Cuba blames the Central American Immigration Crisis on the US Cuban Adjustment Act

Cuba blames the Central American Immigration Crisis on the US Cuban
Adjustment Act / 14ymedio
Posted on November 17, 2015

14ymedio, Havana, 17 November 2015 — Citizens who are trying to reach
the United States from other countries on the continent are "victims of
the politicization of the immigration issue by the Government of the
United States," Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) said in a
statement read on Cuba's primetime news Tuesday night.

MINREX commented on the "complex situation" created at the borders of
Costa Rica, where some 2,000 Cubans arrived from Ecuador, having crossed
Colombia and Panama. On Saturday, the Costa Rican government granted
them a special visa valid for seven days, to reach Nicaragua, on their
trip to the United States.

However, on arriving at Peñas Blancas, on the border between Costa Rica
and Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan government denied the Cubans entry and on
Sunday afternoon the Nicaraguan Army forcibly stopped about 800 who
tried to enter illegally.

According to MINREX, the United States' Cuban Adjustment Act and the
implementation of the "wet foot-dry foot" policy "are incongruent with
the current bilateral context, impeding the normalization of migratory
relations between Cuba and the United States, and creating problems in
other countries." This is "because it confers a different treatment on
Cubans, the only ones in the world, by admitting them immediately and
automatically, regardless of the paths and methods they use, including
if they arrive in the country illegally." MINREX further argued that,
"it constitutes a violation of the letter and spirit of migratory
accords in effect, whereby both countries assume the obligation of
guaranteeing legal, secure and orderly migration."

MINREX also "denounced" the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program,
created by George W. Bush in 2006, saying that it "encourages doctors
and other Cuban health workers to abandon their missions in third
countries and emigrate to the United States." MINREX said that it is "a
reprehensible practice aimed at damaging Cuba's programs of cooperation
and depriving Cuba of vital human resources, as well as the many
countries that need them."

In its public statement, MINREX says that currently "the Cuban
authorities have maintained permanent contact with the governments of
the countries involved, with the objective of finding a quick and
appropriate solution that takes into consideration the well-being of
Cuban citizens."

Source: Cuba blames the Central American Immigration Crisis on the US
Cuban Adjustment Act / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-blames-the-central-american-immigration-crisis-on-the-us-cuban-adjustment-act-14ymedio/