sailings from the U.S. This basically means that they are trying to make it as hard as possible for Americans to visit Cuba for touristic purposes. Wasting no time the ban came in to effect the day after on the 4th of June causing mayhem. Cruse lines that were already en route to Cuba had to find other ports to visit. Up to 800,000 bookings for future cruises have been affected as they also will now have to go on revised itineraries. Many people will have only booked a cruise because of the planned Cuban ports of call. This will have cost cruise lines a lot of money in compensation and administration, not to mention the disappointment for potential travellers.

 But why have they imposed the ban? Here’s what the State Department said in it’s press release:

“The United States holds the Cuban regime accountable for its repression of the Cuban people, its interference in Venezuela, and its direct role in the man-made crisis led by Nicolas Maduro.”

“Empowered by Cuba, he has created a humanitarian disaster that destabilizes the region.”

John Bolton, the White House national security adviser and one of the strongest Cuba-Venezuela hawks, said the aim was to end what the administration considers “veiled tourism” to Cuba.

“We will continue to take actions to restrict the Cuban regime’s access to US dollars,” he said on Twitter.

Currently there are 2 UK companies planning to call at Havana which are Fred Olsen and Marella. Their stops are in January and February 2020.

It seems such a shame after the Obama administration managed to achieve a softening in the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. This will cost Cuba an awful lot in loss of revenue from tourism. I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in Cuba a few years ago and am planning to re-vist in the near future. It’s a beautiful country, practically free from crime with the most wonderful people. In a selfish way I guess it’s good that the country will stay less commercialised, however for the Cuban people who are, as a nation in general incredibly poor it’s devastating.

Bad move trump!