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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/5/28/164801.shtml?s=ic
Cigar Aficionado Slams U.S. Policy on Cuba
Cigar Aficionado, the glossy magazine for lovers of expensive cigars,
criticized the U.S. Treasury Department for continuing to spend federal
funds chasing people for buying Cuban cigars.
"Stop wasting our time and money chasing cigar smokers," the magazine said
in an editorial in its June issue, which is dedicated to Cuba as it
approaches the post-Castro era.
The premium cigars hand-rolled in Cuba are considered the world's finest,
but they are banned in the United States under a trade embargo adopted in
1962 to undermine Cuban leader Fidel Castro's communist government.
New York-based Cigar Aficionado said American agribusiness companies sell
millions of dollars a year in food to Cuba, while momentum is growing to
allow U.S. oil companies to get involved in oil exploration in Cuba's Gulf
of Mexico waters.
"Yet if you buy a Cuban cigar, you may end up in jail," it said. "Something
is wrong with our government priorities here."
Cigar Aficionado, which put Castro on the cover of a 1999 issue that
advocated lifting sanctions against Cuba, said U.S. policy has failed to
produce change in Cuba in 45 years. "Isn't it time we tried something new?"
the magazine asked.
Its June issue, headlined "Cuba Tomorrow," focuses on changes on the island
nation since the 80-year-old Castro ceded power to his brother Raul after
emergency intestinal surgery 10 months ago and dropped out of sight.
When its previous issue on Cuba appeared in 1999, officials in Miami, a
bastion of anti-Castro sentiment among Cuban exiles, pulled the magazine
from news racks at the airport because it was considered too flattering to
the Cuban leader.
Cigar Aficionado Slams U.S. Policy on Cuba
Cigar Aficionado, the glossy magazine for lovers of expensive cigars,
criticized the U.S. Treasury Department for continuing to spend federal
funds chasing people for buying Cuban cigars.
"Stop wasting our time and money chasing cigar smokers," the magazine said
in an editorial in its June issue, which is dedicated to Cuba as it
approaches the post-Castro era.
The premium cigars hand-rolled in Cuba are considered the world's finest,
but they are banned in the United States under a trade embargo adopted in
1962 to undermine Cuban leader Fidel Castro's communist government.
New York-based Cigar Aficionado said American agribusiness companies sell
millions of dollars a year in food to Cuba, while momentum is growing to
allow U.S. oil companies to get involved in oil exploration in Cuba's Gulf
of Mexico waters.
"Yet if you buy a Cuban cigar, you may end up in jail," it said. "Something
is wrong with our government priorities here."
Cigar Aficionado, which put Castro on the cover of a 1999 issue that
advocated lifting sanctions against Cuba, said U.S. policy has failed to
produce change in Cuba in 45 years. "Isn't it time we tried something new?"
the magazine asked.
Its June issue, headlined "Cuba Tomorrow," focuses on changes on the island
nation since the 80-year-old Castro ceded power to his brother Raul after
emergency intestinal surgery 10 months ago and dropped out of sight.
When its previous issue on Cuba appeared in 1999, officials in Miami, a
bastion of anti-Castro sentiment among Cuban exiles, pulled the magazine
from news racks at the airport because it was considered too flattering to
the Cuban leader.
