Cuban Crew Members
Wishing Air Canada Bought Pullmantur Cruises
October 12 ,2007
There has been much talk for years about the cruise lines having ships home based in American cities, even calling themselves American corporations, and yet not having to abide by American law while at sea.
This has never been more visual than in recent congressional hearings, where the cruise industry made a voluntary agreement to notify the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation when any serious crime is committed on a cruise ship, anywhere in the world, if an American is involved in the crime, either as victim or as a suspect.
The reason the agreement is "voluntary" is because the cruise lines and their ships are registered in foregin lands. Save a handful of ships, none are actually registered in the U.S. This allows the ships to travel the seas without official intervention by American authorities.
There are some minor exceptions. Ships that call in an American port, irregardless of where they are registered or home based must be inspected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for sanitation and safety practices, if they call in a U.S. port.
Once in a U.S. port, they can be boarded and inspected by any level of U.S. law enforcement with the same rights all other countries enjoy for ships within their waters.
While the cruise lines legally claim they do not have to abide by any American law while in international waters, only the law of the country they are registered in, they can not skirt all American laws.
The Helms-Burton Act named after two republican congressmen Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Dan Burton of Indiana was passed by congress on March 12, 1996 by the 104th United States Congress, and covers the embargo of Cuba.
The important sector of this act is any non-US company that deals economically with Cuba can be subjected to fines and criminal prosecution and that company can be barred from doing business in the United States, as well as the business owners themselves bared from entry into the U.S.
This is where the cruise industry comes in. The major cruise lines, with ships calling in American ports, are prohibited from sailing to Cuba from the U.S., but also are prohibited from sailing to Cuba from any and all other countries
as well, even if the specific ship has no U.S ports of call throughout the year and is registered in a foreign land such as the Bahamas, Bermuda, Liberia or the UK.
Ships registered in non-U.S. countries could hire Cubans and in fact sail to Cuba, as long as they had no business with the U.S. Such was the case with Pullmantur Cruises up until August 2006 when the line was bought by Royal Caribbean International (RCI).
The purchase agreement included language that Pulmantur would have to fire all Cubans onboard, even those on ships that never called in U.S. ports, prior to RCI taking possession. The burden of discrimination was not taken by RCI, but instead by Pulmantur.
Pulmantur disagreed with the policy, and told employees being fired that it was an act of discrimination, and they totally disgreed with it. Still, the crew members were removed from the ships.
Clearly, the U.S., if they desire to do so, can regulate any foreign corporations if they chose to do so, at least in theory. Compliancy enforcement though is an issue of reality.
The Helms-Burton Act angered some foreign corporations, at the thought they could be told how to run their business by a country that had no jurisdiction over their operations. They pushed for nations to protect their rights, and numerous nations raced to write legislation including the United Kingdom where travel to cuba is common.
Mexico passed their own law on October 23, 1996, the Law of Protection of Commerce and Investments from Foreign Policies that Contravene International Law, with a fine of 2.2 million pesos, against anyone who while in Mexican territory obeys another country's laws aimed at reducing Mexican trade or foreign investment in a third country.
Canada was enraged that the U.S. would dictate to them, and amended legislation they had in the Foreign Extraterri torial Measures Act. The language says, "7.1 Any judgment given under the law of the United States entitled Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 shall not be recognized or enforceable in any manner in Canada."
The Canadian corporaton Sherritt Mining Company, one of many Canadian corporations in Cuba, runs a nickel mine and smelter in Cuba. It is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It is unknown how many Americans may own stock in Sherritt or any of their divisions or which American companies import products made with Sherritt metals, all of which would indirectly support the economy of Cuba, and violate Helms-Burton. But, nobody looks that deep, because it opens up another can of worms in the troubled relationship between Canada and the U.S. Secrets are so well hidden, that press releases of Canadian businesses operating in Cuba carry the following warning:
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE. SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
As well, Canadians choose Cuba as their favorite winter snow bird destination. Canadians are the #1 nation of tourists to visit Cuba. The island is also popular with UK residents and other British Common Wealths, who generally think alike when it comes to foreign relations.
Air Canada noted today, flies to five Cuban cities around the year from Toronto alone, and they do so flying over U.S. airspace taking Canadians there for holidays.
Air Cubana, a Cuban government owned airline also flies over U.S. airspace on their way to Canada, flying over Georgia, the western Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York. They pay the U.S. fees to do so.
On the flip side, the U.S. also flies over Cuba on the way to other Caribbean nations, and they pay a fee to Cuba to do so. So much for an embargo and ensuring the money supply is cut off to Cuba. It flows freely to Castro.
