From: rjv@a2.cim.cdc.com (Rene Valdes)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Subject: Re: Human Rights in Cuba
Date: 9 Jan 93 01:39:54 GMT
Reply-To: rjv@a2.cim.cdc.com (Rene Valdes)
Distribution: usa

In article <103778@netnews.upenn.edu>, julio@upenn5.hep.upenn.edu (Julio Gonzalez) writes:
|> >    Needless to say, my uncle is seriously considering my nephew's offer
|> >  to stay here in the US with him!
|> 
|> 	I hope he stays. But will he be allowed to visit the Island
|> 	once he starts being a USA citizen ? Remember "Americans" are
|> 	not allowed visits there unless they can prove some "good"
|> 	reasons to do so.

It would help to become better informed before making these comments.
I am a Cuban born American citizen and the government of the USA does
not object at all with my returning to Cuba at any time to visit my 
relatives.  My problem is the government of Cuba that does not allow
"worms" like me to enter the country except under very restricted and
specific conditions.  For instance, I was able to go to Cuba in August
because my mother was terminally ill and they granted me a "humanitarian
visa".  Unfortunately, they took so long (quite a few months) to process
this visa that my mother passed away before I got there.

American citizens who don't have close relatives, are not journalists or
are not involved in some kind of research, etc... (there are quite a few
exceptions) are not allowed to travel to Cuba.  This is part of the
embargo and I think it is offensive to the dignity of Americans.  Every
American should be allowed to travel anywhere they please.  However, it
is not to hard to go to Cuba via Mexico or Canada (I have sent several
Americans to be my representatives in the past), and the ban on travel
is hardly enforced.

One of the things that are wrong with Cuba is that the government decides
who can leave the country and who can't.  In a totally arbitrary way.  The
pilot who landed recently on a Cuba highway to pick up his wife and children
did so because Cuba would not let these people go.  They were kept in the
country against their will.  What kind of human rights are those?  What
do you think the motives of Castro are to keep people in Cuba by force?

|> >  
|> >  Did you know that for every extra month my uncle stays here my nephew has to
|> >  pay $150.00 per month to Castro's government so his dad's few belongings in Cuba
|> >  are not confiscated and he won't lose his apartment? Should we call that
|> >  extortion or what? .......
|> 
|> 	That seems a pretty cheap storage price. How much is it to store
|> 	things here ? Does he have to pay rent also ? If I go to Chile
|> 	I have to pay for the rent in my place. $400 per month.

This does not have anything whatsoever to do with storage.  This is a fee
that is paid to get permission to stay outside Cuba one month longer.  For
any person who visit the USA from Cuba, his/her relative in the USA has to
pay $106.00 for an invitation letter.  $625.00 for a round-trip ticket to
Cuba.  This is a Havana-Miami-Havana ticket (about 35 min. each way), which
in its Miami-Havana-Miami form cost $225, the difference being taxes on
Cuban residents.  Then, for every month after the first month in the USA,
the person has to send his/her passport to the Interest Section of Cuba in 
Washington with $150 to pay for an extension of his permission to be outside
Cuba.  This can be done for up to 6 months.  At the end, they have to pay 
about $300 for the return ticket if they have postponed the departure date.
All in all, the relative in the USA is likely to be pauing up to about $1700
just for the airplane ticket and the visa requirements.  On top of that,
this person will have to cover all the expenses of the relative in the USA,
plus as much as he/she can possibly afford in goods to be taken back to
Cuba to satisfy the unending needs of relatives and friends on the Island.
Not really a bargain!

|> -- 
|> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|> Julio , U of Penn, Philadelphia 
|> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- 
+-----------------------------------+------------------------------+
|     Rene J. Valdes                |     rjv@a2.cim.cdc.com       |
+-----------------------------------+------------------------------+