FREE SPEECH ZONE | Always wanted to go to Cuba? Now you can, legally.

On October 31, the Minnesota Cuba Committee was granted a "people to people" license by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This means that no one has to qualify as being a member of a particular category. Anyone can go.

MINNESOTANS TO CUBA FEBRUARY DELEGATION

We have just received confirmation of the dates and itinerary for a February delegation!  But you’ll have to move quickly if you want to join this trip. Applications and payment need to be in by January 1.
 

The schedule is full of events that will appeal both to first-time travelers as well as those who have already been to Cuba. We will stay at the Parkview Hotel which is very close to the center of Old Havana and just steps away from the storied boat, the Granma, on exhibit at the Museum of the Revolution.
 

In Havana, we will visit the town of Regla, a center of Afro-Cuban religion with a long history of revolutionary activity. There will also be a meeting with Cenesex, the pioneering sex education agency, as well as visits to a trade union, a Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, an organic farm, the international school of medicine (ELAM), the Jose Fuster art studio and one of the art schools featured in the recent film "Unfinished Spaces." The itinerary will also include day trips to the cities of Matanzas and Santa Clara. Matanzas is home to the Museum of the Roots of Slavery; Santa Clara is the location of the Che Guevara museum.
 

There will also be many opportunities to get out and explore the culture and excitement of Havana on your own.
 

WRITERS, ARTISTS, FILMMAKERS AND ART LOVERS APRIL DELEGATION

If you can't make the February trip, please consider going on the Writers, Artists, Filmmakers and Art Lovers delegation.
 

For working writers, artists, filmmakers, educators, and friends of the arts, this custom-made program includes extensive meetings with our Cuban counterparts, and a wide range of cultural activities.
 

In Havana, we connect to the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC), the International School of Film and TV nearby (founded by writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez), writers at the Alejo Carpentier Foundation, Africa House, Fundacion Antonio Nunez Jimenez on ecological, political and social issues, visual artists in their studios, and other vital people in film, literary, visual and performing arts. We go then to Gibara in Holguin, for the international Festival of Poor (alternative, low-budget) Cinema, including the awards and closing parties, concerts and exhibitions in all media complementing the film events. Then to Santiago de Cuba, cradle of Cuban music, rich in all the arts, birthplace of the Revolution, home to immigrants from all over the Caribbean, the beginning of the Sierra Maestra Mountains, and a deep center of Afro-Cuban culture, where we will connect to visual artists in their studios, writers, dancers and musicians, and visit the Federation of Cuban Women, and the Casa de Cultura - a community arts center. 
 

Led by Minnesota Cuba Committee member, writer Anya Achtenberg, on her 6th trip to Cuba --  the 3rd arts-centered trip she has organized. Contact her directly at aachtenberg@gmail.com.
 

For more information on both trips and to download a complete itinerary and application for the February trip, visit www.minnesotacubacommittee.org.

Carla Riehle