By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Jun 15 1998 (IPS)

Thousands stood in line outside post offices in Cuba since daybreak Monday to test their luck in the third “lottery” for U.S. visas.

Although they have 30 days to post their applications, which can be sent from any post office, many would-be emigrants wanted to be among the first, and send their applications from the Focsa post office, only 50 metres from the U.S. Cuban Interests Section.

“It’s absurd, a computer will decide in the end, but you feel safer this way,” said 19-year-old Leisa Perez, who walked for nearly an hour from her home in the old part of Havana to stand in line for three hours outside the Focsa post office.

“I don’t believe I have any future in this country, and if I go I can help my family from over there,” said Perez, who has not even bothered registering at university or looking for a job since graduating from high school last year.

Like many others in Cuba, Perez has a number of loved ones – her father, grandfather and two uncles – waiting to help her get on her feet in “the promised land”, as many Cubans see the United States.

“Besides my letter, I’m posting the applications of six relatives and friends,” said Perez, who is no exception to the rule. Most of those standing in line at the post office have more than one letter to send.

Uniformed and plain-clothesed police and even an armed forces officer were called out to keep order among a crowd of more than 100 people outside the downtown post office.

And although the Cuban Interest Section clearly specified that only applications sent through normal postal channels would be accepted, security forces were posted along the streets leading up to the U.S. office to avert any eventual disorder.

On Jun. 5, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) announced its third Special Programme for Cuban Immigration, in which any Cubans between the ages of 18 and 55 can participate.

The winners will be screened by the Cuban Interest Section in a process that could stretch out to the year 2000. They will have to present the results of a medical examination, any criminal records, and evidence that once in the United States they will not become a “public burden.”

In order to be eligible, they will have to meet two of three criteria: hold a technical school or university or equivalent degree; have at least three years job experience; or have a relative in the United States.

The finalists will be able to emigrate to the United States with their spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21.

The visa lotteries emerged as part of the migration accords signed Sep. 9, 1994 by Havana and Washington to stem an exodus of illegal migrants. The United States promised to issue at least 20,000 resident visas annually to Cubans wishing to emigrate.

So far, the INS and Cuban Interest Section have approved 29,000 winners of two previous lotteries.

According to government figures cited by ‘El Nuevo Heraldo’ in Miami, 189,000 people sent their applications in to the first lottery, which was launched in November 1994, a number that soared to 435,000 in March 1996. Cuba has a total population of around 11 million.

The third special programme has coincided with a slight rise in the past few months of the number of undocumented Cubans intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard while attempting to reach U.S. coasts.

Analysts in Cuba say the increase in the number of Cubans seeking to emigrate is mainly due to the economic crisis which has gripped the island since 1990, in the wake of the disappearance of the socialist bloc in Europe.

Some are simply unhappy with Cuba’s socialist system, while others have seen their hopes for better living standards dashed after the government opened a space for private initiative three years ago.

Yolanda Jimenez is the owner of a small restaurant shut down twice by inspectors for selling fish without the necessary receipt to demonstrate that she had purchased it from the government’s chain of stores where everything is sold in dollars.

“I left my job two years ago, and placed all my hopes in my family business. But between the taxes and the constant inspections, it is impossible to get ahead,” says 42-year-old Jimenez, who is sure she could do better by starting over in the United States.

There is no turning back for those who emigrate to the United States, who know they will only return to their country of origin on short vacations. But they are sure they will find a better life there, and be able to help their families with the dollars they send home.

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