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Eric Schmidt and Entourage Pay a Call On Cuba

Posted by timothy on from the by-the-way-we-thought-you-might-like-this dept.

VentureBeat reports that the unofficial Google ambassador to the world has made another significant visit to a place where Internet access is either forbidden or impractical for most of the citizenry; hopefully it heralds change on that front. Continuing his tour of countries with authoritarian governments and less-than-favorable Internet access, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt made a secret visit to Cuba yesterday. The U.S. government has forbidden its citizens from traveling to Cuba or spending any money within the country since cold war tensions in the 1960s. Even though the cold war is over, the ban remains in effect, which is why Schmidt’s visit is significant. Unofficially (meaning not on behalf of his company), the powerful Googler has also made controversial visits to North Korea and Myanmar to promote Internet freedom, and has previously spoken out against online censorship happening in both China and India. Schmidt, says the article, "was joined by a crew of former Google employees as well as author Jared Cohen."

35 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by LetterRip · · Score: 4, Funny

    So what are the legal consequences for this?

    Personally I'd like to visit Cuba but haven't, in part due to the illegality.

    1. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by LetterRip · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The ban has nothing to do with 'Cold War tensions' it is because Cuban immigrants to Florida hate Castro for the property that he nationalized - and pissing off those voters risk losing Florida in federal elections (and thus losing the Presidential election). Thus draconian prohibitions related to Cuba stay in place.

    2. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by nodwick · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Some types of travel to Cuba are legal. The US has been granting so-called "people-to-people" licenses to allow people to legally visit Cuba for the purposes of cultural exchange. According to the NYTimes, the visas were created by Bill Clinton in 1999, stopped being issued by Bush in 2003, and resumed being handed out in 2011 by Obama. More info from a Forbes article:

      The whole purpose, for the US government’s perspective, is to intimately experience the day-to-day lives of residents while learning about Cuban cultural, social and religious organizations firsthand. For this reason, all participants are required to adhere to the approved full-time schedule of activities – beg off to relax by the hotel pool and OFAC could pull the company’s license.

      So there are restrictions: you have to travel with a tour guide, and your trip agenda has to be filled with culturally-relevant activities rather than just random tourist stuff. It wasn't clear from TFA if Schmidt's visit was under this particular license, but his trip agenda ("to get a tour of Cuba’s University of Information Sciences in Havana and discuss life within the country") certainly sounded like it would have qualified.

    3. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      In practical terms, virtually nothing. I went for a couple weeks in the 1990's, driving to Toronto and joining a bunch of Canadian tourists on their chartered beach-vacation flight, ditching them as soon as we landed in Matanzas. The Cubans were perfectly happy to welcome a tourist with hard currency, even assenting to my friends' requests that their passports not be stamped with entry/exit visas.

      Admittedly, those were the days that you could cross the Canadian border with a US driver's license, and I was so cautious that I sent my passport back home by FedEx from the Toronto airport, but absolutely nothing came of it. I've since renewed my passport (mailing in the visa-stamped old one to the State Department) and passed a state bar background check, so at least in my case it was easy to pull off.

    4. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by mattyj · · Score: 5, Informative

      I took one of these person-to-person trips to Cuba two years ago and it was pretty awesome. It's nice to travel somewhere that hasn't been ruined by American interests yet (no Starbucks, no McDonald's, etc.) It wasn't that difficult, you can find tours through chambers of commerce or other travel groups.

      The restrictions are not extremely enforceable, but know that the Cuban government is looking after you, too. Don't make an ass of yourself while there. In any case, roving around the country in an air conditioned tour bus was quite desirable, it was hot.

      Aside from that, if you have some cultural relevance (teacher, sports figure, musician) you can go without it being a 'person-to-person' cultural exchange, I think you just have to clear it with the US Treasury. My guess is that Schmidt et al were able to do that, to spread the good word of a truly American company.

    5. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      and pissing off those voters risk losing Florida in federal elections (and thus losing the Presidential election).

      Yep, without Florida last election, Obama would have lost by -71 electoral votes. Yes, that's negativate, as in less than zero.

    6. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yep, without Florida last election, Obama would have lost by -71 electoral votes.

      In either 2000 and 2004, GWB would have lost without Florida. Florida is a big swing state.

    7. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You are missing the other half of it. The cubans that stayed, hate the cubans in Florida as much as the cubans in Florida hate the cubans that stayed.

      I was in cuba with a group of attorneys. We were at a meeting with government officials who were explaining to us the evils of the US. In the middle of it, one of the attorneys blurted out, "Some of us quit divorce work because of people like you." That sentence pretty much sums up the entire state of US/Cuban relations.

      In fact, I think the only thing holding Cuba together right now is the US government and the sanctions. The US government is the enemy the Cuban's are united against. I believe if the US were to just drop the sanctions, Cuba would fall apart pretty quickly.

      Cuba is the US's neighbor and we should try to help them. They are trying to adopt some capitalism right now, and we should be trying to help. But for Cuba to move forward in a healthy way, there first needs to be a reconciliation between the Cuban's that left and the Cuban's that stayed and then Cuba has to accept that it is a third world country. Unfortunately, Cuba is not important enough for the US to devote the resources necessary to accomplish any of the above, and Cuba has neither the resources nor the ability to accept that any of the above is necessary.

      So basically, Cuba is just F*cked and there is no easy way out for them.

    8. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Thats a crock of crap. The only countries in the embargo is the US. Even Canada and Mexico do not participate.

      The only thing if anything denying Cuba food and medicine is either corruption in Cuba or Cuba's government. The US is not the only place Cuba can get food or medicine- cold war or not.

    9. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The US send food and some medicine to Cuba. What is really stopping Cuba from having enough food and medicine is money. Cuba for the most part can't afford it. They think things cost so much because they have to import them from China and if they could import them from the US, they would be so much cheaper that they could afford them.

      I compared prices for random tools available at a government store in Cuba. The tools were virtually identical to the made in China tools available at my local Home Depot for almost the exact same price.

      Medicine is the same when the government bothers to import it. If you go to Cuba, you are requested to bring all sorts of over the counter things like aspirin and band aids. Those are the types of things that are difficult to get there.

      Someone stopped us on the street and asked us for any extra toiletries we had from our hotel. He was hoping to get some soap for his daughter. He couldn't afford to buy them on his own.

      Cuba is a third world country. The people can't afford basic necessities. The embargo isn't hurting them as much as they like to think.

      I'm sure there is corruption in the government, but it isn't obvious. It doesn't appear that government officials are living large at the expense of the people. It just looks like the current economy can't support the entire population in a reasonable manner.

    10. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by cold+fjord · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are missing the other half of it. The cubans that stayed, hate the cubans in Florida as much as the cubans in Florida hate the cubans that stayed.

      Many of the Cubans in Cuba want to join the Cubans in Florida, thousands of them try every year. The Cubans in Florida don't hate the Cubans in Cuba, they are opposed to the communist government that is oppressing their friends and family back in Cuba.

      The easiest way out for Cuba is to turn away from Communism. It is one of the last hold-outs on the planet in inflicting that failed system on its people. Activists in Cuba support the continuance of the embargo.

      The Time to Help Cuba’s Brave Dissidents Is Now: Why the Embargo Must Not be Lifted

      Another brave group of Cuban opponents of the regime has actually taped a television interview filmed illegally in Havana. “Young Cuban democracy leader Antonio Rodiles,” an American support group called Capitol Hill Cubans has reported, “has just released the latest episode of his civil society project Estado de Sats (filmed within Cuba), where he discusses the importance U.S. sanctions policy with two of Cuba’s most renowned opposition activists and former political prisoners, Guillermo Fariñas and Jose Daniel Ferrer.”

      The argument they present is aimed directly at those on the left in the United States, some of whom think they are helping democracy in Cuba by calling for an end to the embargo. In strong and clear language, the two dissidents say the following:

      If at this time, the [economic] need of the Cuban government is satisfied through financial credits and the lifting of the embargo, repression would increase, it would allow for a continuation of the Castro’s society, totalitarianism would strengthen its hold and philosophically, it would just be immoral If you did an opinion poll among Cuban opposition activists, the majority would be in favor of not lifting the embargo.

      Next, they nail the claim that travel without restrictions by citizens of our country to Cuba would help spread freedom. The men respond:

      In a cost-benefit analysis, travel to Cuba by Americans would be of greatest benefit to the Castro regime, while the Cuban people would be the least to benefit. With all of the controls and the totalitarian system of the government, it would be perfectly able to control such travel.

      We know this, as I reported a few months ago, about how a group of Americans taking the usual state-controlled Potemkin village tour came back raving about how wonderful and free Cuba is, and how Cuban socialism works.

      Finally, the two former prisoners made this point about lifting the embargo:

      To lift the embargo at this time would be very prejudicial to us. The government prioritizes all of the institutions that guarantee its hold on power. The regime’s political police and its jailers receive a much higher salary and privileges than a doctor or engineer, or than any other worker that benefits society. We’ve all seen municipalities with no fuel for an ambulance, yet with 10, 15, 20, 50 cars full of fuel ready to go repress peaceful human rights activists.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    11. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You are fucking retarded. NO ONE will do business with Cuba, because of the embargo (that'd be like killing their own business). The embargo means that no one that does business with the US can do business with Cuba.

    12. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by pr0sp3r0 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      When I was in Santiago I frequented a little coffee joint called El Combate. Absolutely delicious coffee, and shockingly cheap. Fuck Starbucks. Cuba not being covered by Coca Cola signs and other ads was like a breath of fresh air. Not saying Cuba's all hunky-dory, but there are some wonderful things about it that dropping the embargo would likely change for the worse.

    13. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by mtthwbrnd · · Score: 2

      Well its like this. Eric is rich and works for Google, which like Facebook is most likely a CIA front for gathering information ready for the big purge. So what are the legal consequences of this visit for Eric? Well, er, none. Most likely the CIA would love to get plenty of data on Cubans, promote pornography, homosexuality, general deviancy, "democracy" (so that every four years they can vote for one of two puppets who have both pledged their alleigence to Israel and be happy under the illusion that they had a choice). Before you know it Cuba will be flooded with immigrants from India, China and Africa and all of the Cubans will be happy that they have been diversified out of existence.

      But if YOU did it. Well you will be in big trouble bucko! So don't!

    14. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by sumdumass · · Score: 2

      Stop being an idiot. The blockade on Cuba ended in the 1960s and yhe embargo only effect US companies, their forrign subsidiaries, and imports from Cuba to the US. Cuba has been a member of the WTO since 1995.

      Most of south america, central america, Russia, china, Europe, and Canada does business with Cuba. The only thing the US embargo hurts is US businesses and to a lesser extent US farmers who could ship more product cheaper to cuba than other places in the world. We do already ship food to cuba.

    15. Re:So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by jodido · · Score: 2

      This is a myth. The majority of Cubans in Florida are against the US blockade of Cuba (what the US calls "embargo") and for free travel to Cuba.
      http://cocodriloazul.bloguea.c...
      https://cri.fiu.edu/research/c...
      miami.cbslocal.com/2014/06/18/fiu-poll-shows-shifting-attitudes-among-cuban-americans/

    16. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm a cuban living in Cuba (not a cuban-american). There is a mistake in your reasoning. Cuba, unlike the much of rest of the world, isn't allowed to borrow money from banks that have any (In practical terms) relations with US banks (or banks owned by US Banks), or banks that who's business is bigger with the US than with little Cuba. So Cuba has to buy "with cash in hand" in most cases -unlike the rest of the third world-. Many times in secret, to avoid any fears of retaliation -sorry for my bad English I know that is not the right word, but I don't remember any better right now- to the other part of the transaction. When I said "retaliation" I mean lost business with US enterprises due to the embargo... Multiply that by EVERY enterprise that has ANY US interest... Now you are getting the picture. And yes, there is corruption in the goverment, but small time, comparatively speaking. (Some "juniors" in mexico/colombia/etc. live much much better than ANY official in the cuban goverment)

    17. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by sumdumass · · Score: 2

      There has been absolutely no incidents i can find to suggest that would be true. Furthermore, it would be against WTO rules if it were to happen.

      So what company/country does business with cuba that the US has punished. And might i remind you that Canada and Mexico do business with Cuba.

      There simply is no truth to what you say.

    18. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by mariox19 · · Score: 2

      So, what! The Cubans can just put the resources of their mighty socialist republic to work and manufacture all the food and medicine the people need. Isn't that the way it works?

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

    19. Re: So will he go to jail upon return to the US? by mariox19 · · Score: 2

      What's stopping them is socialism.

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

  2. Bad summary by bananaquackmoo · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is NOT impossible to LEGALLY visit Cuba. My friend did it in a study abroad program during college in the US. That said, they don't make it easy.

    1. Re:Bad summary by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, a lot of people just go through an intermediary country. Book a flight to Mexico City, then from Mexico City to Cuba. The Cuban customs will even give you the "stamp" on a piece of paper they staple on your passport. After you leave you can rip it out and the US government never needs know.

      Why you would do this when visas are still available is beyond me, but people do do it.

  3. I live in Canada by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We go there for vacation whenever the fuck we want. Americans need to get fucking clue and get over themselves. It's just fucking Cuba. No big deal. America has relations with China, and they've executed WAY more political prisoners than Cuba has, and you;re probably reading this on a Chinese built computer. So bag the anti-communist BS and grow up.

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
    1. Re:I live in Canada by binarylarry · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think it raises the question, is he really Canadian?

      --
      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
    2. Re:I live in Canada by mattyj · · Score: 2

      The issue with the US government is really communism, read up on your American history a little bit before posting stupid crap like this.

      Granted, by this time it's more of a grudge than anything. BTW, China has a lot more at stake when it comes to the US, like carrying a significant amount of our debt and as you so eloquently explain, importing every manner of toy and electronic device. It behooves the US to allow travel there. It has nothing to do with communism but everything to do with commerce. Cube doesn't have as much to offer the government.

      Having been to Cuba, I kinda fear what would happen if the US had unfettered access to the country. Despite all its problems, it's largely untouched by US interests, and that was refreshing. I don't even think Cuba has the concept of a franchise, except maybe when it comes to gas stations. There's no such thing as a 'chain' there, everything is one-off. Although, for some reason you can get M&M's and Pringles. Other than that, you're forced to go native and it was pretty great.

    3. Re:I live in Canada by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, American media, particularly media from Miami, could not possibly be biased about Cuba.

    4. Re:I live in Canada by cold+fjord · · Score: 3, Interesting

      stations. There's no such thing as a 'chain' there, everything is one-off. Although, for some reason you can get M&M's and Pringles. Other than that, you're forced to go native and it was pretty great.

      It is a lot less great if you live there. That is why they flee by the thousands, or tens of thousands, when they get a chance.

      Fifty years later, Cubans still are fleeing the revolution

      The Lost World, Part I

      I’m used to seeing military and police checkpoints when I travel abroad. Every country in the Middle East has them, including Israel if you count the one outside the airport. The authorities in that part of the world are looking for guns and bombs mostly. The Cuban authorities aren’t worried about weapons. No one but the regime has anything deadlier than a baseball bat.

      Castro’s checkpoints are there to ensure nobody has too much or the wrong kind of food.

      Police officers pull over cars and search the trunk for meat, lobsters, and shrimp. They also search passenger bags on city busses in Havana. Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote about it sarcastically in her book, Havana Real. “Buses are stopped in the middle of the street and bags inspected to see if we are carrying some cheese, a lobster, or some dangerous shrimp hidden among our personal belongings.”

      If they find a side of beef in the trunk, so I’m told, you’ll go to prison for five years if you tell the police where you got it and ten years if you don’t.

      No one is allowed to have lobsters in Cuba. You can’t buy them in stores, and they sure as hell aren’t available on anyone’s ration card. They’re strictly reserved for tourist restaurants owned by the state.

      The Lost World, Part II

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    5. Re:I live in Canada by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Interesting

      At this point, it has very little to do with communism. Florida is a big primary state and a big electoral state. Florida has a lot of Cuban-americans who would prefer we invade the island. They have traditionally fiercely opposed lifting the sanctions. Evidently this isn't as true as it was. Still, outside of cuban americans, not many people care one way or the other.

      Thus, politicians gain very little and risk quite a bit by opposing the sanctions.

      And yes, it is fucking stupid on multiple levels: it was probably always counter-productive, political leaders should show some fucking backbone and end it, citizens shouldn't be so apathetic about keeping an entire nation impoverished, and why is florida even allowed to vote?

      But, dumb as all that is, "we still hate communism" is not a big reason why we still have sanctions.

  4. Not quite by WaffleMonster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Restrictions are on commerce not travel.

    You can go there as long as you don't spend any money.

  5. America the free lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Funny how they act that Cuba is soo taboo. Personally I been to Cuba 8 times already. Nicest beaches i have ever seen, and everything is pretty cheap there (except Havana), relatively safe and nice people. Also met a few Americans going through Canada.

  6. flat out wrong by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    All Americans can travel to Cuba.
    There are constraints and restrictions, but they're mostly bureaucratic and pretty much trivial.

    --
    -Styopa
  7. Re:Good luck with that ... by Patent+Lover · · Score: 3

    Cuba's only #7. Guess who's tied for #1? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  8. Re:Good luck with that ... by Patent+Lover · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No, they go to jail for being black in a black neighborhood. When was the last time you were stopped and frisked while walking down the street?

  9. Re:Good luck with that ... by donscarletti · · Score: 2

    So Cubans are oppressed but Americans deserve to be punished?

    Man, you should be writing speeches for anti-American demagogues the world over (apart from Raul Castro of course).

    Also, lots of blacks in Cuba. Cuban censuses distinguish "negro" from "mullato", whereas they are all called "black" in the US, but put them together and the numbers are much higher in Cuba. So your little eugenic theories below don't even work.

    --
    When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
  10. Fiber by Miamicanes · · Score: 2

    If there's a god, Raul Castro will announce on Monday that within 5 years, 80% of the Havana metro area will have gigabit fiber to the premises. The announcement will drive our elected officials in South Florida mad, and they'll quickly decide that getting TEN-gigabit municipal FTTP laid across Dade & Broward counties is their #1 priority...