Travel agency in Tampa with flights to Cuba sues state
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- Travel and Tourism
- Entertainment
- 11 / 11 / 2009
Agencia 12 y 23, is suing in federal court to stop the state from regulating it. The agency says it's already heavily regulated by the federal government, which strictly governs all travel to Cuba.
"Government regulation in this field is so pervasive that there's no room for the State of Florida to supplement it," the lawsuit states.
Henry Mendoza, who came to the U.S. from Cuba in 1980, started the agency in the 1990s after he had to provide supplies for his family there after the Soviet Union pulled out its aid and left the country struggling.
That spawned his Lois Avenue business, which was named after a major intersection in Havana, 12th Avenue and 23rd Street.
With Treasury Department approval, Mendoza, who also has an insurance agency, sends packages to Cuba, wires remittances and handles travel and visas.
The company says the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services served it with a complaint in September accusing it as operating as an unlicensed travel agent.
According to the department's Web site, so-called sellers of travel must provide the state with a completed registration form, a registration fee and a surety bond of between $10,000 and $50,000. Travel agents that fail to comply with those
annual requirements are subject to legal action and may be forced to pay fines or stop doing business.
The Agencia 12 y 23 lawsuit charges that the state's attempts to register it are "intruding into and/or conflicting with a highly complex, federally controlled and licensed area concerning the almost 50-year embargo against Cuba that is exclusively within the province of the federal government."
It says the state's ability to regulate the agency is preempted by the foreign policy interests of the U.S., as well as several federal laws, including the Trading with the Enemy Act, and executive orders issued by the president.
It describes the federal regulation, which requires anyone who travels to Cuba to fall into certain categories, such as journalist, family members of people living in Cuba and researchers. The travelers must apply for permission from the federal government to go to Cuba.
The agency is required to determine the purpose of every would-be Cuba traveler's trip and submit a notarized affidavit for each customer, clarifying their reasons for travel and certifying they are visiting the country for one of the approved purposes, the lawsuit states.
Failure to comply with federal requirements can result in various forms of warnings, civil actions and even prison.
The federal government requires strict record keeping and quarterly reports. The government can request, without subpoena, the names and personal information of all the agency's customers.
Source:www2.tbO.com
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