Travel regulations undermine
family values
By Daniel Wilkinson, daniel.wilkinson@hrw.org.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 21, 2005 in The
Miami Herald.
Among the many injustices Cubans endure
today are restrictions on travel that prevent
them from reuniting with family members
abroad. These restrictions have torn young
children away from their parents, destroyed
marriages and kept exiles from visiting
and caring for their aging or dying parents
in Cuba. Cubans may expect such state control
over their lives coming from a government
that has systematically deprived them of
the most basic freedoms for years.
But, unfortunately, it's not just Cuba
imposing the travel restrictions; it's also
the United States.
Fourteen months ago, the Bush administration
established strict limits on family-related
travel to Cuba with the aim of depriving
the Cuban government of the millions of
dollars of revenue generated by these trips.
Under these new rules, individuals are
allowed to visit relatives in Cuba only
once every three years -- and only if these
relatives fit the administration's narrow
definition of ''family.'' This definition
excludes aunts, uncles, cousins and other
next-of-kin who often are core members of
a typical Cuban family.
It's hard to think of a policy that so
blatantly contradicts the values that the
Bush administration espouses. ''Freedom''
was the central theme of President Bush's
second inaugural address. Freedom is what
the United States is fighting for in Iraq,
Bush has repeatedly told U.S. forces. According
to U.S. officials, it is what the embargo
is supposed to be promoting in Cuba. Yet
in the name of promoting freedom in Cuba,
the administration has severely undermined
the freedom of movement of hundreds of thousands
of Cuban Americans.
Few could appreciate this irony more than
U.S. Army Sgt. Carlos Lazo. After serving
as a combat medic in the battle of Fallujah,
he was told he couldn't visit his two teenage
sons in Havana during a two-week furlough
last year. He returned to the frontlines
not knowing if he would ever see them again.
''I did my duty in Iraq, even when it meant
I could lose my life,'' he said. ``But I
think I also need to do my duty as a father.''
''Family values'' has been another guiding
theme for Bush. Yet, like Lazo, many Cuban
Americans have found themselves unable to
fulfill basic familial obligations as a
result of the travel policy. Marisela Romero,
a Cuban-born American, was forced to end
her frequent trips to care for her ailing
father, a widower with advanced Alzheimer's
disease and no immediate relatives left
in Cuba. She was unable to help or comfort
him as he succumbed to depression, stopped
eating and eventually died.
The U.S. economic embargo of Cuba has been
in place for more than four decades. Cuba
is no more democratic now than it was 40
years ago. If anything, the embargo has
consolidated Fidel Castro's hold on power.
Because it is indiscriminate, rather than
targeted, the embargo has enabled the Cuban
government to shift blame to the United
States for the Cuban people's suffering.
Because it is bitterly opposed by most nations,
it has enabled the Cuban government to divide
the international community, easing international
pressure on the Castro's government rather
than increasing it.
Cuban Americans would like to see greater
freedom in Cuba. But the imposition of state
controls on their travel will not bring
that change. It only reminds them of the
kind of policy they hoped to leave behind
when they came to the United States.
''I came to this country in search of freedom,''
Romero said about America. ''And now I feel
like someone is taking away this freedom
that I came here for.'' She added, ``How
can such a beautiful country have a law
like this?''
Daniel Wilkinson is counsel for the Americas
division of Human Rights Watch and the author
of the new report ``Families Torn Apart:
The High Cost of U.S. and Cuban Travel Restrictions.''
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