By Gina Jordan

The Florida Roundup looks at Carnival’s Cuba controversy, management trouble at Broward Health, and modified mosquitoes in the Keys.

Cruise giant Carnival faces a lawsuit and protests over its plans to sail from Miami to Cuba starting May 1st – and its willingness to follow Cuban law by not allowing Cuban-born Americans to cruise.

Carnival’s cruise brand Fathom got the okay by Cuban authorities last month to start cruising from Miami. The controversy came when it was learned Cuban-born Americans can’t legally arrive in Cuba by sea (taking a plane is okay), so Carnival won’t sell them tickets.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was born in Cuba, and he thinks Carnival is violating a county ordinance banning discrimination based on national origin.  

“People that were born in Cuba that are American citizens like I am cannot purchase a ticket from Carnival for a cruise (to Cuba), and that’s discrimination,” Gimenez told reporters. He wouldn’t say that he would block Carnival from using the county-run PortMiami for its Cuba cruise, but he’s looking into whether he can take action based on Miami-Dade’s human rights code.

Lawyer Tucker Ronzetti represents the two people who filed a lawsuit against Carnival when they were denied tickets. “A company like Carnival, a company like Fathom, cannot look to another nation and say because they’re willing to discriminate, we’ll be willing to discriminate.”

Carnival issued a statement saying it’s abiding by the Cuban law while working with Cuban officials in hopes of changing the policy.

Click here for the original article.

As relations between Cuba and the U.S. continue on a path towards normalization, Carnival Cruise Lines announced trips to the island beginning May 1st – but, there’s one problem. According to Cold-War era law, Cuban-born Americans cannot visit their homeland by sea. This has caused uproar among South Florida’s Cuban-American population, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

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By Tom Stieghorst 

Two prospective Fathom passengers filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami challenging not to allow them on a cruise bound for Cuba because they were born there.

Fathom argues it is conforming to Cuban law which bars anyone born in Cuba from arriving by ship.

Amparo Sanchez and Francisco Marty allege in their suit that Carnival violated their civil rights as outlined in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating on the basis of national origin.

The suit, filed by the Miami firm Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton, seeks class action status.

According to the suit, Sanchez and Marty contacted Carnival separately to reserve a Fathom cruise. Because of their “heavy accents,” the suit alleges, they were asked their national origin and told they could not travel on Fathom because they’re Cuban.

The suit says Sanchez and Marty “have been denied full enjoyment of (Fathom’s) place of public accommodation while being discriminated on the ground of national origin.”

Carnival Corp., which owns the Fathom brand, said in a statement that “any such lawsuit on this issue is without merit or substance.

“It is our hope and intention that everyone can travel and we will continue to pursue a change in the regulation that puts cruising on the same footing as aircraft travel is today in Cuba,” the statement said.

The suit names Carnival Corp. and Fathom Travel Limited Corp. as defendants. It seeks a judgment “enjoining the defendants’ conduct,” and asks for a jury trial.

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Carnival Corporation’s upcoming voyage to Cuba has struck a nerve among part of Miami’s Cuban American population, inciting a federal lawsuit, protests and criticism from Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

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Carnival Corp. is being sued in Miami federal court over its adherence to Cuba’s policy that prevents Cuban nationals from arriving or departing the island by sea. NBC 6’s Steve Litz reports.

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