It's funny what you don't think about because it is impossible. Not fantasies like opening your door to find Britney Spears and Kristy Swanson bearing Victoria's Secret's new fall line, but rather, fantasies of a Spring Break vacation to Cuba, instead of Cancun or Acapulco.
Hidden by history in the late '50s and early '60s, UW-Madison was a Mecca for U.S. support of the Cuban Revolution, led by the Student Council Fair Play for Cuba Committee. In 1961, it sponsored a Christmas Tour urging students to plan a low-cost vacation to Cuba. The trips promised not only fun and adventure, but an opportunity to witness the ongoing revolution.
But it's not 1961. It's 2002. The United States, leader of the free world, won the Cold War. We have entered an era of an integrated global community bound by trade, ideology and the Internet. Ideally, through the exchange of ideas, citizens of the world will prosper together.
Pressing his case against Iraq, President Bush ended his Oct. 7 speech, \By our actions, we will secure the peace and lead the world to a better day."" So take action. Lead the world to a better day. Use the Internet and tap into our global community. But if you go to Expedia.com and prepare an itinerary from Madison to Havana, you receive the following error, ""Expedia.com is legally prohibited from selling tickets to one or more of the destinations you have chosen. Please select a different destination.""
It will take you three stops but you can fly to known terrorist haven Yemen for $4,714, or if you prefer, Tehan, Iran for a bargain $1,771. You can purchase your exotic vacation directly over the Internet, but do not dare attempt a trip to our neighbor 90 miles south of Key West.
Cited after the Sept. 11 attacks as a terrorist threat, the ""Cuba Consular Information Sheet"" identifies Cuba as ""a developing country with a totalitarian, communist government."" Travel to Cuba is regulated in part, by the Treasury Department and ""failure to comply with Department of Treasury regulations may result in civil penalties and criminal prosecution upon return to the United States.""
I was fortunate to travel to Cuba and eight other countries last spring via an exchange program, an exception to the embargo. I stayed in Cuba for three sunny days. Castro invited our program to a diplomatic auditorium delivering a five-hour speech followed by a reception of food, drinks and music. At the reception a giant poster loomed over the crowd: ""Sembra ideas y no oido."" Share ideas and don't hate. Admittedly, Castro's regime is a well-oiled propaganda machine, but my judgment of the country is not based on his performance.
The people there are wonderful. I drank with students from the University of Havana, who after a couple beers start to speak against Castro. We walked the streets of the city receiving nothing but smiles. The Cubans are educated with an exceptional literacy rate, yet have nothing because of the embargo.
Americans don't know this because they are not allowed. Our government prohibits our travel, education and mission of freedom. A war in Iraq may be necessary for the security of the free world. The evidence is so vague I do not know on which side of the line to stand. But I do know that when I left Cuba I had instilled a sense of hope in some Cuban friends by not only discussing world politics but by talking about Michael Jordan and sharing the differences between Cuban and American women.
Vietnam and India were no different, but Expedia lets you book flights to get there so they do not get press. However, everywhere we went, we engaged in conversation of American democracy with citizens of the world. One by one we won the hearts of many even in the core of the Muslim world. We did this without a sense of hostility in either direction.
I do not have the intelligence reports on Iraq gathered by the president, but if I could choose, I would send thousands of Americans to Cuba.
