Wednesday, December 17, 2014

A NEW ROUTE TO GUANTANAMO OPENED UP

The only way habeas counsel have been able to get to the base to visit clients has been through a small commuter/cargo plane that takes over three hours to get from Ft. Lauderdale to the base (except for a short period of time when the military allowed us to take a military flight--but I never got to experience that travel arrangement as it required flying to the DC area and being available for a flight around 4:30 am---anyway that arrangement did not last very long).
Today the US government has finally decided to resume diplomatic ties with Cuba. The AP has more here. So will we get to fly to mainland Cuba and work our way to the base? Time will tell.
I don't know if we have ever recognized Cuba during my lifetime--I was pretty young during the cuban missile "crisis" and all I remember about that event is the basement bombshelter that my father built so we could hide when the bomb hit.! Anyway I am anxious to visit Cuba and perhaps find a new route to visit my client that does not require flying on a substandard aircraft. This is also very timely as the substandard commuter/cargo airlines has recently restricted the schedule of flights to the base to once a week. That means when we fly to visit our clients we have to stay on the base (on the lawyers side of the base!) for an entire week. It kind of puts a dent on the rest of our work week!
We shall see.....