(This is the news release we are sending out about my trip to Cuba. Check back daily for updates. -MM)
Michael Morrill of West Reading, PA will risk 10 year prison term, $250,000 fine for visiting island nation
(HARRISBURG, PA)—Michael Morrill, a progressive activist from West Reading, will be travelling to Cuba on Monday without permission from the United States government. Such travel without a "license" issued by the Treasury Department could mean penalties of up to ten years in a federal penitentiary and a fine of up to $250,000.
Morrill is intentionally travelling without permission to push the Obama Administration to lift the ban on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. "I challenge the Obama Administration to either arrest me, or to live up to its promise to end this failed policy of limiting contact between Cuba and the United States," he said in explaining why he was travelling to Cuba.
"Prohibiting travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens is not only morally wrong, it is politically and economically counter-productive," said Morrill. "It is time to end this anachronistic policy and allow the open exchange of ideas and culture."
(This is the news release we are sending out about my trip to Cuba. Check back daily for updates. -MM)
Michael Morrill of West Reading, PA will risk 10 year prison term, $250,000 fine for visiting island nation
(HARRISBURG, PA)—Michael Morrill, a progressive activist from West Reading, will be travelling to Cuba on Monday without permission from the United States government. Such travel without a "license" issued by the Treasury Department could mean penalties of up to ten years in a federal penitentiary and a fine of up to $250,000.
Morrill is intentionally travelling without permission to push the Obama Administration to lift the ban on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. "I challenge the Obama Administration to either arrest me, or to live up to its promise to end this failed policy of limiting contact between Cuba and the United States," he said in explaining why he was travelling to Cuba.
"Prohibiting travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens is not only morally wrong, it is politically and economically counter-productive," said Morrill. "It is time to end this anachronistic policy and allow the open exchange of ideas and culture."
Morrill is supporting the passage of "The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (HR 874, S 428)." The bipartisan bill would repeal all travel restrictions against the rights of all Americans to travel to Cuba. The bill is supported by a broad coalition of organizations including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Council of Churches of Christ, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the American Farm Bureau Association, Amnesty International, the U.S. dairy, wheat and rice industries and many other organizations. (See a partial list at http://www.democracyinamericas.org/...
Lifting the travel ban is supported by Cuban dissidents and by leading Cuban-American organizations opposed to the Castro regime. It is also supported by most Cuban-Americans, as revealed in a poll released last Monday by Bendixen and Associates. That poll showed that 67% of Cuban-Americans support the removal of all restrictions on travel to Cuba.
Morrill will be leaving for Cuba on Monday, April 27 at 6:20 AM from Harrisburg International Airport and travelling to Cancun, Mexico. He will fly from Cancun to Havana. He will be returning on May 6 and will arrive at HIA from Atlanta on Delta Flight 5456 at 7:37 PM.
He will be blogging from Cuba as often as possible at
http://www.morrillmajority.org
• In-person interviews can be arranged before 5:00 AM on April 27 and upon return to Harrisburg on May 6 at HIA.
• Email interviews may be sent to michaelmorrill@verizon.net.
• Phone interviews will be difficult due to U.S. restrictions on phone calls to and from Cuba, but may be arranged by contacting Morrill via email.