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Article: Americans accused of violating Cuba travel ban face hearings After years of waiting, U.S. assigns judges to rule on travelers' fines
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- December 17, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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WASHINGTON -- Vacationing in Mexico in 1999, Frederick Burks could
not resist hopping a cheap flight to Cuba for a spur-of-the-moment
visit, an excursion that led to accusations by U.S. authorities that
he had illegally traveled to the country.
Now, after years of waiting, Burks faces a judicial hearing,
though he doesn't know exactly when.
"I'm getting tired of all this stuff," said Burks, 45, of
Berkeley, Calif., who contends his trip to Cuba was an honest
mistake. "I broke some regulation I didn't know was there."
Eleven years after Congress authorized civil hearings for anyone
alleged to have violated the Cuba travel ban, the Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has ...