WASHINGTON - June 28 - Sarah Stephens, director of the Freedom to Travel Campaign, issued the following statement about the federal court ruling that prevents the Miami-Dade school board from implementing its order to ban “Vamos a Cuba,” a children’s book about the island, from the library shelves of forty-nine schools:

“The court acted wisely to stop Miami-Dade from implementing its order to ban “Vamos a Cuba,” and we applaud the Florida affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union for its principled decision to fight this order. We look forward to the hearing on July 14th and a decision by the court which will permanently shelve this decision to ban books.

“Banning books in Miami hurts America, not President Castro, because it harms our ability to fight for the values we champion in our country and around the world. In Miami, where the loudest voices condemn Cuba for censorship, they think censorship in America is a justified tactic in the fight against Cuba’s political system. The court decision today shows they’re wrong legally; the rest of us understand, they are wrong substantively.

“America does better in foreign policy when we embrace our values, rather than repudiate them. The court’s decision, temporary as it is, affirms that principle today.”

The Freedom to Travel Campaign (www.cubacentral.com) is devoted to changing U.S. policy toward Cuba, starting with the repeal of the ban on legal travel by Americans to the island.

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