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Posted on Mon, Feb. 10, 2003 in
The Miami
Herald.
HAVANA - (AP) -- Authorities here are studying a request by Cuban émigrés
for changes that would make it easier for them to visit the island, but a senior
communist official said Sunday the proposal did not include eliminating exit
permits for Cubans living here who want to travel abroad, contrary to reports
out of Havana last week.
During recent talks in Havana with a group of Cuban exiles, ''they brought
up their specific interests about entering Cuba,'' Ricardo Alarcón,
president of the Cuban parliament, told reporters at an international book fair
here. "That, of course, is being studied.''
But the issue of exit permits for Cubans who live on the island did not come
up, he said.
''What has been talked about with them is the relationship with them,''
Alarcón said. "I have to say truthfully that what we have talked
about is trips by them to Cuba.''
Last week, Cuban officials said that both entry and exit permits were being
considered.
ENTRY AND EXIT
Currently, Cuban-born people who live abroad must obtain entry permits from
Havana's government to visit. Cubans who live here must obtain exit permits to
emigrate or travel abroad, in addition to the visa for the country they are
traveling to.
The entry and exit permits have long been criticized as onerous and
expensive bureaucratic paperwork that erects barriers to free travel and family
reconciliation.
The proposal for the elimination of entry permits came up in late January
when a group of Cubans living overseas traveled here to meet informally with
Cuban officials about a joint conference being held here in April.
APRIL MEETING
Two delegations of Cuban exiles have now met with Foreign Ministry officials
here to lay the groundwork for the migration conference being held April 11-13.
Authorities estimate that at least 1,000 people will attend the gathering in
Havana, including about 600 overseas Cubans now living in the United States. | 
