President's Interpreter in Fight on Cuba Ban

Today, he's locked in a testy fight with the Bush administration over a trip he took four years ago to Cuba.

Blame it on the "Buena Vista Social Club."

The Grammy Award-winning album and 1999 documentary film put Cuba's moribund music scene back on the map. Enticed by the venerable Latin melodies, Burks and his girlfriend managed a 10-day vacation that same year in the communist nation, 90 miles off the Florida coast.

He's been wrangling with federal authorities ever since. Upon his return to the U.S., Burks was told his visit had violated travel restrictions to Cuba, which has been off-limits to the average American tourist since the Kennedy administration. After months of jockeying, Burks was hit with a $7,590 fine. He refused to pay.

Now this simmering fight has begun to boil.

In October, the president pledged in a Rose Garden address to redouble the nation's enforcement of Cuban travel restrictions because of ongoing oppression by the regime of Fidel Castro. With that presidential declaration, U.S. authorities clamped down on travel to and from Cuba. They also pressed forward with more than 100 unresolved penalty cases against tourists who had visited Cuba without proper federal permission.

The first person snagged in the tighter net was Fred Burks, presidential interpreter, a man who speaks four languages and has worked on contract for the State Department for more than a dozen years.

"They're trying to make an example of me," said Burks, 45. "I never intended to make a big deal out of this. But I'm going to do what it takes to establish a precedent. I just don't agree with this policy."

Officials at the Treasury Department, which enforces the longtime U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, say Burks' employment status is irrelevant to the case.

Follow the Money

Administration officials say tourist dollars spent in Cuba ultimately flow into government-run hotels, travel destinations, transportation and other businesses, helping prop Castro up. In his October announcement, Bush concluded that a tougher stance was needed because Castro had responded to calls for fair elections and free enterprise with "a new round of brutal oppression."