Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Spring 2015, Vol. 41, No. 1 | Page 24

Wanna Go To Cuba?

What Do the New Cuba
Rules Mean for Vermonters?

At the outset, it is important to note that
President Obama’s December announcement and the subsequent notice of new
regulations posted on the Federal Register
do not end the Cuban Embargo. Because
of the Helms-Burton and Cuban Democracy Acts passed during the Clinton administration, President Obama’s ability to end
the embargo by executive order is severely
limited - if not proscribed by law. To that
end, in addition to announcing a normalization of diplomatic relations and a plan for
opening embassies, the new rules provide
several important and exciting new travel
and trade opportunities that Vermonters
can take advantage of.
Travel
Under the new regulations, individuals
subject to U.S. jurisdiction (U.S. citizens,
residents, and corporations) may engage
in travel-related transactions and requisite
financial transactions in Cuba if they are in
Cuba for one or more of twelve permitted travel categories.4 Those categories include: people-to-people exchanges; professional research; trips aimed at support
for the Cuban people; humanitarian projects; and the importation and export of
certain goods and services. If one is traveling pursuant to any of these categories,
that person does not need to apply for a
specific license or any sort of permission
from the U.S. government before traveling
to Cuba. So what are these different categories of legal travel?
1. People-to-People Exchanges
Whereas previous Treasury Department
rules allowed only for academic travel, the
new people-to-people travel category includes educational exchanges in Cuba that
are not for academic credit. Pursuant to
these changes, the U.S. Treasury Department now allows travel-related transactions and other transactions that are directly incident to people-to-people exchange
trips to Cuba. These trips are organized
by not-for-profit organizations and include
themed travel that ensures a full-time
schedule of educational exchange activities in Cuba.5 While it is still prohibited to
travel to Cuba for tourism, people-to-people trips may focus on any number of educational themes in Cuba. For example, organized people-to-people trips may focus
on Cuban law (think CLEs in Havana), art,
healthcare, education, agriculture, history,
dance, music, or even Ernest Hemingway.
As long as these trips ensure a full-time
schedule of educational activities, such
as museum visits, lectures, discussions, or
meetings with relevant Cuban people, your
trip is legal and requires no pre-authoriza-

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THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SPRING 2015

tion from the United Sates government.6
Indeed, Vermont organizations such as the
Cuban American Friendship Society,7 organize these trips.
2. Professional Research
While not a new category of travel, the
Treasury Department has expanded its
rules to allow for travel-related transactions
and other transactions that are directly incident to professional research in Cuba. Individuals are now permitted to travel to Cuba
to engage in research relating to that traveler’s profession, professional background,
or area of expertise.8 As with the peopleto-people trips, these trips must include a
full-time schedule while in Cuba but do not
require any specific license or pre-authorization prior to traveling to Cuba. For example, a Vermont lawyer could travel to Cuba
to do research on the Cuban legal system.
As long as that lawyer has a full-time schedule in Cuba and complies with the requirements of the professional research provisions, he or she can travel to Cuba without
applying for a license or any sort of permission from the United States government.
You could even earn CLEs doing it!
3. Support of the Cuban People
Treasury has also promulgated rules that
allow for travel-related transactions and
other transactions that are intended to provide support of the Cuban people - which
includes individuals and non-governmental
organizations that strengthen civil society
in Cuba.
4. Humanitarian Projects
Somewhat similar to “Support for the
Cuban People,” but offering more avenues for engagement, President Obama’s
changes also allow for travel-related transactions and other transactions that are related to humanitarian projects in Cuba. According to the Treasury Department, these
projects include: medical and health-related projects; constructions projects intended to benefit civil society; environmental
projects; projects involving formal and nonformal educational training; projects suitable to development of small-scale private
enterprise;9 projects related to agricultural
and rural development that promote independent activity; micro-financing projects;
and projects to meet basic human needs.
For example, suppose you were interested in traveling to Cuba to set up a microfinance program aimed at providing funds
to small businesses and new entrepreneurs
in Cuba. Micro-finance (whether you think
it is a good idea or not) constitutes a humanitarian project under the travel regulations and you would, therefore, be free to
travel to Cuba and spend money in Cuba
as necessary to facilitate that humanitarian
project.10 Or, suppose an individual wishes
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