WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department on Tuesday urged cigar-lovers to study the terms of the U.S. embargo against Cuba before making any plans to attend a 30th birthday party in Havana next week for the fabled Cohiba cigar.
About 95 Americans were among about 600 cigar connoisseurs from around the world invited to the $500-a-guest smoke-in at Havana's Tropicana night club Feb. 28.
But Treasury officials on Tuesday warned that Americans lured to the marketing event would likely run afoul of U.S. law, which forbids virtually all of them from spending money on the island unless they are granted special licenses. So far no one has inquired about the event, a Treasury spokesman said.
``Obviously, Treasury encourages anybody who's planning to travel to Cuba or any nation under U.S. sanctions to become educated on what's legal or illegal,'' the spokesman said.
John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council in New York, said the Cuban organizers had invited a number of U.S. celebrities who have appeared on the cover of Cigar Aficionado magazine. Such luminaries are said to include actors Danny de Vito, Matt Dillon, Jack Nicholson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald