Moore 'breached embargo on Cuba' in film production

The Oscar-winning director Michael Moore is being investigated by the Bush administration after he took a number of rescue workers to Cuba for medical treatment–allegedly breaching a US embargo on traveling to the Caribbean nation. Moore traveled to Cuba earlier this year with a number of ailing workers who had toiled at Ground Zero in New York. He took them to film a segment for his upcoming film "Sicko," which he hopes will confront the US health industry in much the same way that his 2002 film "Bowling for Columbine" took on the gun-rights lobby. In a letter to Moore, initially obtained by the Associated Press and then posted on the internet, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) informed Moore that it was investigating him for possible violation of the embargo. "This office has no record that a specific license was issued authorizing you to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," wrote Dale Thompson, the office's chief of general investigations. "OFAC enforcement is conducting a civil investigation for possible unlicensed transactions under the regulations surrounding your trip to Cuba." Travel restrictions on US citizens traveling to Cuba were first imposed by President Kennedy in 1963 as part of a tough embargo aimed at bringing down the regime of Fidel Castro. They were variously tightened and relaxed under the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. The Bush administration has tightened the travel restrictions several times, most recently in late 2006 when it established a task force to pursue violators of the embargo and penalties of up to 10 years in prison. One of the few exceptions to the travel ban relates to bona fide journalists, though that technically requires the issuance of a journalist's visa by the Cuban authorities–something they have been increasingly reluctant to do in recent months. The letter to Moore said he had 20 business days to provide the OFAC with various information about his trip such as the date of travel and point of departure, his reason for visiting, his itinerary and the names and addresses of those who accompanied him. "OFAC has information indicating you claimed to qualify under the provision for general license for full-time journalists," it said. It noted that while Moore's film company had made such an application no determination had been made by the time of his trip. Moore and his lawyers have yet to decide how to respond to the letter. There was no comment from the film-maker, whose documentary is due to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19 and is scheduled to open at US cinemas on June 29. Moore, no doubt, will welcome the publicity that the investigation will bring, much in the same way that his 2004 film "Fahrenheit 9/11" received additional publicity when the Disney Company refused to release the film due to its political content. Campaigners seeking to lift the economic embargo against Cuba will also point out the pernicious aspect of the restrictions, which many on Capitol Hill wish to see lifted.