INFORMATION PLEASE
 

Hello, i may be planning a trip to Cuba, and i needed to know a few things. first of all, i wanted to know how the money system works. do i bring cash, credit cards? Are there any sepcific laws i need to know about before going there? I ALSO NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS ARE FOR CUBA. thanks, Jason. ps-i am american, and plan on flying from america.

It is illegal for Americans to go to Cuba.

Well, to be honest. i am not going. I asked the question because i am doing a Social Studies prject on cuba, and i needed to know that information. can someone please help me.

The information you need is available online at:

http://travel.state.gov/cuba.html

(The US State Department Web Site)

Good luck on your report!

thank u very much

Hola jbfjammer4:
I am a Canadian who has been to Cuba many times, and I have also travelled with some of my American friends to Cuba. They did the third-country-route into Cuba by travelling through Canada.

While the US State Department website noted above will give you the official government version of American travel to Cuba, be aware that there are always two sides to every story.

For a facinating site with many many articles to read, go to the website of the National Lawyers Guild in New York City. You will find this site has a special Cuba Subcommittee that explores the governments official position, with references to how this position infringes on US citizens rights under the American Constitution. Ironically, the US government has made policies that violate the Constitution, but when a US citizen tries to mount a legal challenge and requests their "day in court" as guaranteed by your Constitution, the US Treasury Department (who enforces the travel restrictions) always backs down so as not to have a court ruling that would go against them.
Facinating stuff to read.
Here is the NLG website.

http://www.nlg.org/cuba

Good luck on your research project and I only hope that you are intellectually honest and present a balanced view on the situation.

Steve.

Steve - Considering that jbfjammer said that this was a "Social Studies" project, I am guessing that he/she is no older than 12. Go easy on a kid! :)

to original poster: don't put in your report that it's illegal for americans to travel to cuba. that's a bit incorrect. some americans can go if it's for educational or business or religious reasons, etc...the state dept. website has the exemption details.
and are you really a student or do you really work for the govt and trying to find out who's going there illegally?? LOL...as my husband would say, "stop being so paranoid!!"..but why did you feel the need to make up the traveling story?

I know an American couple who were COLD-BUSTED on the way back into the States from Cuba (via Toronto). They were picked for a random search by US Customs (you go thru Customs on the Canadian side when flying into the US from Toronto), and voila! front and center when the Customs official opened their suitcase was a box of Cuban cigars, along with dozens of t-shirts, fridge magnets, baseball jerseys, and even maracas with "CUBA" written all over them. Guess what? They were waved right through, no fine, no duties, no penalties, no nothing. While this isn't a guarantee, obviously, it does provide some anecdotal evidence of just how lenient the travel restriction to Cuba is.