ABOVE: Ben “Lucky” Schlappig

A homeless blogger named Ben “Lucky” Schlappig, who makes his living flying on airplanes and staying in hotels, has decided to take up the practice of law along with advising fellow travelers on the intricacies of the airline and hotel reward programs. The result is pretty much what you would expect when Lucky opines on the legality of traveling to Cuba as a tourist.

Technically Americans can only travel to Cuba for one of about a dozen approved reasons. … In practice, most people traveling to Cuba as tourists choose either “Support For The Cuban People” or “People-To-People Exchanges” as the reason for visiting.

So technically you can’t go if tourism is your stated reasons [sic], though in practice there are tens of thousands of American tourists going. That’s because they keep the categories intentionally broad, and you won’t generally be asked about the details of why you’re going to Cuba. Arguably when you’re a tourist somewhere you have “people-to-people exchanges” and also “provide support” to the people.

Without hesitation I’d feel comfortable recommending people visit Cuba as tourists and just state one of those as the reasons.

Arguably, when you’re relying on a pretend lawyer, your mileage may vary.  Also, never trust anyone who goes by the name of “Lucky.”

Of course, OFAC anticipated that amateur lawyers like Lucky would say that all tourism in Cuba was inherently a people-to-people exchange, so it gave an example here, in the actual rules (which Lucky clearly did not bother to read), to put the kibosh on such silliness:

An individual plans to travel to Cuba to rent a bicycle to explore the streets of Havana, engage in brief exchanges with shopkeepers while making purchases, and have casual conversations with waiters at restaurants and hotel staff. None of these activities are educational exchange activities that will result in meaningful interaction between the traveler and individuals in Cuba, and the traveler’s trip does not qualify for the general license.

So, just as you should not trust my opinions on how to get the most frequent flyer miles from your airline, you probably shouldn’t trust Lucky when he tells you to travel to Cuba as a tourist.

Before leaving for the holidays, I thought it would be appropriate to repost the good news that we received earlier this year regarding Santa’s annual toy delivery being finally released from OFAC restrictions on his route.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Elf E. McElfface, [email protected] or (951) 262-3062

Santa’s Village, North Pole – Santa Claus today, on behalf of himself, Mrs. Claus and the 40,000 elfployees of the Santa Foundation, expressed his gratitude to the Office of Foreign Assets Control for its timely revision of its rules to grant Santa clear authority this year to visit children both in the United States and Cuba. For years, Santa’s efforts to bring holiday cheer to children of both countries has been thwarted by section 515.207 of the Cuba regulations which would prohibit Santa’s sleigh from landing in the United States while toys for Cuban children remained in the sleigh or in landing in the United States if those toys had been delivered to Cuban children first.

Today’s action waives these restrictions if Santa’s sleigh only carries items that would, if they were subject to the EAR, be EAR99 or controlled only for AT reasons. This ends the long struggle over whether teddy bears and other toys — which are not food, medicine, or personal communications devices — could only be delivered to Cuban children in wrapped parcels with the child’s name and address written on the outside and with the statement “GIFT—Export License Not Required” also marked on the parcel package. Notwithstanding the diligence and timely efforts of Santa’s elfployees, compliance with these requirements for each non-naughty child in Cuba has heretofore been impossible.

News of the OFAC announcement led to loud cheers and applause throughout Santa’s Village. Elf E. McElfface, Santa’s spokeself, wiped a tear of joy from his eye as he said to the elves in one of Santa’s workshops that he never believed that this would occur in his lifetime, which was saying a lot given that the average life expectancy of an elf on the North Pole is currently just over 500 years.

As Christmas approaches, Santa said that he was looking forward to this year’s delivery of toys and goodies to the nice children throughout the world more than ever before and reminded children everywhere, both in Cuba and the United States, that they could call his hotline at +1 (951) 262-3062 to leave their Christmas wishes and toy requests.

This press release may include predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking. While these forward-looking statements represent the Santa Foundation’s current judgment on what the future holds, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our opinions only as of the date of this press release. Please keep in mind that we are not obligating ourselves to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

I hope all Export Law Blog readers are able to take some time off and enjoy the holidays with their family and friends. See you in 2017!