CUBA: Migration Agreements with US Wobble

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Aug 19 1996 (IPS) - The migration agreements between the United States and Cuba, the only aspect of relations which remained untouched following the ‘airplane crisis,’ are now walking a rapidly fraying tightrope.

It appears that Washington is on the brink of breaking the rules on illegal immigrants from Cuba, delaying the repatriation of some 20 people who abandonned the island in August.

Experts from the US Interets Sector in Havana said in March that the anti-immigration stance of US President Bill Clinton would help keep the agreements in place after the incident on Feb. 24.

The shooting down of two US civil aircraft by the Cuban airforce on this date, ended the easing of the situation between the two nations and helped push the Helms-Burton bill through US Congress, toughening the trade block on Havana.

Clinton suspended direct flights to the island, promoted the controversial bill and helped accelerate the approval of international sanctions, though he maintained the migration agreements.

Havana, which in other times would have broken the bonds in retaliation for the Helms-Burton act, did not make any overt reaction to the move.

Specialist groups interpreted the gesture as a show of official interest in ending illegal and risky emigration for ever.

Nonetheless, the first contradictory sign came in July, when the White House announced that Clinton was looking into the possibility of granting political asylum to former Lieutenant Colonel Jose Fernandez Pupo, who hijacked a Cuban plane on June 27 in order to emigrate to the United States.

According to the migratory agreements signed on May 2, 1995, the United States committed itself to repatriate all people attempting illegal emigration to the United States, and Cuba undertook not to punish them for trying.

However, Fernandez Pupo is still in the US military base in Guantanamo, eastern Cuba, waiting for a verdict on his asylum request.

The delays are explained by the fact that this is no normal illegal migration, as it is the first hijacking of this sort since May 1994, before the “raft people crisis” in August of this year.

Ricardo Alarcon, Cuban parliamentary leader and Havana representative in the migration negotiations with Washington, said the hijacker should be turned over to the Island’s authorities.

“Cuba would consider the United States is supporting illegal emigration” if Washington does not adopt “exemplary measures,” as this would go against the very essence of the agreements, said foreign office sources.

The situation became even more complicated when the US government repatriated only 16 of the 27 illegal immigrants rescued when a ship sank off the Florida coast on Aug. 12.

“The Cuban authorities have surprisingly been informed that at least eight people from this group have been admitted into the United States and three have been sent to the Guantanamo naval base,” said the foreign minister in a press release.

According to this declaration, Cuba is waiting for the repatriation of both those people who enter the US and those in Guantanamo, a US military enclave 971 km from Havana.

Havana called for “greater seriousness” in fulfilling the migration agreements, and the application of drastic measures to put an end to people trafficking.

According to the note from the foreign ministry, the 29 Cubanas on the ship which sank were being moved by two people, both traffickers living in the United States.

The foreign office said this information had come from the media and officials in the US.

During the accident a 47 year-old woman and a 16 month-old girl both died, while the two traffickers, who were initially believed to have disappeared, abandonned ship, leaving the passengers totally defenceless, said the foreign ministry.

To complicate the situation even further, there has still been no answer to the Cuban request for the repatriation of three citizens who hijacked a tourist services plane on Friday 15, diverting it to the United States.

This conformed previous warnings by the Cuban government that any exception after the agreements were in place could serve as a stimulus for illegal emigration.

Cuba’s foreign minister said the admission of illegal Cuban emigres to the United States was “a flagrant violation of the agreements” between the two nations and a stimulus for illegal emigration, which does nothing to promote normal relations between the two nations.

Whilst awaiting an official response from Washington, the Island’s government reiterated its will to continue sticking to the agreement “strictly and rigorously.”