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Menendez: American Ferry Service Is Off Limits For Cubans Looking To Leave Island

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez did not seem impressed by ferry services that will offer travel between different cities in Florida and Cuba on Thursday.

“The ironic part of the ferry service is there are a lot people looking to get out of Cuba, but they’re not going to be able to take the ferry,” Menendez told The Daily Caller. “And the other part is that it’s hard to believe that ferry service which is more of a commute is going to actually promote purposeful travel which is still the law of the land versus tourism.”

U.S. citizens are prohibited to go to Cuba for tourist reasons, as stated under the current U.S. embargo act. Congress can only roll back the embargo.

The Sun Sentinel reported Wednesday that the Treasury Department issued around four licenses to ferry companies that want to put forth a travel service from Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa to Cuba.

According to The Sentinel, the companies that were licensed by Treasury were Havana Ferry Partners of Fort Lauderdale, Baja Ferries of Miami, United Caribbean Lines Florida of Greater Orlando and Airline Brokers Co. of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Menendez noted that he looks “forward to seeing in future hearings — questioning how exactly that is going to take place in a way that is going to ensure purposeful travel.”