Reconsider trip to Cuba

Though many imagine travel to be an opportunity to explore a country, the sad fact of the matter is that travelers in Cuba are some of the least-connected people on the island. Travelers often stay in beach resorts and tourist areas – choice jobs for those most loyal to the Castro regime. Contact with Cubans who do not work in the tourism industry is often monitored and controlled.

The weekly repression of the members of Las Damas de Blanco (the Ladies in White), a group of women who march peacefully and silently in protest of the regime for arresting and jailing political prisoners, should give anyone pause before booking a cruise to Havana. If Florida is truly to lead in the 21st century, we must stand for what is right, not what is popular.

Many Floridians might have dreamed of traveling to Cuba or have begun to wonder what exciting investment opportunities await. However, it is the wrong time for Floridians, and indeed any American, to travel in Cuba. Sadly, Cuba’s failed economy is controlled by the military, with an almost non-existent court system, and a track record of fleecing those with whom it trades.

A quick infusion of Floridian cash through tourism or any other method of trade would only perpetuate a hostile environment for American business owners and empower a deplorable violator of human rights only 90 miles from our shores. Fernando Dominicis Melbourne