Photo by ivanmarn. Courtesy of Stock.xchng
For the last six years, I’ve listened to my wife lament (and gloat) about her trip to Havana in 2003. At the time, she only gained access to the country for educational purposes—she traveled with a group studying Cuban salsa dancing.
Since then, the American door to Cuba has been tightly locked. Upon return from a 2006 trip through México, Belize and Guatemala, the U.S. Customs officer only interrogated me and my wife about Cuba:
Did you travel to Cuba during your trip?
No.
Did you purchase any Cuban products?
I drank some Cuban rum on my wife’s birthday.
Are you carrying Cuban products now?
No.
Are you sure you didn’t go to Cuba?
As promised in his campaign, however, The New York Times reports that “President Obama plans to abandon longstanding restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba.” The article goes on to explain:
The House and Senate are considering legislation that would go even further than the administration and allow all Americans unlimited travel to Cuba.
Get on your dancing shoes, honey, it’s almost time to go.
[...] Club rum, which is from Cuba and which is currently illegal to import into the United States, as the customs officer on my honeymoon made perfectly clear. My wife, however, purchased this rum on a trip several years ago, when doing so was still allowed. [...]