No doubt our governement tried to make travel to Cuba not worth your time. They even suceeded in scaring a lot of citizens into thinking they actually needed its permission. But the reality is nobody was or is currently required to get our governments permission to travel anywhere in this world. What I think Treasury was attempting back then was a way to enforce the sanctions meant to keep U.S. dollars out of Cuba.
You could travel Cuba, but you couldnt spend your U.S. dollars there, you couldnt even exchange it for Canadian dollars to spend there. And even if you didnt spend a dime there you would certainly have been read the riot act upon your return and inspected by Customs, Treasury, and Coast Guard and we would have found something to make your life as miserable as possible
