Fred Burks - Cuba Travel Ban Case
#001
Los Angeles Times Story on Fred Burks' Cuba Travel Ban Case - www.WantToKnow.info/latimescuba1
Jan. 15, 2004
Dear
friends,
Welcome
to the first update on my Cuba travel ban case. First, I want to thank all
of you for your support in this. I have been deeply impressed and inspired
by the many wonderful offers of help and support I've received from journalists
and other concerned people and groups around the country, and especially
from the Los Angeles Times.
As
most of you know, my case is among the first batch of about 100 cases to
be processed. Somehow I ended up first on the list with case number 03T001
(2003/Treasury/001). Until just two months ago, I was not interested in
spending much time on this matter and was very hopeful that Congress would
eventually remove any support enforcing this ban. As you likely know, both
the Senate and House by large majorities did vote with identical language
to do just this in October, only to have the travel ban provisions unethically
stripped from the larger bill by two ranking members of the Conference Committee.
As
a result of this and of the fact that I was given case #1, I decided just
this December to dedicate myself to challenging this travel ban.
Since then, I have spent many long hours researching this matter and
communicating with many knowledgeable and supportive individuals and groups
around the country. In order to keep you all informed of the status of my
case, I will summarize the important points here.
On
Dec. 30th, the attorney for the government, Brian Wissman, filed a Motion for
Summary Judgment requesting that Judge Robert Barton find me guilty on the
grounds that I have admitted to spending money in Cuba. This would prevent my
case from going to a hearing and force me to pay a $7,590 penalty. My
dedicated lawyer, Daniel Press, and I have until the end of January to
respond to this motion. Mr. Press thinks it is very likely the judge will
rule against me. If this happens, the only possibility of which I am
aware is to appeal the ruling.
In
the meantime, my case has received plenty of media coverage which thus
far has been very sympathetic. Six major newspaper articles, evening news
coverage on the local ABC, NBC, and Fox affiliates, and two radio interviews
have helped to spread the news. I welcome any additional media coverage, as I
have nothing to hide. I believe the publicity can only help. The fact that
over the past eight years I've worked as an Indonesian language
interpreter for Bush, Clinton, Cheney, Gore, Powell, Albright, and
others has been helpful in attracting media attention.
If
any of you want to help by contacting local and national media for interviews,
we can spread the news even further. You can use two information-packed
documents posted on a website I manage to draw media interest. The first,
Cuba Travel Ban
Facts, is a powerful one-page document listing key facts on the Cuba
travel ban which show that it is both unreasonable and illegal.
For each fact, I provide the source and one or more respectable Internet
links so that anyone can verify these facts. If any of you have additional
facts which should be included, please email me. The second document, Interpreting
Stories, is a one-page summary of some interesting experiences I've
had interpreting. I invite anyone with time and interest to contact
the media and use these documents to promote interviews for me
and other knowledgeable individuals.
For
any who are interested, I've also written a two-page timeline of my case.
Just email me and ask for it. Feel free to ask any other questions you might
have as well. I'm very open about all of this.
Some
of you, like me, may have wondered why I ended up with case #1. It is strange
considering that there are hundreds of people with Cuba travel ban cases who
traveled to Cuba both before and after my trip in December of 1999. It's even
more strange that my girlfriend, who went to Cuba with me, did not receive an
Order to Institute Proceedings until two months after I did, when all
previous notices and letters over the past four years were sent separately to
each of us within a few days of each other.
It
is entirely possible that I am being targeted because I manage a popular
website which exposes major government cover-ups at www.WantToKnow.info. I invite you to
take a look at this eye-opening website which is the result of the
collective efforts of an international research team made up of
professors, PhDs, doctors, and an Emmy award winner. I guarantee that
you will learn some important information that you were not aware of. This
website is a reflection of my deep commitment to personal and
global transformation through love and empowerment.
Again,
I want to thank you all for your wonderful offers of help and support. I am
particularly thankful to attorney Daniel Press, who has agreed to
represent me pro bono in this case. Attorneys Art Heitzer, Tom Miller, and
Edward Elder have also been extremely helpful. The Wall of Lawyers and the
networks of Cuba committees around the country are just awesome! I welcome
any ideas and suggestions that any of you might have. Together, we are
creating important, empowering change in this country and in the world.
Take care.
With
gratitude and very best wishes,
Fred
Burks - Cuba Travel Ban Case #001
P.S.
For those of you in Northern California, I'll be on KGO talk radio (810 on
the AM dial) this Monday Jan. 19th at 8 PM. Also, for those with the time and
interest to read the newspaper articles written on my case, the best two
articles were in the Los Angeles Times (thanks Eric!):
Jan
4: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cuba4jan04,1,6665024.story?coll=la-home-local
As
this requires registration, you can see the same article at http://www.WantToKnow.info/latimescuba1
Jan
8 editorial: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-cuba8jan08,1,4915205.story
See
the same article at http://www.WantToKnow.info/040108latimescubaeditorial
The
first article from Associated Press (thanks Jeannine!) was published in
dozens of newspapers around the world:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A31183-2003Dec25¬Found=true
Also
available at http://www.WantToKnow.info/031226postcubafrederickburks
The
two Oakland Tribune articles (thanks Laura!) were
also excellent. As they require payment, here a links to the articles
free of charge. The editorial is the best!
http://www.WantToKnow.info/031218oaklandtribunecubafredburks
- news article
http://www.WantToKnow.info/031219oaklandtribunecubaeditorial
- editorial
Thanks
again for your interest and have a great day!
Explore these empowering websites coordinated by the nonprofit PEERS network:
www.momentoflove.org - Every person
in the world has a heart
www.WantToKnow.info - Revealing
major cover-ups & working together for a better world
www.inspiringcommunity.org - Building a Global
Community for All
www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the
Web of Love that interconnects us all
Educational websites promoting transformation through education and inspiration
Los Angeles Times on Fred Burks' Cuba Travel Ban Case
