Castro tells parliament he's working to ease migration regulations
Cuban leader Raúl Castro told parliament Monday that he plans to ease
travel restrictions on Cubans, but it's unclear whether it's on Cubans
on the island or abroad.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@elnuevoherald.com
Cuban ruler Raúl Castro said he is working to relax Cuba's migration
policies, almost certainly referring to Cubans abroad who want to travel
back to the island but perhaps also — and much more significantly — to
Cubans on the island who want to travel abroad.
Castro's comments to parliament, as reported in the government-run news
media, remained unclear late Monday but sparked broad interest among
island residents who have long demanded the right to travel abroad
without the need for obtaining a government "exit permit."
He was quoted as saying that the government "is making advances with the
reform and elaboration of a series of regulations" on migration that
have lasted "unnecessarily" for a long time. But the reports gave no
details on exactly who would benefit.
"We take this step as a contribution to the increase in links between
the nation and the émigré community, whose makeup has changed radically
since the first decades of the revolution," Castro reportedly said in
comments that seemed to indicate that the eased regulations would apply
to Cubans abroad.
"In their overwhelming majority Cubans today emigrate because of
economic reasons, and almost all of them preserve their love for family
and country," he added. The government for decades referred to Cubans
who moved abroad as "counterrevolutionaries" and "worms"
Estimates of the number of Cubans who are living abroad and have been
denied Havana permission to return range from 67,000 to 200,000,
including "rafters" or others who left the island illegally and those
who left legally but stayed abroad more than 11 months.
His comments that the "updating" of the migration regulations would
retain measures to "defend" the revolution also seemed to refer to
Cubans living abroad, because radical exiles are not allowed to return
legally to Cuba.
But his assertion that the regulations would still protect the "human
capital created by the revolution" — apparently a reference to Cuban
physicians and other professionals who are banned from travelling abroad
for tourism or family visits — seemed to hint that the eased regulations
would also help Cubans on the island.
Cubans now can leave the island only with an exit permit known as a
white card, good for a maximum of 30 days and issued only after a
security check. Government opponents such as bloggers Yoani Sanchez and
dissident Guillermo Fariñas seldom get the permits.
A Communist Party Congress in April proposed a study of the possibility
of allowing Cubans to make "tourist trips" abroad. And doctors in
central Santa Clara province told relatives in Miami last month that a
senior Health Ministry official had mentioned during a meeting that the
travel regulations on physicians would be eased.
Monday's gathering of the legislative National Assembly of Peoples'
Power was held behind closed doors, but the official Prensa Latina and
National Information Agency (AIN) as well as the state-run television
and radio monopolies reported on parts of the proceedings.
The reports noted that the Assembly quickly endorsed Castro's bold
proposals for reforms of the economy, hamstrung by Soviet-styled
centralized planning and controls, corruption and a massive bureaucracy.
The Assembly usually meets only twice a year for sessions of three to
four days — unlike this Assembly, which lasted just one day. Virtually
all Cuban laws are implemented through "decree laws" issued by the
executive, and no Cuban lawmaker has reportedly ever voted "no" on any
issue.
Castro also told the lawmakers that the island's economy had grown by
1.9 percent in the first six months of this year and would hit 2.9
percent by the end of 2011. Cuba counts its gross national product in a
unique way that tends to exaggerate its size.
During the first half of the year, imports dropped and exports grew as
the economy recorded increases in oil, nickel production and "energy
efficiency," and the numbers of tourists arriving on the island, and
sugar production stopped falling, Castro reportedly told the parliament.
But there were shortfalls in agriculture, the food industry and the
planned outputs in construction materials and the heavy and light
industries, the official news reports sited Castro as saying.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/01/2340998/castro-tells-parliament-hes-working.html
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