Three clarifications on the forced migration of Cubans

Three clarifications on the forced migration of Cubans
SOREN TRIFF | Boston | 20 Nov 2015 - 11:54 am.

The current crisis is not the result of fear that the Cuban Adjustment
Act will be repealed. It is part of the regime's plan.

To explain the humanitarian crisis that the Cuban regime is generating
in the eyes of the world, there are some terms used by the media that
must be immediately rectified: "exodus," "flight" and "economic
emigration" or "political emigration."

I understand that these are the traditional reference frameworks for
migratory news about Cubans, but they are misleading. In Cuba the regime
is creating a forced migration, not an exodus. It is an expulsion of the
society's middle class, not a flight. And it is a humanitarian crisis,
not a migration of a political or economic nature.

Why is it a forced migration? For years the migrations of 1965, 1980 and
1994 have been studied as classic cases of forced migrations in
political science and international relations textbooks, like Kelly M.
Greenhill's Weapons of Mass Migration. As with genocides, these were
migrations artificially created by a leader making rational calculations
about risks and benefits, resulting in the expulsion of human groups to
other democratic countries in order to obtain a range of benefits.

In Cuba the regime controls the entrance and exit of its citizens, so
these people have express permission from the government to leave the
country. Raúl Castro is carrying out a deliberate, direct attack on
certain nationals, using them as weapons in international politics, in
addition to an indirect attack on the countries receiving Cubans.

Through this action the leader seeks to conceal the internal conflict
between the government and the population, and its failure to improve
the lives of Cubans, diverting attention from the national scenario to
the international arena, as he banks on other countries accepting Cubans
and helping to subsidize this model of government, as has happened before.

Expelled or escaped? Traditionally those who emigrate are considered
news, but emigration is not a cause, but rather a consequence of
something else. When the news focuses solely on those who migrate, the
reason for the emigration remains hidden, and those responsible escape
scrutiny. For example, between 1933 and 1938 there was an "exodus" of
German Jews to Europe, America and Palestine that distracted attention
from the cause: the denial of their rights and the destruction of their
livelihoods.

The "Cuban model" consists of exploiting capitalist partners to prop up
the regime, as it continues to subject its people to a survival economy.
Those who attempt to change acceptable public behavior, economic or
social, become internal "enemies" of the State. The regime harasses them
with inspections, fines, jail time, taxes, the confiscation of their
goods, and low-paying jobs, or ones that do not match their professional
qualifications. All this amounts to a state of persecution. Expulsion
from the country is a consequence of the above.

The propaganda campaign about the "economic revision" will not really
change the "model" employed since 1965. The revision has already been
questioned by the Catholic Church, and by some economists in the regime
itself. Both sources have expressed concern about the human cost of the
process, pointing out the people's sense of urgency and frustration.
More than two years ago the Catholic Church stated that the revision
addressed "demands long harbored by the population." The bishops stated
they wished to see "the beginning of a process of ever-broader reforms,
for the good of the people and the rising generation of Cubans. We sense
the anxiousness of the people with regards to these aspirations," the
bishops said, as reported by this newspaper.

Last year, meanwhile, economists expressed similar concerns. Omar
Everleny Pérez stated: "We've been implementing the guidelines for three
years and, at the end of the chain, customers and employees are not
seeing results." Economist Oscar Fernández Estrada, meanwhile, said: "If
they were given an enhanced role [small businesses and cooperatives],
especially in productive activities, rather than just services, they
could help to bolster employment and economic growth."

Another unidentified economist stated that: "I think that most Cubans
are realizing that much needs to happen, and they are increasingly
frustrated by the lack of visible action, and negative decisions," he
told this newspaper.

It is important to note that these statements by organizations attached
to the regime, and its officials, were issued in September of 2013 and
2014. That is, long before the resumption of relations with the US.
Thus, it is inaccurate to state that the immigration crisis is a
consequence of fear that the obsolete Cuban Adjustment Act will be
repealed, as some sources have suggested. Rather, the migration is part
of a plan by the regime to eliminate people it does not want to employ,
or allow to work independently, and to coerce other countries into
taking responsibility for the lives of these Cubans.

Source: Three clarifications on the forced migration of Cubans | Diario
de Cuba - http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1448016898_18265.html