WASHINGTON,
Dec. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Freedom to Travel Campaign, a project
of the Center for International Policy, devoted to legalizing travel
to Cuba, has placed a print advertisement in El Nuevo Herald urging
action by Cuban-Americans and others against the toughened travel
restrictions to Cuba issued this year by President Bush.
The
half-page, Spanish language advertisement features a picture of
President George W. Bush under the headline "One Man Cancelled
Christmas in Cuba, and it wasn't Fidel Castro..."
The
advertisement goes on to say:"This
year, thousands of Cuban-Americans who hoped to spend Christmas in
Cuba with their families will be denied that right by President Bush
and his new travel restrictions. Send a message to Senator-elect Mel
Martinez and our other leaders in Washington that families in Cuba
should not have to celebrate Christmas alone.
Visit our website -- http://www.cubacentral.com/holidays
-- and tell Washington to lift the travel ban on Cuban- Americans
and all Americans."
According
to Sarah Stephens, director of the Freedom to Travel Campaign,
"the Bush policy divides Cuban families on both sides of the
Florida Straits and this is a terrible pain that families will be
feeling as they approach the holidays and miss the opportunity to
celebrate Christmas together. Dividing families on Christmas is a
powerful symbol of a policy that is unjust and ineffective all year
around."
The
advertisement appears December 21, 2004 in El Nuevo Herald, a
newspaper with a week day circulation of 89,224 in Miami, Florida.
A copy of the advertisement including the Spanish-language
translation can be viewed at the Freedom to Travel Campaign's
website: http://www.cubacentral.com/holidays