Exile in Miami calls for an end to cruises that "fund repression" in Cuba

On Monday, the group of exiles of the Cuban Resistance Assembly asked the companies that organize cruises in Cuba to cancel them because their contributions "will directly strengthen the totalitarianism "on the island. "Do not help repression" is the motto of a campaign that advocates the end of a form of tourism that some exiles consider "illegal and immoral", and for this reason they invite the citizens not to contribute.

In statements to the agency Efe Orlando Gutiérrez (director of the Cuban Resistance Assembly) insisted that "the money goes directly to the repression " and recalls that" Cuban workers do not have unions or hiring free. "

He further explained that what the workers earn is "a waste" of receives the Cuban government from the big cruise companies

Gutiérrez points out that there are those who "cancel their trips to Cuba because they know it's an immoral act. " He adds: "If there are so many free countries, why would one go to an oppressed country?"

The group of exiles represented at the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance also recalls that the ports and wharves involved in cruises are "stolen property at the forefront of arms" by the Government of the island in order to "traffic and exploit."

According to Juan Fiol (head of the Cuban Democratic Directorate) companies violate the embargo on the island and in this sense he asks the president Donald Trump to "follow the law" and recalls "that you can not do business with Cuba."

Manuel Zalba (Lawyer of the Justice Commission of Cuba), on the other hand, aa stated that "if there is a legal opening", he understands that "companies try to make the most money possible with tourism in Cuba", but reiterates the injustice that tourists " pay more than 100 dollars for a hotel night. they receive just a dollar. "[19659005] Next July a demonstration was called in the vicinity of the Port of Miami, that the Cuban Resistance Assembly hopes to attend both the Cuban and Nicaraguan and Venezuelan communities, so to "defend freedom" and act against "various forms of repression financing"

A study conducted at the end of 2017 – quoted by the Efe agency – underlines that cruise lines will accumulate more than 761 million dollars gross revenues up to 2019 for the transport of more than 570,000 pbadengers on their itineraries with stops in Cuba

After the normalization of bilateral relations between the United States and Cuba, Carnival Royal Caribbean and Norwegian were among the first companies to obtain licenses to operate in Cuba.

Carnival, the first of all to arrive on the island e n May 2016 stated that they know the claims of exile and that they will continue to strictly adhere to the law between the two countries: "When it comes to Cuba and with questions like this, we will continue to follow the law of the United States to guide our actions and policies as we have done since we began our first cruises in Cuba. "

In May of this year, just two years after the arrival of the first ship to Cuba, Carnival announced the increase of its routes to the island with incorporation from Charleston Harbor, South Carolina from 2019.