“I had been in Cuba a few months when I heard the song ‘Hotel California’ on a local radio station. The song caught my attention because it was so relevant to the island.”
-Catherine Moses, Real Life in Castro's Cuba
“After the Mariel episode [in 1980] numerous other Cubans registered on lists of people seeking permission to leave the country. Nearly twenty years later, most of them are still waiting.”
-Pascal Fontaine, in The Black Book of Communism
“This country is a big prison.”
-Elizardo Sanchez, in Andres Oppenheimer’s Castro's Final Hour (published in 1992)
"A prison is a place from which people try to leave, but are forcibly prevented from doing so by their jailor. If Cuba does not fit this bill, it is difficult to see why not."
-Walter Block
In addition to persecuting dissidents and maintaining autocracy, Communist Cuba continues to arrogate self-ownership through the policy of salida ilegal (illegal exit)
From Human Rights Watch's 2001 report on Cuba
http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/americas/cuba.html:
“Cuba's repressive human rights practices were undergirded by the country's legal and institutional structure. The rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and of the press remained restricted under Cuban law…Even Cubans' right to leave their country was severely restricted, as the government prosecuted persons for "illegal exit" if they attempted to leave the island without first obtaining official permission to do so. Such permission was sometimes denied arbitrarily, or made contingent on the purchase of an expensive exit permit.”
From Freedom House's The World's Most Repressive Regimes, 2001http://freedomhouse.org/reports/worstregimes.pdf:
"Freedom of movement and the right to choose one's residence, education, or job are severely restricted. Attempting to leave the island without permission is a punishable offense. In August 2000, the U.S. State Department charged that Cuba was not abiding by a 1994 agreement seeking to establish ground rules for the orderly migration of 20,000 Cubans plus their family members to the United States. Noting that more than 100 Cubans to whom the United States has granted visas were denied exit permit by the Cuban government in a 75-day period, it said that the island’s policy was encouraging Cubans “denied the means to migrate in a safe, orderly and legal fashion to risk their lives in desperate sea voyages.
Cuban authorities have failed to carry out an adequate investigation into the July 1994 sinking of a tugboat carrying at least 66 people, of whom only 31 survived, as it sought to flee Cuba. Several survivors alleged that the craft sank as it was being pursued and assaulted by three other Cuban vessels acting under official orders, and that the fleeing boat was not allowed to surrender. The government denied any responsibility, claiming the tragedy was an accident caused by irresponsible actions of those on board…Those in Cuba commemorating the dead, or who have peacefully protested the sinking, have faced harassment and intimidation.”
From the U.S. State Department’s 2001 human rights report on Cuba
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/wha/index.cfm?docid=751:
“Migrants who travel to the United States must pay the Government a total of about $500 per adult and $400 per child, plus airfare. These government fees for medical exam, passport, and exit visa-which must be paid in dollars-are equivalent to about 5 years of a professional person's accumulated peso salary and represent a significant hardship, particularly for political refugees who usually are marginalized and have no income. In 1996 the Government agreed to allow 1,000 needy refugees to leave each year with reduced exit fees. However, after the first group of 1,000 in 1996, no further refugees have been accorded reduced fees. At year's end, 85 approved refugees remained in the country because they were unable to pay government exit fees for themselves and their families.
The Penal Code provides for imprisonment from 1 to 3 years or a fine of $15 to $50 dollars (300 to 1,000 pesos) for unauthorized departures by boat or raft.”
Close Window
"...every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself." -John Locke
(c)2001 FreeEmigration.com All Rights Reserved
“I had been in Cuba a few months when I heard the song ‘Hotel California’ on a local radio station. The song caught my attention because it was so relevant to the island.”
-Catherine Moses, Real Life in Castro's Cuba
“After the Mariel episode [in 1980] numerous other Cubans registered on lists of people seeking permission to leave the country. Nearly twenty years later, most of them are still waiting.”
-Pascal Fontaine, in The Black Book of Communism
“This country is a big prison.”
-Elizardo Sanchez, in Andres Oppenheimer’s Castro's Final Hour (published in 1992)
"A prison is a place from which people try to leave, but are forcibly prevented from doing so by their jailor. If Cuba does not fit this bill, it is difficult to see why not."
-Walter Block
In addition to persecuting dissidents and maintaining autocracy, Communist Cuba continues to arrogate self-ownership through the policy of salida ilegal (illegal exit)
From Human Rights Watch's 2001 report on Cuba
http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/americas/cuba.html:
“Cuba's repressive human rights practices were undergirded by the country's legal and institutional structure. The rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and of the press remained restricted under Cuban law…Even Cubans' right to leave their country was severely restricted, as the government prosecuted persons for "illegal exit" if they attempted to leave the island without first obtaining official permission to do so. Such permission was sometimes denied arbitrarily, or made contingent on the purchase of an expensive exit permit.”
From Freedom House's The World's Most Repressive Regimes, 2001
http://freedomhouse.org/reports/worstregimes.pdf:
"Freedom of movement and the right to choose one's residence, education, or job are severely restricted. Attempting to leave the island without permission is a punishable offense. In August 2000, the U.S. State Department charged that Cuba was not abiding by a 1994 agreement seeking to establish ground rules for the orderly migration of 20,000 Cubans plus their family members to the United States. Noting that more than 100 Cubans to whom the United States has granted visas were denied exit permit by the Cuban government in a 75-day period, it said that the island’s policy was encouraging Cubans “denied the means to migrate in a safe, orderly and legal fashion to risk their lives in desperate sea voyages.
Cuban authorities have failed to carry out an adequate investigation into the July 1994 sinking of a tugboat carrying at least 66 people, of whom only 31 survived, as it sought to flee Cuba. Several survivors alleged that the craft sank as it was being pursued and assaulted by three other Cuban vessels acting under official orders, and that the fleeing boat was not allowed to surrender. The government denied any responsibility, claiming the tragedy was an accident caused by irresponsible actions of those on board…Those in Cuba commemorating the dead, or who have peacefully protested the sinking, have faced harassment and intimidation.”
From the U.S. State Department’s 2001 human rights report on Cuba
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/wha/index.cfm?docid=751:
“Migrants who travel to the United States must pay the Government a total of about $500 per adult and $400 per child, plus airfare. These government fees for medical exam, passport, and exit visa-which must be paid in dollars-are equivalent to about 5 years of a professional person's accumulated peso salary and represent a significant hardship, particularly for political refugees who usually are marginalized and have no income. In 1996 the Government agreed to allow 1,000 needy refugees to leave each year with reduced exit fees. However, after the first group of 1,000 in 1996, no further refugees have been accorded reduced fees. At year's end, 85 approved refugees remained in the country because they were unable to pay government exit fees for themselves and their families.
The Penal Code provides for imprisonment from 1 to 3 years or a fine of $15 to $50 dollars (300 to 1,000 pesos) for unauthorized departures by boat or raft.”
Close Window