Last March, six months after his initial request for
travel documents, the award-winning documentary
filmmaker visited Cuba. There, he filmed a segment
of
SiCKO,
his movie focusing on the failing U.S. health-care
industry. For the segment, Moore had taken along ten
9/11 first-responders who have been suffering
respiratory problems ever since.
Now, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) has opened an investigation on
whether the filmmaker violated the U.S. embargo of
Cuba, sending him an official Requirement to Furnish
Information within 20 days. Failure to answer or
comply could result in fines of tens of thousands of
dollars. Could there be a better way to promote a
movie at Cannes?
The government declined to comment, saying only
that OFAC issues hundreds of letters each year
asking for additional information when possible
violations have occurred. In a typical year, 20,000
to 30,000 Americans travel to Cuba illegally; only
1,000 are caught. The Center for Constitutional
Rights has represented 425 such people over the last
10 years, and only four were fined.
"On its own terms, the ban is a failed policy,"
said Shayana Kadidal, a CCR lawyer. Not only has it
failed to choke the Castro regime, he argues, but it
has ensured that the U.S. will have little influence
over the country's transition when Castro dies. A
recent Florida International University survey found
that, for the first time, even a majority of
Cuban-Americans in Miami believe the travel ban
should be lifted.
Still, the travel ban is backed by considerable
government resources: OFAC, whose primary mission is
counter terrorism, designates 15% of its staff to
enforcing Cuba travel restrictions — more employees
than those tracking Iraqi terrorists or those
assigned to locate the missing assets of Saddam
Hussein.
Currently the ban excludes anyone other than
full-time journalists, media, government officials,
members of international delegations, full-time
professionals and family members from spending any
money in Cuba. But even individuals with a right to
visit Cuba often experience long delays after they
file their request. "Delay is tantamount to denial,"
said Bill Martinez, one of Moore's legal advisors.
Martinez refused to comment on his client's
defense strategy, saying only that his legal team
was going to be careful and deliberate in its
response. His camp moved quickly to ensure that a
master copy of
SiCKO was transferred to a safe house outside
the country. It also tapped a bevy of lawyers,
including David Boies, veteran counsel in Bush v.
Gore.
Meanwhile the Weinstein Company, which is
producing SiCKO, is enjoying the free ride.
"It's like the Bush Administration had Mickey Mouse
as part of their investigative team," said Chris
Lehane, a Weinstein Company consultant. Weinstein
also took over the production of Moore's 2004 award
winning documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 when
Disney dropped the project. Fahrenheit 9/11
Michael
Moore will never get a standing ovation from the Bush
Administration, but he certainly won't complain about the free
publicity he's getting for his newest documentary,