Americans flouting U.S. travel ban to see "forbidden fruit" of Cuba [View All]

Source: Associated Press

Americans flouting U.S. travel ban to see "forbidden fruit" of Cuba
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/21/07
BY WILL WEISSERT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Barack Obama would lift restrictions on visits by Cuban Americans to the hemisphere's only communist country if elected president.

A growing chorus of Democratic and Republican lawmakers would go even further, loosening the U.S. embargo enough to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba.

But thousands of U.S. tourists already travel to Cuba behind Washington's back, and many say being sneaky is part of the fun.Some are scrambling to get to the island while Fidel Castro is still alive, fearing the U.S. government could scrap the travel ban once he's gone and bring profound change to Cuba.

"The fact that you're not supposed to be there, that was the top for me," said Amit, 29, a New York City native who visited Cuba in September 2006, shortly after the 81-year-old Castro fell ill and ceded power to his younger brother.



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