Canadian Protest against U.S. Action by Glen McGregor and Mike Trickey Printed in the Ottawa Citizen, Southam News and National Post, September 1, 2001

OTTAWA - The Department of Foreign Affairs says it will protest a recent U.S. crackdown on Americans who circumvent the U.S. travel ban to Cuba by flying to the Communist country from Canada. The get-tough order from the White House to the Treasury Department has resulted in American customs officers in Canadian airports questioning American travellers about whether they've been to Cuba. If they have, they face fines as high as US$55,000.

A retired social worker from Chicago who joined a Canadian bicycling tour in Cuba recently received notice of a US$7,500 fine from the Treasury Department after having her passport scrutinized by a U.S. customs officer at Pearson International in Toronto. The 1974 Pre-Clearance Treaty permits U.S. customs official to enforce American rules for entry into the United States. "In order to do so, they are authorized to apply U.S. laws related only to the admission of these travellers and their goods," says Foreign Affairs spokesman Carl Schwenger. "Other applications of any U.S. law in Canada is not envisaged. We intend to raise this issue with U.S. authorities."

Bruno Coulome, who runs the Fredericton-based USA Cuba Travel, says many of his American clients have been intimidated by U.S. customs agents at Canadian airports. "The clients are really scared."

He says he has seen customs agents watching his clients check in for their charter flights to Cuba at Montreal's Mirabel Airport. "Many times in the last month I've seen U.S. customs agents waiting at the departure counter," said Mr. Coulome, whose company handles Cuba-bound U.S. customers exclusively. He also thinks customs agents are watching for Americans arriving on flights from Cuba.

"The strategy they have is they stay at the arrival gate for Havana and they spot the travellers who walk to the counter of U.S. connecting airlines."

Nancy Chang, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City, says there are reports of surveillance in Canadian airports. Ms. Chang is challenging the constitutionality of the fines on behalf of 400 travellers. The U.S. customs service denies it uses surveillance operations in Canadian airports, but won't say how it determines which travellers visited Cuba.

The procedures are "enforcement sensitive" and not discussed, said customs spokesman Jim Michie. Mr. Coulome says Americans can protect themselves by asking Cuban customs officers not to stamp their passports. Cuba allows visitors to enter with a tourist card and does not require a visa in a passport. He also recommends travellers not carry cigars or other obviously Cuban souvenirs in their luggage.