Cubans agog at chance to travel, 50 years on

After half a century of Orwellian obstacles to travel, Cubans are marveling at the thought President Raul Castro is expected to unveil reforms Friday that could let them see the world, and their loved ones, at long last.
“I hope Raul will remove the road block, and that we will be able to travel without so many problems. It would be a great Christmas gift,” said Luis Pena, a 37-year-old engineer whose mother has lived in the United States for 30 years.
Pena, optimistic and hopeful yet cautious about whether the travel freedoms so many Cubans want so badly will materialize, admitted: “I don’t have any of my old childhood friends around any more. They have all left.”
The Roman Catholic Church and regime-friendly musicians like Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes have joined a chorus of Cubans calling for an end to the rules, including one that penalizes “permanent emigrants” from the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas.
Observers in Havana say Raul Castro is widely expected to make the announcement in an address to the National Assembly.
Local experts believe Castro will end the requirement of exit visas (for Cubans on the island), entrance visas (for Cubans living overseas who return home) and the legal status of “permanent emigrant.”
Those who are deemed to have left illegally (permanent emigrants) in essence are classed as defectors, their homes and assets seized.
Cubans can already leave the country in theory but only when they have received a letter of invitation from overseas. Then, they have to file for permission for an exit visa, just at the start of a maze-like bureaucratic process that costs about 500 dollars.
They also need entry visas from countries to which they would travel.
That might not all sound so insumountable in wealthier countries. But workers in Cuba — doctors and streetcleaners alike — make about 20 dollars a month.
So the system has kept travel painfully limited, year in and year out, from the Cold War through today, given that about one in six Cuban nationals lives abroad. Separation from family and friends makes the issue a highly emotional one in Cuba.
It also has drawn criticism from some rights groups about Cubans’ basic freedom of movement.
Since 2006 Raul Castro’s government has ended several unpopular restrictions. Among other things Cubans are now allowed to rent rooms in hotels geared to international tourism, sign cell phone contracts, and buy electric appliances.
In September, the government authorized Cubans to buy and sell cars, and this month private homes.
On August 1, Castro announced that there would be forthcoming easing of travel restrictions, which started fueling hopes.
“Everybody is waiting for that law (change) … really, nobody knows what is going to be approved,” said a more downbeat Adonis Gonzalez, 38, a driver who was waiting in line to get a Spanish (EU) passport as the grandson of a Spaniard, in order to be able to travel without fuss and high cost.
“Whatever gets approved on Friday, I don’t think anybody will be traveling anywhere Saturday,” he added skeptically.
But engineer Pena was trying to stay optimistic. He has only seen his mom once in 30 years, though she lives only a 30-minute flight away in Miami.
“If like they are saying, all of that is eliminated, my mom could come more often” to visit, Pena said, hopeful that she will have a chance to see his new baby boy, her new grandson.
If Havana makes the changes, they could be a stunning wake-up call to the United States, as they have potential to fuel a bilateral migration crisis.
As part of held-over Cold War policy, the United States still grants any Cuban who reaches US soil legal US residency on request. The United States does not have this policy for nationals of any other country.
With the US economy weak and the US presidential race in gear, the United States has not been planning a welcome for many thousands of new Cuban immigrants who soon may be calling, legally, by sea and by air.

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