The US blockade against Cuba is a violation of the First Amendment constitutional rights of US citizens

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.14.1.0011
• Pages: 11-12
• Published date: 05 July 2022
• Date: 05 July 2022
• Author: Robert L. Muse

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EDITORIAL

THE US BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA IS A

VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF US CITIZENS

Robert L. Muse

Robert Muse is an attorney in Washington, DC.

In December 2021 over 300 artists, performers and writers signed a letter calling on

the Government of Cuba to “respect the fundamental role that art and artists play in

society”. They went on to say that: “Art should be free from censorship and oppres-

sion, in Cuba and everywhere.”1 How many of the letter’s signatories would include

the United States in the word “everywhere” when referring to unidentified countries

where the arts are regulated and constrained by their governments? In particular,

governments that decide if an artist may perform or exhibit and on what terms? Well,

they should include the US among such countries, because it belongs there.1

Under US law artists are prohibited from exhibiting their work in Cuba unless

the US Department of the Treasury “authorizes” them to do so by issuing a

licence based upon its approval of a written application. Actors and musicians

may not perform in Cuba; again, unless the US government permits it. Workshops

and clinics are banned in Cuba, as well as professional conferences and meet-

ings. These prohibitions are not trivial, they are found in regulations enforced

under the authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act, a statute that includes

both civil and criminal penalties for its breach.

In theory at least licences are obtainable from the government allowing the par-

ticipation of US citizens in performances and art exhibitions in Cuba. How, though,

is this supposed to work? As mentioned above, a license must be preceded by a writ-

ten application; what must be included in such a request? For example, it is logical

to assume that an artist will be required to provide the Treasury Department with a

set of photographs of the paintings he/she has been invited to exhibit at, say, the

1 Human Rights Watch. “Meryl Streep, other prominent art figures urge end to repres-

sion of artists in Cuba”, 8 December 2021. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/08/

cuba-prominent-figures-urge-end-repression-artists

DOI:10.13169/intejcubastud.14.1.0011