"We have never put up a barrier, it has been the blockade that has put up the barriers."
The answer given by the First Secretary of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to the U.S. press agency AP, at the opening of the 38th Havana International Fair, applies to all the problems generated by the hostile policy of the U.S. government against Cuba, especially through the economic, commercial and financial blockade.
The intensified blockade has also been an aggravating cause of the current migratory situation between the two countries, as well as the non-fulfillment of the bilateral agreement on migration, which were topics in the migratory talks between representatives of both nations, held in Havana, in order to reduce the irregular, unsafe and disorderly movement of people.
Cuba reiterated its concern over the negative impact of the blockade and the extreme tightening measures implemented by the U.S. government since 2019. "There is no doubt that a policy aimed at depressing the standard of living of the population constitutes a direct stimulus to emigrate," Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, head of the Cuban delegation, told the press.
The Cuban Adjustment Act and the preferential treatment received by Cubans who enter the U.S. illegally also serve as stimulus for the irregular migration, he denounced.
He also stated that irregular migration causes loss of life and creates conditions for other phenomena such as migratory fraud, human trafficking and smuggling.
Fernández de Cossío described the meeting as useful and constructive, in which the parties reviewed compliance with the bilateral migration agreements and acknowledged the steps taken in recent months to ensure their effective implementation.
He noted that the Cuban delegation welcomed the announcement of the full resumption of immigrant visa services at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, effective January 4, 2023.
Regarding the process of repatriation of migrants deemed inadmissible, he detailed that Cuba is willing to receive flights of deportees and the parties are currently agreeing on the terms and conditions for these flights, which stopped due to COVID-19.
Translated by ESTI
