The Exodus Is Due To The Lack Of Freedom

The Exodus Is Due To The Lack Of Freedom / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos
Posted on November 26, 2015

14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 25 November 2015 — The current
immigration crisis created by the presence of thousands of Cubans in
Central America in transit to the United States has put the issue of
human rights in Cuba back in the international arena, in particular the
civil, political, social and economic rights of Cubans.

The government of General Raul Castro and a part of the international
press emphasize the idea that it is a legal issue, related to the Cuban
Adjustment Act. The Cuban government also links it to the maintenance of
the blockade-embargo, which analysts say is an attempt to pressure the
US government to repeal both laws.

However, it is not possible to hide, behind the Cuban exodus, the
fundamental problem in Cuba: the dissatisfaction of hundreds of
thousands of Cubans with the economic and political situation in
our country, which remains essentially unchanged thanks to decisions
taken by the government — which has been in power for more than half a
century – in the name of socialism, which has never existed.

No, we Cubans are not starving, because really there is no generalized
crisis of that type in Cuba. Although for many nutrition is precarious,
the fundamental appetite Cubans have is for rights and freedoms, for
democracy, because the "dictatorship" – supposedly of the proletariat –
established in Cuba and always led in the same direction by the
Communist Party, continues to insist on its political and economic model
of monopolistic State capitalism; by its nature anti-democratic,
exclusive and retrograde.

Despite the public discourse of an "opening," in reality economic
activity outside the State is constantly limited by laws, regulations
and provisions at all levels and by high direct and indirect taxes.
Autonomous work, or self-employment, continues to be restricted to a
group of activities and cannot be exercised by professionals in medicine
or law, for example. To establish a cooperative requires permission from
the Council of State.

But above all, State monopolies in domestic and foreign trade and the
limited access to international communications networks, hinder
non-State economic activity.

But what most oppresses Cubans, along with the daily problems of
housing, transportation or poor-quality food, is the repressive
philosophy of the State that impedes the freedom of expression, of
association and elections, which obstructs any democratic alternation in
power of forces and figures different from the governmental clan, forces
and figures that could bring another focus to politics and get the
country out of the stagnation in which it finds itself.

This is definitely a massive and flagrant violation of the civil,
political, economic and social rights of the Cuban people, by a
government that has spent more than half a century in power, with the
methods and mechanisms to guarantee its indefinite existence. And this
is the real cause of the exodus and of the current crisis.

It is true that the internal problems of Cubans must be resolved by
Cubans ourselves, but when these problems affect other nations it is
logical that they would take action in the matter and try to influence
events through international means established by multilateral
institutions recognized by the States.

The Central American community has met to discuss the crisis, but it
should go beyond the legal and border problems involved and evaluate it
in its entirety. The Inter-American system should also take action on
the issue and the United Nations itself should involve itself, because
as long as there is no resolution to the internal problems in Cuba, the
system imposed by this "eternal Government" is going to continue to
generate regional tensions related to immigration, be it in Central
America, South America or the Straits of Florida.

Some believe that the current immigration crisis caused by the presence
of thousands of Cubans in Central America is a land version of the
Rafter Crisis of 1994. Any attempt to put a plug in the Cuban exodus
across the continent could lead to a situation like that one, if
democratic changes that loosen tensions do not come to pass in Cuba

Source: The Exodus Is Due To The Lack Of Freedom / 14ymedio, Pedro
Campos | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-exodus-is-due-to-the-lack-of-freedom-14ymedio-pedro-campos/