Vol. 81/No. 6 February 13, 2017
Washington ends ‘wet-foot, dry-foot’ Cuba program
The scrapping of the programs is “an important step forward in improving bilateral relations,” Cuba’s revolutionary government said in a Jan. 12 statement. This removes what Havana viewed as an important obstacle to normalizing relations, a process begun with the decision announced by Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro in December 2014 to re-establish diplomatic relations.
At the same time, it signals a shift in tactics by the U.S. rulers, who continue to seek to overturn the revolution and reimpose capitalist rule on the island. U.S. imperialism has never forgiven working people in Cuba for overturning the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and then taking power out of the hands of the capitalist class.
The new policy makes Cubans who enter the U.S. without a visa subject to deportation. For the last two decades under “wet-foot, dry-foot,” those intercepted at sea were sent back to Cuba, but those who succeeded in stepping on U.S. soil could stay.
Under previous agreements, Washington agreed to grant at least 20,000 immigrant visas a year to Cubans. But this was never done. In 2015 only 6,300 Cubans were given visas, in 2016 just 9,100.
Instead, Washington granted “dry-foot” entry to 40,000 Cubans in 2015 and 54,000 in 2016. Many of those wishing to leave risked their lives on flimsy rafts or dangerous trips across Central America.
The implementation of these policies “provoked migratory crises, hijackings of airplanes and boats, and the commission of crimes like trafficking in emigrants, in persons, migratory fraud, and the use of violence,” the Cuban government said.
The Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program was just as insidious. Under this program, the U.S. government lured Cuban health care workers working abroad — mostly internationalist volunteers providing free medical care around the world — with the prospect of getting rich in the U.S. While the overwhelming majority are impervious to the imperialist bribes, Washington says several thousand were admitted to the U.S. since the program began.
In its Jan. 12 statement Havana called on the U.S. Congress to also repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. This act grants Cubans permanent residency after one year in the U.S. Those who get a green card are also immediately eligible for government cash assistance and health coverage, unlike immigrants from the rest of the world. Thousands of Cubans on tourist visas take advantage of this law each year.
U.S. imperialism’s tactics are changing, but not its goal. The U.S. embargo on Cuba remains in place and Washington still refuses to return the Guantánamo Naval Base to Cuban control.
Scrapping the “wet-foot, dry-foot” program will lead to more Cubans pressing for change in their own country, Ben Rhodes, who was Obama’s deputy national security adviser, told the New York Times.
Long-time enemy of the Cuban Revolution, Jorge Mas, chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, agreed.
“This will significantly increase pressure on the regime by depriving them of an escape valve” to let discontented Cubans leave, Mas told the Courier-Tribune Jan. 12.
But the capitalists always underestimate the working class. Cuba’s workers and farmers have stood up to imperialist pressure for nearly six decades without giving up a single one of their principles. There is no reason to think that they can’t meet the new challenges posed by Washington’s shift in tactics.
Since re-establishing diplomatic relations, a dozen bilateral agreements on cooperation ranging from air travel and health to the environment and the fight against drug trafficking have been signed, and a dozen more are in the pipeline. There are no indications that President Donald Trump plans to reverse this course.
A high-level Cuban business delegation visited the U.S. in January and met with port officials in Houston, New Orleans and in Florida.
Officials of Port Everglades intended to sign a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with the National Port Administration of Cuba about future cooperation. They backed off when Florida Gov. Rick Scott threatened to cut off state funding to any port that entered into an agreement with Cuba.
Related articles:
‘Revolution made health care a right,’ Cuban doctors say
Regional summit calls for end to US embargo of Cuba
Cuban women wanted to participate in a genuine revolution
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