It has been a long day, so pardon my French:
And this is fuckingunbelievable.
But seriously, for the Cuban dictatorship, which imprisons on the island just about all of its 11 million citizens, to complain that the United States is not granting the right number of visas to Cubans who wish to emigrate, is beyond Orwellian. It is not even of this world, but of the alternate reality that the dictatorship — whether intentionally or delusionally — chooses to operate and in which it holds Cubans captive.
The AP reporter in Havana apparently doesn't know where the U.S. Interests Section is Havana is located, so he went with only one side of the story. For a detailed look at the American response to the dictatorship's charges, read Reuters' report:
HAVANA (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it cannot meet an agreed quota of 20,000 visas for Cuban emigres this year because Cuba is obstructing its consular work in Havana."Unfortunately, the Cuban Government has thwarted our efforts to treat Cuban refugees in a respectful manner due to the numerous constraints placed on the U.S. Interests Section," a statement issued by the American diplomatic mission said.
The constraints include denying visas to essential U.S. diplomatic staff to work in Cuba, denying entry of materials and supplies to improve visa facilities, and not authorizing the hiring of local staff to fill 47 vacancies, it said.
Writing at Babalú, Henry Gomez reminds that for many Cubans wanting to emigrate, winning a U.S. visa is the easy part of the process:
But the truth is that getting out of Cuba involves more than a visa to get into the US (or any other country) it also involves getting an "exit visa" known as a "tarjeta blanca" (white card). You see, Cuba is the only the country I can think of that requires you to obtain permission to abandon it. If there are any others out there, I suspect that they are North Korea or similar countries led by despotic dictators.When a Cuban wins the "bombo" as the visa lottery is called, the fun has just begun. That Cuban then needs to get all the proper paperwork to get their tarjeta blanca. That usually involves bribing more than one official and getting physical exams that are NOT FREE (ahem, ahem Michael Moore). Think about that, a physical exam for somebody that wants to put their country in the rear view mirror. If you are a high profile person (like the wife of a Cuban baseball player who defected or a neurosurgeon that disagrees with the regime) you can forget about it.
Henry also cuts to chase about what the dictatorship is really bitching about:
The quest for an exit visa is something reminiscent of the movie Casablanca, where the most valuable commodity is a letter of transit that gives the bearer permission to get the hell out. Of course it's all just a scam to get the Cuban's stateside relatives to send even more cash to the hopeful immigrant. Cash the regime uses to continue to fuel its repressive machinery. It's a shakedown plain and simple.A slowdown in the number of visas greatly reduces the cash flow to the regime. 20,000 exit visas at an average cost $5,000 per visa yields the regime $100,000,000 in revenue. So if the US reduces the number of visas it issues, to say 10,000 or slows down the process of issuing visas so that the net result is that only 10,000 tarjetas blancas are issued, the result is net revenue loss of $50,000,000. No small potatoes.
No wonder they are angry, what with the declining tourism revenues, and the ever-maligned US restrictions on travel to Cuba, it's got to be quite upsetting to the executives of castro, inc.
As for "Havana Hospital," please, someone, tell me this is a "SiCKO" joke.
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