Cuba ready to talk migration with U.S.

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From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Cuba has told the United States it is ready to talk about migration issues between the two countries, the State Department said Thursday.

Richard Boucher, a State Department spokesman, said the Cuban government finally answered a diplomatic note the department sent on Monday, which expressed U.S. concern over Cuban policies that prevent Cubans who hold U.S. visas from migrating to the United States.

VIDEO CNN Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman explains why the would-be immigrants are not able to leave Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     MESSAGE BOARD US/Cuba relations

Normally, those concerns would be addressed at twice-a-year migration meetings between the two countries. But the last such meeting was held last December in Havana, and the Cubans had been refusing U.S. demands for a new set of talks.

In a response to the U.S. note, the Cuban government said it would be ready to restart the talks.

But Boucher called the rest of the 15-page document "rhetoric."

"It contains the same tired old rhetoric of victimization that they've used since the '60s," he said.

Cuban Adjustment Act criticized

Boucher said the note detailed Cuban criticism of the Cuban Adjustment Act, a 1966 law which allows Cuban migrants who reach U.S. shores to remain in the U.S.

"We don't negotiate U.S. laws with the Cubans or anybody else," Boucher said.

On Monday, the Cuban government called the U.S. policy "criminal."

Roberto Garcia, a diplomat with the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, said the Cuban Adjustment Act, "is responsible for the continued death of Cubans."

"They receive a lot of privileges when they reach the U.S.," he said.

But the State Department maintains that Cuba refuses to address U.S. concerns about the rising number of Cubans illegally fleeing Cuba, trying to reach the United States.

The note sent by the United States to the Cuban government details an expensive and cumbersome process in Cuba to obtain an exit visa, including a $400 medical test, a $50 passport fee and a $150 exit fee, the official said. The fees are prohibitive for many Cuban workers, who earn an average salary of $10 per month.

A 1994 agreement between the United States and Cuba calls for 20,000 U.S. visas to be granted for Cuban migrants each year, although the quota is often expanded to accommodate Cubans with families in the United States.

According to the note, 117 Cubans from 57 families, all holding valid U.S. visas, were denied exit permits by the Cuban government over a recent 75-day period.

Havana acknowledges that 56 names on the list of 117 are being held back. But Cuba's foreign ministry says delaying exit permits for doctors and other professionals for a period of up to five years is justified because of the investment Cuba makes in educating them.

As for dissidents and deserters, Havana says they deserve no special consideration.

The Cuban government's continued prevention of legal migration, U.S. officials said, has led to an increase in Cuban nationals leaving the country illegally.

'Desperate sea voyages'

The U.S. Coast Guard has been picking up growing numbers of Cuban migrants in U.S. waters. Despite the fact many hold U.S. visas, protocol dictates that they be returned to Cuba.

The recent deaths of two Cuban brothers in their 20s has led to increased concern over the issue. Both were fleeing the island when they were attacked by a shark.

The case "highlights the growing propensity of Cubans denied the means to migrate in a safe, orderly and legal fashion to risk their lives in desperate sea voyages," the note said

Boucher encouraged the Cuban government to "issue the exit permits right away."

"If they haven't done it by the time we meet with them, we'll certainly make this an issue," he said.

Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman contributed to this report.

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Cubaweb
U.S. State Department
  • Information on Cuba
  • Cuban Adjustment Act Fact Sheet
I.N.S. Information for Cuban Immingrants
Amnesty International
  • 1999 Report on Cuba

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