Is Visiting Cuba a Crime?

by Maddalena Celano

In 2024, I visited Cuba. It was a deliberate, sought-after, and cherished trip—to explore, to learn, and to support a people who have been resisting the economic, political, and media siege of U.S. imperialism for over sixty years.

In 2025, I decided to travel to Nicaragua for cultural and academic reasons. But while preparing for my return trip to Italy, I was faced with an institutional form of blackmail: I am not allowed to transit through the United States because I visited Cuba. I am automatically excluded from the ESTA program and forced to apply for a $170 visa, with uncertain processing times and no guarantees.

A political reprisal disguised as security.

An economic punishment against anyone who dares to engage with Cuba.

ESTA Denied: The Internationalization of Repression

Since January 12, 2021, the United States has reinstated Cuba on its blacklist of “State Sponsors of Terrorism” (SST). An arbitrary classification, without evidence and with no legal basis under international law. This decision—introduced under Trump and never repealed by Biden—prevents anyone who has visited Cuba since that date from traveling to the U.S. with an ESTA, even for a simple airport layover.

The official website of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirms:

“With limited exceptions, a traveler who has been in Cuba on or after January 12, 2021, is not eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) and must apply for a visa.”

(Source: CBP – Visa Waiver Program FAQs)

A Bureaucratic Trap: Double Extortion

Anyone who attempts to apply for ESTA and is denied loses the €25 fee already paid. To continue their journey, they must apply for a B1/B2 visa, pay another €170, and undergo a consular interview. All of this without any refund or clear explanation at the time of application.

In my case, I received a provisional ESTA approval, only to find out later that it had been revoked due to my travels to Cuba. At that point, no airline will let you board a flight to the United States—not even for a layover.

We are thus talking about an extraterritorial punitive measure that imposes extra costs and major inconveniences on European citizens who have broken no laws in their own countries.

A System that Violates Human Rights

International law protects the freedom of movement and prohibits discrimination based on political grounds. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 12) affirms:

“Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.”

(Source: OHCHR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)

Imposing indirect restrictions, exorbitant costs, and invisible barriers on those who visit Cuba has nothing to do with safety. It is a form of ideological repression and political revenge.

European Silence, Western Complicity

Despite this measure targeting citizens of the European Union, no European government has spoken out. No public opposition. No formal request for clarification from Washington.

The EU signed a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba (PDCA, 2016), but it does not defend its citizens when they are punished for upholding that very agreement.

“The EU rejects unilateral measures harming European citizens exercising their freedom of movement.”

(Source: EU Delegation to Cuba – Official stance on the blockade)

In practice, however, no one is protecting European travelers from U.S. retaliation.

Cuba as a Symbol: Resistance and the Right to Dissent

Visiting Cuba today is a political act—even if done as a tourist. It is so because it breaks the monopoly on narrative, because it affirms that another world is possible, that solidarity is not a crime, and that sovereign peoples have the right to choose a model other than neoliberalism.

Whether it's culture, medical cooperation, education, ecology, or independence, Cuba is a laboratory of alternatives.

And it is precisely for this reason that it is being punished.

A Necessary Denunciation

Today I find myself forced to completely revise my travel plans to return to Italy, due to an American law that does not apply to me and that disregards every principle of reciprocity or diplomatic fairness.

I am turning to Nicaraguan authorities to find an alternative route avoiding U.S. territory. But I cannot remain silent.

This is not just my problem.

It is the problem of hundreds of European citizens who travel to Cuba every year—often for humanitarian, cultural, academic, or simply personal reasons—and who then face a system of political punishment disguised as bureaucracy.

Visiting Cuba is not a crime.

Crime is isolating, punishing, extorting.

Crime is the embargo.

And those who remain silent... are complicit.

📚 Sources and References:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Visa Waiver Program FAQs

OHCHR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

EU–Cuba – Political Agreement and EU Position on the Blockade

Reuters – Cuba added back to U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism