Government Penalizes Bush Interpreter For Trip to Cuba

Just how absurd is the crackdown on U.S. citizens traveling “illegally” to Cuba? The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that one target of the Bush administration’s get-tough policy is an official interpreter to the president. Fred Burks, 45, who has worked on contract with the State Department for a decade, visited Cuba four years ago with his girlfriend, who was a fan of the “Buena Vista Social Club.” The pair said they were vacationing in Mexico when they saw cheap flights advertised to Cuba and decided to go. When they passed through U.S. immigration upon returning home and were asked where they’d been, they told the truth. Then came the $7,590 fine. Burks’ girlfriend negotiated a lower penalty and paid it. He refuses to pay anything more than $100 and has been haggling with the government ever since. “I never intended to make a big deal out of this,” he told the Times. “But I’m going to do what it takes to establish a precedent. I just don’t agree with this policy.” If only Burks and his money had stayed away from Cuba, the country today would be a free and democratic nation, right? Right.

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