CABA Applauds City of Coral Gables for Resolution on CCL’s Route to Cuba

Dear CABA Members:

As many of you may have already learned, CABA recently sent a letter of disapproval and objection to Carnival Cruise Lines regarding its election to move forward with its subsidiary, Fathom’s, maiden voyage to the Port of Havana, together with an unknown number of cruise offerings thereafter, despite the Cuban regime’s edict that no person born on Cuban soil will be allowed to disembark in the country of their birth.  The company has thus refused the sale of passenger tickets to anyone whose passport reflects they were born in Cuba.  Whatever one’s personal views on legal travel to Cuba may be, CABA’s core mission, in large part, is to promote equality and the administration of justice.  This unfair treatment and blatant discrimination against members of the Cuban-American community is patently offensive despite the discord that may exist within the community itself concerning the recent developments in U.S.-Cuba relations and the loosening of travel restrictions between the two nations.

The damage to our community has not been protested by CABA alone, however.  On April 13, 2016, the City of Coral Gables City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2016-98, sponsored by Commissioner Vince Lago, by unanimous vote.   The resolution on behalf of the City of Coral Gables expresses the City Beautiful’s disapproval of Carnival’s route under the circumstances, urges the line to disengage from its plans to cruise to Cuba until the discriminatory Cuban prohibition is lifted, and urges Miami-Dade County, the State of Florida and the United States government to determine whether the action violates existing laws against discriminatory practices, and further requests a determination by the county as to whether it can prohibit the use of the Port of Miami for the route until the ban is lifted by the Cuban regime. Click on this link to view the Resolution: RESOLUTION NO. 2016-98.

The undersigned and the Board of Directors, on behalf of CABA, applaud the City of Coral Gables Commission for its support of the Cuban-American community affected by these policies, and for its call to action by Carnival Cruise Lines and the respective governmental agencies to uphold basic American freedoms and principles of equality, which every person in this great country, including executives of large, for-profit corporations, should hold dear and protect against incursion.

Sincerely,

Anna Marie Hernandez
President