Stogie News: Schwarzenegger Defies Cuban Embargo

The man we’ve called “America’s cigar smoker in chief” is in hot water again – this time not for his alleged history of womanizing, but for a cigar.

While on a trade visit to Canada, the Governator’s motorcade stopped at a hotel to pick up a Cuban Partagas, the Associated Press reported this weekend. Schwarzenegger allegedly smoked the $14.83 stogie while traveling to Ottawa International Airport.

So what’s the big deal? Aren’t Cubans legal in Canada? They are, but under the U.S. embargo Americans are prohibited from buying Cuban cigars anywhere in the world.

“Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are prohibited from purchasing or importing Cuban cigars, regardless of where they are,” U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said in a statement. Americans convicted of violating trade regulations can be sentenced to fines or prison, but it wasn’t clear Friday if a U.S. citizen had ever been prosecuted for lighting a Cuban cigar in another country.

If this comes as a surprise to you, you’re not alone. I was under the impression that U.S. law did not transcend other countries’ borders – especially when it comes to something as trivial as a hypocritical trade embargo.

Schwarzenegger’s people haven’t confirmed or denied the cigar in question was Cuban, and his spokesman said, “There’s no way of telling now because he smoked it.”

Frankly, I hope Arnold gets away with it (and that’s certainly not because I sympathize with communism). I smoke Cubans whenever I get the chance, in America or elsewhere.

I mean, if it’s legal to fill up my car with gas from countries that support terrorism, why can’t I buy cigars from Cuba?

-Patrick A

Tags: cigars