CUBA SANCTIONS
Treasury probes filmmaker's trip to Cuba
The Treasury Department investigated documentary filmmaker Michael Moore
over an unauthorized trip to Cuba.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON --
Michael Moore's upcoming healthcare documentary has veered into a
controversy over Cuba sanctions after the Treasury Department began an
investigation of the filmmaker for taking ailing Sept. 11
first-responders to the island.
In March, the Academy Award-winning Moore took his film crew and some 10
people, including those who became ill after inhaling toxic substances
during Ground Zero rescue efforts, to Cuba.
His two-hour film, Sicko, is expected to go after the U.S. healthcare
system. It premieres in the Cannes film festivel May 19 and on June 29
in the United States.
Moore's 2004 film, Fahrenheit 9/11, criticized President Bush over his
handling of Sept. 11. His Bowling for Columbine, about America's gun
culture, won an Oscar in 2002.
LICENSE REQUIRED
Most U.S. citizens are barred from going to Cuba unless they obtain a
specific license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC). Moore had applied for such a license in October, saying
he was embarking on a journalistic endeavor, but OFAC never responded.
On Monday, Moore received a letter from OFAC requesting details about
the visit and warning he may be subject to ``enforcement action.''
Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise declined to comment on the
investigation. She said sanctions for violating Cuba restrictions range
from a warning letter to a $65,000 fine. The Bush administration has
embarked on a much-publicized campaign to crack down on illegal travel
to Cuba, though OFAC hands out few fines.
Even before Sicko's release, Moore came under fire from opponents of
Cuba's communist government, which routinely showcases its healthcare
system as one of the world's most efficient.
SELF-PROMOTION
''Again we see this Hollywood director interjecting himself in politics
for the sake of promoting his films,'' Miami Republican Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. Comparing Cuban and the U.S. health
system was ''preposterous'' because top Cuban officials and tourists get
better care than ordinary Cubans, she said, and jailed Cuban dissidents
are denied any care at all.
''We might never know why Moore chooses to ignore the obvious and report
the false,'' the lawmaker added.
Both Ros-Lehtinen and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson pointed out
that Cuban leader Fidel Castro had to fly in a Spanish specialist for an
intestinal ailment.
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