American documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has accused the U.S. government of targeting him for political reasons.
The film producer who strongly criticized President Bush in his 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911 says he received a letter this week from the U.S. Treasury Department, asking for details of his recent trip to Cuba. In a reply posted on his Web site, Moore demands an end to the probe.
Moore says in the letter he believes the U.S. health care and insurance industries, the subjects of his next film, may have pressured the government for the investigation.
U.S. citizens must get government permission to travel to Cuba because of the U.S. trade embargo on that country. Moore says he notified the government six months before taking his March 2007 trip to Cuba to film parts of that documentary.
Treasury officials have declined to comment.
Cuban state media has reported on the exchange between Moore and the Treasury. The official Granma newspaper calls the U.S. trade sanctions that prevent travel to Cuba "a criminal action."
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
