Published: Saturday, July 25, 2009
Cuba activist can’t get arrested
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Associated Press
U.S. citizen Mytchel Mora speaks with a reporter in Havana, Cuba, on Monday.
LOS ANGELES — A U.S. citizen trying to challenge the ban on travel to Cuba on Friday bemoaned his inability to get arrested or cited — even after having his passport stamped in Havana and bringing back Cuban memorabilia.
Mytchell Mora, a 39-year-old freelance entertainment news producer, said he told U.S. customs officials he broke the law after flying through Costa Rica home to Los Angeles on Friday.
Officials punched some information about him into a computer and sent him home without punishment, Mora said. They didn’t even confiscate his Cuban T-shirt or postcards.
“I am just so surprised nothing happened to me,” said Mora, who lives in West Hollywood. “What can you really do when you’re saying, ‘take me to jail or give me a ticket,’ and they do nothing to you?”
Most Americans who travel to Cuba do so on the sly, sneaking in and back without permission from U.S. authorities.
But Mora is trying to make a point, hoping to get arrested or cited after his fourth trip to Cuba so he could challenge the country’s travel ban, which he says discriminates against anyone who isn’t Cuban-American and punishes Cuba’s people, not its government.
Mora said he hopes he may still be cited so he can challenge the policy in U.S. courts.
Mytchell Mora, a 39-year-old freelance entertainment news producer, said he told U.S. customs officials he broke the law after flying through Costa Rica home to Los Angeles on Friday.
Officials punched some information about him into a computer and sent him home without punishment, Mora said. They didn’t even confiscate his Cuban T-shirt or postcards.
“I am just so surprised nothing happened to me,” said Mora, who lives in West Hollywood. “What can you really do when you’re saying, ‘take me to jail or give me a ticket,’ and they do nothing to you?”
Most Americans who travel to Cuba do so on the sly, sneaking in and back without permission from U.S. authorities.
But Mora is trying to make a point, hoping to get arrested or cited after his fourth trip to Cuba so he could challenge the country’s travel ban, which he says discriminates against anyone who isn’t Cuban-American and punishes Cuba’s people, not its government.
Mora said he hopes he may still be cited so he can challenge the policy in U.S. courts.
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