In another major change in Cuba, the Cuban government has lifted unpopular restrictions on its citizens who wish to travel abroad.

Cubans were thrilled to learn last week that cumbersome, bureaucratic hurdles to travel will be scrapped for most travelers starting January 14th 2013. A note in the island’s Granma newspaper announced that the much reviled “carta blanca” or “white card” and exit visa will no longer be required for travel abroad.

All most Cuban travelers will need is an updated passport and a visa for the country to which they will travel, if one is required.

For many years Cubans have loudly complained about the costly requirement of securing a letter of invitation from the country to which they were traveling as well as a “permiso de salida” from Cuban Immigration that cost some $170.00 USD, about what the average Cuban earns in six months.

Obtaining the expensive documents also required multiple visits to banks and government agencies where the long lines often meant hours of waiting.

Another important change announced, was that Cubans may now stay abroad for 24 months without giving up their property and other rights in Cuba. They can also apply for longer stays if necessary. Previously, they were only allowed to stay outside the country for 11 months without sacrificing those rights.

Though the liberalization of travel restrictions will affect most Cubans, the announcement noted that Havana reserves the right to restrict the travel of some individuals for national security reasons and to prevent the loss of qualified professionals needed by the country.

Since the island boasts one of the finest education systems in Latin America, it has produced many qualified professionals over the years and has grappled with how to prevent the”brain drain” that is plaguing the developing world.

Photo Credit Global Exchange

Another obstacle that potential Cuban tourists and travelers will face is the difficulty in obtaining entry visas to industrialized nations like the United States, since the great majority are poor compared to those in developed countries.

One of the many contradictions of US policy concerning Cuba, is the “wet foot, dry foot” prevision under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. That gives any Cuban citizen who manages to get to US territory the right to permanent residence in the United States. At the same time, the US State Department regularly denies Cubans on the island permission to travel legally to the United States, which prompts many to attempt to make the dangerous journey to the United States by sea, or by other illegal means.

We will have to wait until the new policy goes into effect next year to see exactly how this exciting change in the island’s immigration policy will affect the majority of its citizens.

TAKE ACTION!

For more information on the work of Global Exchange in Cuba and to learn how you may qualify to travel to Cuba please give us a call (415-255-7296 ext. 211) or email drea@globalexchange.org.

Cuban kitty has her eyes on you

*See below under “Take Action” for update added on 1/18/2012.

Walking along the bustling streets of Havana, you hear a tiny cry.  It’s repeated. You look down to see a tiny yellow kitten with newly opened eyes staring up.  As the animal focuses on you, its pitiful meows become more insistent…..it needs you.

Though Cuba provides full health care free-of-charge to its citizens and low cost pet assistance, the situation of stray cats and dogs has gotten out of control in recent years due to hard economic times and perhaps a strong dose of “machismo” which keeps some animal owners from neutering their pets.

Human and feline Cubans

Cuban veterinarians and animal lovers are working hard to do something about the very visible and heartbreaking problem. Joining them are their colleagues and supporters from other countries. Emma Clifford of the US group Animal Balance is working with a Canadian group to support a project to neuter stray cats in the highly populated  “Old Havana” neighborhood.

Emma Clifford, Founder and Director of Animal Balance shares her story in this Global Exchange exclusive:

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Caring for Cuba’s Cats

Cuban woman with cat is all smiles

Cuba’s cat and dog populations have a champion in Terry Shewchuk of the Canadian organization The Spanky Project. Like most countries, the Cuban cats and dogs have done a great job at finding food and increasing their populations, alongside the increasing number of humans.

Terry recognized that the animals and communities where they live needed some help so he formed The Spanky Project, named after his beloved dog.  That was 8 years ago, and now Terry is working with Cuban NGOs Sociedad Patrimonio, Comunidad y Medio Ambiente and Consejo Cientifico Veterinario de Cuba to organize free sterilization and deparatization (treatment for parasites) programs for the animals.

Emma Clifford (front) and Terry Shewchuk (back) working to help animals in Cuba

Two years ago I contacted Terry Shewchuk of The Spanky Project to ask if they would like some assistance with their spay and neuter efforts in Havana, Cuba. Terry kindly invited myself and Dr. Byron Maas to volunteer for The Spanky Project this past September on their sterilization campaign. Our goal was to assess the current situation, meet his Cuban partners and ascertain how Animal Balance could best assist his organizations existing efforts.

Terry took us ‘on tour’ of the beautiful city of Havana and what we immediately noticed was that there were cats hanging out in the sun, grouped in various locations around the city. At dusk we saw even more and we quickly realized that due to Terry’s amazing work to stabilize the dog population, the cats had now become more visible.

Man and dog cruising Cuba

The Spanky Project and its partners have sterilized 80% of the dogs in Old Havana. Most animal population specialists will tell you that one has to sterilize 70% of any given animal population to see stabilization and then natural decline of that population.  It was clear to us that The Spanky Project‘s dog sterilization had achieved its objective.

Cuban kitty lazing about

So, with cats lazing around us, we talked about the possibility of my organization, Animal Balance, assisting The Spanky Project with a trap, neuter and return program for Havana’s beautiful cat population. That way the cats would be sterilized, treated for parasites and vaccinated against disease and then returned to where they live. The cats could live out the rest of their lives healthy and safe.

Cats and people in Cuba

Now we are making plans and Animal Balance will visit Havana with The Spanky Project in February 2012 to get everything organized with the cat’s caretakers. Then in May they will safely and humanely trap their cats, bring them to our clinic and after they have fully recovered, be returned to where they live. We will do this in conjunction with Clinica Veterinaria Laika and the Agrarian University’s Veterinary School.

The cats and dogs of Havana will be healthy and their populations will be controlled. This will be the first time that a trap, neuter and return program will have been attempted in Cuba. We are now working to find ways to transport the humane feral cat traps to Cuba. This is something that you can help us with. They are crucial in order for this program to be successful. The traps weighs 4lbs and their dimensions are 32” L x 10”W x 12” H. If you can help take a cat trap to Cuba, please contact Clifford@animalbalance.org.

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TAKE ACTION!

To find out more about the Spanky Project, please visit www.spankyproject.blogspot.com.
To find out more about Animal Balance, please visit www.animalbalance.net.

(Added 1/18/2012) Learn about another animal rescue organization called APAC-Varadero Canadian Branch, also doing great work to help animals in Cuba. Visit their Facebook page.

Travel to Cuba to see for yourself! Global Exchange invites you to visit Cuba on one of our Reality Tour trips.  You will  have the opportunity to meet Cubans doing various types of social justice work. Here are two upcoming trips to check out:

Health and Healing in Cuba 
Dates: March 2, 2012 – March 11, 2012
For over twenty years, Global Exchange has organized these tours to study Cuba’s internationally lauded health care system, which has been providing high quality, free universal health care to its 11,000,000 citizens for fifty years. See what Cuba is doing right!
Program Highlights may include:

• City Tour of Havana
• Hospital visit
• Ministry of Public Health representative
• Family Doctor Clinic
• Senior Center
• Society of Social Workers
• Center for children with special needs

Learn more: complete details about this trip here.

Public Education – A Legacy of Literacy and Learning
Dates: March 23, 2012 – April 1, 2012
In 2005, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released its Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report, that specifically focuses on elevating the quality of education for all children, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, by the year 2015. Cuba is singled out in the report as a high-performance country and role model to follow in terms of the quality of its educational system. Come see for yourself!
Program Highlights may include:

• City tour
• Literacy Museum, Museum of the Revolution
• Ministry of Education
• Special Education School
• School for the Arts
• Latin American School of Medicine
• Intentional Community, Las Terrazas
• Provincial community education project

Learn more: complete details about this trip here.

The following was sent out to our Reality Tours email list today. Sign up here to receive this free monthly email update filled with past trip participant experiences and upcoming opportunities to travel with Global Exchange, plus a whole lot more.

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This Thanksgiving, we at Global Exchange are giving thanks to our members, supporters and leaders in our movement for social, economic and political justice.

We are thankful to all of you who have traveled on a Reality Tour – you met the people, learned the facts and you make a difference.

Below we’ve profiled Bill Patterson who learned about Cuba, traveled with us on a Reality Tour and continues to make a difference by supporting our work. We’re also hard at work planning an amazing Reality Tour to Cuba for New Years. We have over 40 people signed up. We warmly invite you to register as soon as possible.
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When Bill Patterson happened across a book about Cuba over a decade ago, he had no idea it would change his worldview forever. The book’s author happened to share his last name, except the author’s last name had one ‘t’ instead of two. He picked it up and started reading.

From this initial chance encounter, Bill’s interest in Cuba grew, and he started absorbing whatever he could about the small Caribbean nation, from books to magazines articles. He was struck by the contrast between U.S. propaganda and reality, shocked by statistics about the pre-revolution lives of Cuba’s citizens: 3 million people without any electricity, 39% illiteracy, 50% unemployment, 80% of the best property owned or controlled by U.S. interests. He read more about the embargo and the other long term destabilization efforts of the U.S. against the Castro government.

After finding this new information about Cuba, the conclusions were inescapable.

“If you are concerned about Cuba, you know that our country is pretty shameful… I read a great deal about Cuba, and our conduct is really beneath our stature,” Bill said.

Cuban farmer working the field

Reading is one thing. But seeing is another. And Bill knew that the only way to get the real scoop on Cuba would be to go there.

In a country suffering under decades-long travel ban imposed by Washington, this was easier said than done. He eventually settled on a Global Exchange Reality Tour as the best way to make it happen. In the spring of 1999, he began making arrangements to travel where few Americans have. And in June of that year, he found himself stepping off of an airplane in Havana.

While there, he was able to see for himself, without the biased filter of the US press, how Cuba’s people lived and to hear about both their challenges and their triumphs. He also witnessed their vibrant cultural and social life. The experience was a game changer for Bill.

He liked it so much that he did it again the next year.

Since he first traveled with Global Exchange, Bill’s become a solid supporter, giving every month as a member of Global Exchange Monthly Supporters (GEMS) program. Like us, Bill sees the great value in building people-to-people ties, and he feels pretty confident that he’s putting his money in the right place.

“You do things so well, and you’re so disciplined, it’s quite easy to be comfortable.”

Support from our members like Bill makes our work possible. We sure are glad he happened across that book.

We hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

~Leslie Balog
Cuba Reality Tours Director

P.S. Who else are we thanking? Read Gratitude to All Those Who Have Stood Up to Resist Injustice and find out!