Lawsuit filed over Cuba travel rules

A lawsuit was flied on Thursday at the U.S. District Court in against travel restrictions for U.S. visitors to Cuba.

The complaint was lodged in the name of a U.S. citizen who traveled to Cuba yet refused to disclose to the Treasury's Department how much money he spent. "The penalty imposed against Mr. Sanders is unlawful because the Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from punishing failure to obey any regulation that requires a self-incriminating act," according to the suit filed by the nonprofit Center for Constitutional Rights.

Previous lawsuits against the travel ban have been thrown out of U.S. courts though there has been a recent push by some legislators and by some firms to ease travel guidelines. In April, the Obama administration eased some travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba though that may be too late for the lawsuit’s plaintiff:

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of a New York man, Zachary Sanders, 35, who traveled to Cuba for three weeks in 1998. Sanders, who flew to Cuba by way of the Bahamas, refused to offer details about his spending and was fined $1,000.

He contested the fine but his appeal was rejected and the fine was increased to $9,000, his lawyer Anjana Samant said.

"He was very clear that he went to Cuba because he believed the U.S. travel ban is unlawful and immoral," said Samant.

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Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Wall Street Journal, Reuters