Firm receives continued threats

 BY YVES COLON

 A Canadian travel agency that booked hundreds of Americans for weekly cruises
 to Cuba announced Tuesday that it was canceling the tours indefinitely because
 of threats against the company.

 ``The decision was taken as a result of continued threats that the company
 received by those opposed to travel to Cuba,'' a company press release said.
 ``Those threats, including most recently a bomb threat, made it impossible for the
 company to guarantee the safety and security of the passengers.''

 There were more than 400 passengers and crew booked on the M.V. La Habana's
 inaugural voyage, which was scheduled to leave Nassau on Nov. 18 on a trip that
 included three nights in Havana.

 There is no indication when the cruises will take place.

 ``We are proud of the efforts we have made to create travel opportunities to Cuba,
 and to allow Americans the freedom to travel where they want,'' said Sam Blyth,
 the president of Blyth & Company of Toronto, who organized the cruises. ``Now,
 unfortunately, we are faced with continued threats by individuals and/or groups
 who want to restrict travel and educational freedom for others. It's a shame.''

 The company said that for the past two weeks the cruise has come under greater
 scrutiny as a result of the passage of the U.S. Food and Medicine Bill that carried
 with it ``the enshrinement into law of the travel embargo.''

 The embargo does not outlaw travel to Cuba, but prohibits anyone subject to U.S.
 laws -- citizens and resident foreigners -- from spending money in Cuba without
 special permission. Cuban Americans, journalists and academics have general
 exemptions, and business people can obtain specific licenses for activities such
 as business fairs.

 About 153,000 American citizens and U.S. residents visited Cuba last year, a 6.2
 percent increase over 1998, according to a U.S. based trade organization. About
 125,000 went legally, 92 percent of them Cuban Americans visiting relatives.

 Blyth, who said earlier that he had spent ``millions of dollars'' on the cruises, had
 planned to provide a ``travel and education program'' that he said he believes
 would comply with U.S. law. Passengers would avoid spending money on the
 island by eating their meals on the ship. Also, they would take advantage of ``fully
 hosted'' excursions, which means they are paid by a third party -- in this case, a
 Cuban government agency. Blyth said he worked with Washington-based lawyers
 to design a program that would meet guidelines from the Treasury Department's
 Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

 A U.S. Treasury spokesman said that similar situations have come up, but the
 government has ruled that those trips are never ``fully hosted.''

 In July, the House of Representatives voted 232-186 to end the travel ban, but
 Congress set that vote aside and instead passed a bill, signed last month by
 President Clinton, which eliminated all presidential authority to permit greater
 travel to Cuba. In exchange, proponents of weakening the embargo won the right
 to allow some sales of food and medicine to Cuba.

 Blyth heavily promoted the cruises in travel magazines and newspapers, with the
 inaugural trip fully subscribed.

 The four-days-three-nights tour, departing from Nassau, sold for $355.

 Blyth, who has sold bike trips to Cuba and the People's Republic of China in the
 past, was counting on recent trends to favor his initiative.

 Joe García, executive director of the Cuban American Foundation in Miami, said
 before the cancellation that revenue from Blyth's cruises will only help prop up
 Castro's regime.

 ``It's sick,'' García said. ``It's unfortunate, sad, and tragic. So many Americans
 have sacrificed so much to bring democracy to that place and other people are
 throwing it away. I think it's sad.''

 The tours would have been led by the Toronto-based Center for Education and
 Training, a nonprofit corporation that provides training in other countries such as
 China.

 Blyth's company and the center have worked together on summer programs in
 England, France, Italy, Turkey and Costa Rica.

 The center works with Cubans on humanitarian programs, providing medicines to
 hospitals and clinics.