Cuban dentists freed welcomed into US

Posted on Wed, Mar. 15, 2006

IMMIGRATION
Cuban dentists freed, welcomed into U.S.
South Florida families welcomed two Cuban dentists released from a
Bahamian detention center after months of political wrangling.
BY OSCAR CORRAL
ocorral@MiamiHerald.com

Two Cuban dentists who have been held in a Bahamian detention center for
almost a year were released into U.S. custody Thursday, bringing joy to
two families torn apart by tense U.S.-Cuba geopolitics.

David Gonzalez-Mejias and Marialys Darias-Mesa arrived in Fort
Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon, reuniting with spouses and children who
had been anxiously awaiting their release. The two dentists had
languished in the Bahamas for 10 months, a situation that drew the ire
of several congressional representatives and senators, Cuban-American
activists and critical editorials from the Wall Street Journal and The
Miami Herald.

''The sun rises for everybody. Today it rose for my wife and I,'' said a
jubilant Ihovany Hernandez, the husband of Marialys, who lives in Cape
Coral.

Both dentists had received visas from the U.S. government to come to the
United States, but Cuba had denied them exit visas. So they took their
chances at sea, where the U.S. Coast Guard found them in Bahamian waters
in April 2005, and turned them over to Bahamian authorities, said U.S.
Sen. Mel Martinez in a written statement. Cuba restricts exit visas for
doctors and other professionals because the communist government
requires them to work for several years to pay back Cuba's ''free''
public education.

For the past several months, the Bahamian government had come under
increasing pressure from U.S. officials to release the pair.

RETURN

Bahamian security officers escorted the two dentists off the island at 8
a.m. Tuesday, according to the Bahamian government. They flew to
Jamaica, then hopped a flight to Fort Lauderdale.

Bahamian officials explained that neither their government nor the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees had determined that the
dentists had a credible claim of a well-founded fear of persecution in
Cuba. So they did not qualify to be political refugees in the Bahamas,
said Bahamian government spokesman Al Dillette in a written statement.

''As a result of intense consultations at the highest levels of the
government of the Bahamas, a decision was made to allow this exception
in favor of the two individuals,'' Dillette said. ``The Bahamas
concluded this matter with humanitarian consideration and within the
proper context of responsible international relations, while protecting
the integrity of the country. This was a deliberate and painstaking
process, necessarily conducted over an extended period.''

Dayamí Inda, the wife of Gonzalez-Mejias, said she received a call early
Tuesday with the news of her husband's release. Her 11-year-old daughter
and 17-year-old-son were eagerly awaiting their father's arrival, she said.

''I'm very emotional with what happened,'' said Inda, who lives in
Tampa. ``Finally, we can see him and hug him.''

Dozens of Cuban refugees, as well as those from Haiti, are being held in
the Bahamas. While Haitians are usually repatriated quickly, Cubans can
languish for months and U.S. authorities are trying to get the Bahamas
to treat them better.

PRESSURE

For months, U.S. politicians, including U.S. Reps. Connie Mack, Lincoln
and Mario Díaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez
and Bill Nelson, had been enlisting the help of the U.S. government to
pressure the Bahamas to release the dentists.

''I thank Bahamian Prime Minister Christie for his commitment to seeing
this difficult situation through to a conclusion in the best interest of
all parties,'' said Gov. Jeb Bush, who also lobbied for their release in
a recent visit to the island. ``When David and Marialys arrive today in
Florida, they will join the hundreds of thousands of Cubans and Cuban
Americans in our state who look forward to a Cuba free of Castro and his
oppression.''

Joshua Sears, the Bahamas ambassador to the United States, met late
Tuesday with U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Díaz-Balart to
brief them on the situation.

Sears said the island took its time with the case because officials
there are worried that releasing detainees could spur more emigrants to
flee to the Bahamas.

''That is one of the factors that caused us to consider this case in a
very deliberate fashion,'' Sears said. ``That is a constant fear.''

He noted that after the election in Haiti, nearly 1,000 Haitians fled to
the Bahamas.

Miami Herald staff writer Lesley Clark contributed to this report.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/14100374.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp