“We can’t change Cuban law but we can educate and talk to our businesses here in the U.S.to make sure these changes are equitable and that the people of Cuba get to participate down the long run”, Blanco said. “I wanted to go back to see my native country and share its culture with a surprise trip with my children, but Carnival will not allow my Cuban-born daughter and me to go on its ship”.
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“This is a clear case of a Cuban law, that once imposed on Cubans in the USA, carries another dimension, and that is discriminatory on the basis of national origin”, said Torres.
“I would counsel them that they need to be sensitive to the fact of discrimination”, Kerry told WPLG, “and they should not embrace a policy that is Cuban which winds up discriminating against Americans”. Carnival’s Fathom small ship line is the first cruise ship company to be granted federal approval for round-trip travel between the United States and multiple destinations in Cuba.
Kerry stopped short of saying Carnival should cancel its planned route to Cuba, but said “Carnival needs to not discriminate”. The lawsuit alleges that Fathom’s decision, though it is due to Cuban law, is a violation of the Civil Rights Act. “And the Cuban government should not have the right to enforce on us a policy of discrimination against people who have the right to travel”, Kerry said during an interview with the Miami Herald and CNN en Espanol in Miami.
The policy has led at least one cruise line to deny tickets to Cuban-Americans.
This week Cuban-Americans here in South Florida have protested against a Cuban law that bars them from entering Cuba by ship.
“He’s trying to do the best he can to change the minds of the Cuban government, and I think he’s very honest about it”, Gimenez said of his conversation with Arison.
“They are imposing Cuban repressive laws on United States citizens”, said Maria de los Angeles Torres, University of IL at Chicago Professor of Latin American Studies.
Gimenez did not say if he would block Carnival from using PortMiami for the upcoming cruise.
“This is not a decision by our Fathom brand, but rather a Cuba decision”, Carnival Communications Officer Roger Frizzell told the New York Times.
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Carnival said it has asked the communist country to change its policy. “It is our hope and intention that everyone can travel and we will continue to pursue a change in the regulation that puts cruising on the same footing as aircraft travel is today in Cuba”.
