Date sent: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 

Dear John McAuliff:

Thank you for sending me a copy of the report below which I also was sent from two other sources. I am writing as the Chair of the National Lawyers Guild's Cuba Subcommitee.

I wanted to immediately respond to the reference that the "Guild has offered assistance but no one in the meeting was aware of this taking place ..." For your information, the Guild, working with CCR, organized two basic training sessions for lawyers last July, and established a network of over 30 attorneys to provide counsel and representation for persons who have travelled to Cuba and been threatened or harassed based on the claim that related travel expenditures were unlicensed. Both CCR and my office on behalf of the Guild have been making referrals ever since, in the scores if not 100's. The NLG's work in this regard has been provided on a voluntary unfunded basis, though attorneys who receive such referrals are not required to take them all on a pro bono basis. Global Exchange has also cooperated with us in establishing and politicizing this network, sometimes referred to as the "Wall of Lawyers." An invitation to join had been sent to ACLU affiliates, and a number of lawyers have joined from the that source.

In addition to the referral network, we have posted related travel information, including pro se form responses to OFAC correspondence, on our website, www.nlg.org/cuba, and established an email service to update subscribers re Cuba related developments with some legal aspect. We also worked with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D.-N.D.) and provided him with victims of OFAC threats and harassment whom he interviewed and cited in his press release and later statement in the Congressional Record re the travel issue.

We would be happy to explore further projects and coordination in this regard. In the meantime, we would appreciate anything you may be able to do, to forward this information, and to clarify what now exists due to the apparent lack of knowledge of this program, even among persons with an abiding interest and expertise related to US Cuba relations. Thank you kindly for your consideration.

Art Heitzer, Chair, NLG Cuba Subcommittee
aheitzer@igc.org
Law Offices of Arthur Heitzer
606 W. Wisconsin Ave Suite 1706
Milwaukee, WI 53203
414-273-1040 ext. 12 fax 414-273-4859