Published Saturday, February 3, 2001, in the Miami Herald

U.S. entertainer cleared to make music in Cuba

The Baltimore Sun

WASHINGTON -- Ry Cooder, the musician who was once fined by the U.S. government for traveling to
Cuba without permission to collaborate with the acclaimed musicians known as the Buena Vista Social
Club, is back in Cuba recording music.

And this time, thanks to last-minute intervention from top Clinton administration officials, he's legal.

Cooder, who with his Cuban colleagues won a Grammy award in 1998, received U.S. permission to
make new recordings in Cuba after then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Samuel Berger,
the Clinton administration's national security advisor, weighed in on his behalf in the last days of the
administration, U.S. officials say.

Cooder, who encountered trouble last year in obtaining a license from the Treasury Department for a
new trip to Cuba, in September gave $10,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's senatorial campaign. On
Jan. 17, three days before President Clinton left office, he was granted the license.

Spokesmen for Sen. Clinton and former administration officials said there was no connection between
Cooder's campaign contributions and the Treasury Department's approval of a new Cooder trip.

``She was not involved in this matter,'' said Karen Dunn, a spokeswoman for Sen. Clinton.

Cooder's California-based lawyer also denied a link, saying the musician supported Hillary Clinton
generally as a candidate and expected no personal gain from the contribution.

``Ry's made donations to a number of politicians and done it over a number of years,'' said the lawyer,
Candice Hanson. ``Hillary Clinton -- I bet she doesn't know who Ry Cooder is. As far as I know, she
doesn't have anything to do with this.''

Cooder has contributed to the campaigns of California's Democratic senators Barbara Boxer and
Dianne Feinstein.

More than a year ago, the Treasury Department fined Cooder $25,000 for failing to obtain a license
for his first recording trip to Cuba in 1996, which resulted in the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social
Club album.

In August, the government said it would approve Cooder's application so long as he earned no
money from any new Cuban projects, according to Hanson and a congressional official.

Cooder rejected that offer. He reapplied for a travel permit Nov. 7.