Does anyone know if there are restrictions on travel for Cubans in Cuba? I was hoping to take a friend with me from Havana to Santiago, Santa Clara and some other places, but someone mentioned that it might not be as easy as I would have thought. Thanks.

A Cuban I met in Havana in feb said that all of them have ID cards saying which province they're from and they are not allowed to travel inbetween without specific permission. Police check the cards frequently - I saw it all the time on the streets in Havana. Apparnetly it's to ensure even spread of population otherwise all of them would want to live in Havana and the resorts to get the tourist dollars. Not sure on official word on this.

Cubans do not need special permission to travel around the country for work, vacation or to visit friends or relatives. Moving from one area to another probably does require approval since they are required to register their address. Your question though is a little different. I don't know what restrictions there might be on a Cuban travelling around the country with a foreign tourist and I'm sure things would vary depending on the part of the country you're in. I been to Pinar del Rio, Vinales, Soroa, Mantanzas and Veradero with my wife and family and have never had any problems. I know other people who have traveled from Habana to Oriente with Cuban friends and never experienced any problems.

Apart from the danger of being out of their province, Cubans are tipically not allowed to stay overnight with foreigners. I have experienced problems with this even after my wife and I were married in Cuba. Even with Marriage certificate in hand, some hotels don't want Cubans there. It's a type of apartied that is practiced in Cuba.

Thank you....I appreciate the information, it looks like it might be a problem so I'll re-think my plans. I would not want to put my friend in a bad position in her country. These little things make me realize just how much I do not know - an enormous amount, but the posts here are very helpful....thanks again.

My girlfriends family is coming down from Santiago to Havana to meet me when I go now. So, it can't be that bad. But if you move permanently, you need a permission.

Cubans can travel easily to visit family, friends etc.

Because of the problems caused by people moving to Havana their are restrictions - if some-one from another province is picked up by polic, they could be sent home. But you still get a lot of "temporary" visitors.

I think that you should not have much problem - but have you spoken with your friend - where would you be staying ? Even if in a casa, some Cubans are wary about their details going down in the official records.

I ship hookers cross country when I go, and I haven't had any problems. The hookers from the east are cheaper so i get mine there and then travel back west with them all the time.

Camaguey and brought her to Santiago. She was not known to police and she got a ticket while in Santiago and they wrote in her name in some kind of book and said they would report her to her parents. Every where we went the cops were always near by and suspicious. We did not like the attention we were getting from them. Not worth the hassle.

Let's be honest here, in English, the word "friend" goes a long ways. Who are YOU, and who are THEY? What KING of friend is it? Is it someone you're having sex with? then you might have problems because, as you may know, there are all SORTS of issues that come along with having a cuban sex friend. you won't have those hassles with a "legit" friend.

ANOTHER QUESTIONS: What's up with all the Wild Bill and EA hassles? it a perpetual inside joke that's lost (and annoying) to the rest of us. Can anyone of you insiders clarify?

yeah - a big 'who cares.'

But I think WildBill gets harassed because he offers helpful advice, straight up. He irks the obvious trolls, who then bait him incessantly and imposter him etc.

I get it from two or three characters, some of whom may derive some support from the US govt., via grant money. Oh, and then there's my 'Special Fan.' LOL My shoes seem quite large, to get so much attention.

Since I am away weekends - see what turns up in the next 48hrs...

best regards,
EA

Even though the Cuban constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to travel freely within their own country, the government has established "pass laws" which prohibit Cubans without a special pass from spending more than a few hours outside their home province. In practice, this law is enforced to prevent desperate people in the countryside from moving to Havana to search for food and illegal jobs. When this Internal Apartheid Law was passed, every citizen was re-issued an official ID card, color-coded by province, so that their home province could be identified at a glance during police inspections, which are frequent. For example, outside of major cities are "control points" where traffic is routinely stopped so the police can check everyone's ID and luggage. Anyone carrying more than 5 pounds of food will be arrested for "smuggling." Such, my friends, is the sad state of affairs in Cuba. Even sadder, the people, in their age-old state of political lethargy, are convinced they are powerless to change things. "Ay, Cuba!" But to their eternal credit, growing numbers of Cubans are beginning to demand their dignity and rights. The human rights movement, despite intense persecution, is now stronger in Cuba than the corresponding situation within the Soviet Union during Brezhnev's time. Whether the regime likes it or not, better days are coming.

I don't travel much outside Habana with Cubanos but when I have there have been no problems. They have been day trips to the west to Pinar del Rio and Vinales and to the east to Veradaro. Never has there been a problem. I know that my wife has gone to Santa Clara several times in the past few years to visit family and on one occasion to Oriente to visit the shrine at El Cobre. I know many other Cubans who travel frequently outside Habana to visit family en el campo. I'm not questioning the truth about what some are posting, but to me personal experiences also have some validity. Cubanos live with restrictions on personal freedoms that we in the West don't have to deal with. But Cubans travel everyday from province to province without the harrassment that some are describing.

The government doesn't care if an habanero visits relatives in Pinar del Rio or Oriente because it is not trying to stop immigration to those two areas. It is mainly interested in stopping desperate people from moving to Havana. That's why Cuba has a "pass law" similar to the apartheid regime in South Africa. By the way, what is the color code on your wife's ID card?

You are so FAR off the target when you compare Cuban laws to those of apartheid SA! That is quite offensive to me.

And like I said before, my girlfriends family is coming down from Santiago to visit me when I go now.

I know for a fact that her mother frequently visits Havana.

My wife had to surrender her carnet when she immigrated to the US and received permission to live outside Cuba. I don't remember the color of her identification card when she had one. From what I know Cubans don't need a special pass to travel from one part of the country to another. Since you post so postively what law are you referring to?

We were not allowed to visit Cayo Levista or Maria Gorda.

I spend lots of time in the Oriente, Cubans from there travel freely to other parts of the country and to Havana. Just another gusano "look-how-bad-things-are-in-Cuba" post.
Boooooooooooooring.......

maybe you have never had that problem but we did with a girl that my friend met in another province. She got ticketed and was written up by the police there(Santiago). I love Cuba and I think that it is a great place. I believe that they can travel, but there are certain restrictions. Have you ever seen a police raid there? We saw one while in Santiago. They took quite a few people in this raid.

Could the girl have been ticketed for jineterismo? Sounds a lot more likely than for traveling between provinces...

prostitute. On my many trips to Cuba I have heard this a few times, that they can have problems and must justify why they are out of their province.

I am sure you know as well as I do about more than half the laws in Cuba not making sense at all.

where did this raid take place ? In a club, perhaps. An out of province Cuban in a club, frequented by tourists, is going to get into trouble, if it's raided.

the street from a club called the claqueta in Santiago.

the same thing. Loitering around a club alway attracts cops.

My friend who has been to Cuba over 15 times, said it was the 1st time he saw that. They were stopping every motorcycle, came into the club and randomly picked up cubans on the street. And I dont call walking around in the city loitering.

I assumed, since since you said that it happened accross the street from the club, this person had stopped there, even for awhile. Wrong place, wrong time.

Clubs get raided every once in awhile. Some get closed down for a period of time. Some reopen, others don't.

It's not an every day occurance but it happens from time to time. For example, I know of two clubs, in Havana, that have been closed down over the last couple of years and more have been raided. There are many more that I don't know about, I'm sure.