EXERPT | Article by Damien Cave
MIAMI — Imagine a ferry from Miami to Havana that costs far less than a flight. Cuban-Americans, who can now visit the island without restriction, could eat lechón on deck, then deliver a shipping container of food to needy relatives by morning.
Armando Ruiz says his proposed ferry service to Cuba would benefit people with less money.
Armando Ruiz, 72, a Cuban exile and former concert promoter, has dreamed of this for a decade. Now he thinks it might actually happen — if the Obama administration approves his application for a license.
“He says he wants to help the Cuban people,” Mr. Ruiz said, referring to President Obama. “How can he do it without a ship?”
Until recently, Miami’s community of Cuban exiles was considered far too volatile to handle a ferry cruising from Florida to Cuba for the first time since 1962 . But Mr. Ruiz’s proposal shows how much the political climate here has changed.
It is faith in pent-up demand for a new approach that has led Mr. Ruiz to consider chartering a $23 million, 600-cabin cruise-ferry from a dealer in Lithuania. It may also be the dream of riches, which he denies, or family legacy, which he does not. But for the White House, his proposal mainly shows how a shift from policymakers can produce demands that outpace diplomatic deliberation.
Ever since the president announced plans in April to encourage contact with Cuba by letting Cuban-Americans travel back whenever they wanted and send more money and gifts, the administration has found itself fending off pressure to move more quickly toward normalized relations.
Cuban officials, some members of Congress and travel companies like Orbitz have all demanded that the travel ban be lifted, not just for Cuban exiles but for all Americans. Charter flight operators in Miami, after praising the new approach, spent the summer complaining that the administration took too long to publish regulations that put the policy for Cuban-Americans into effect.
And now that the new rules are out — published in the Federal Register this month — entrepreneurs are stepping up with ideas for expanding links with Cuba.
Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13cuba.html
