3rd International Nation and Emigration CONFERENCE
 

• 465 émigré Cubans participate in the 3rd International Nation and Emigration Conference that opened Friday in Havana • Those who present the ongoing US government aggression – “in alliance with a crooked, ambitious and anti-patriotic" group of extremists resident in that country – as “a problem among Cubans are simply lying"

BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD—Special for Granma International—

ENTHUSIATICALLY applauded by the 465 émigré Cubans participating in the 3rd International Nation and Emigration Conference that started this Friday morning in Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque announced several new measures intended to significantly improve their relations with the Island.

 The minister also revealed a decision to grant university scholarships to the children of Cuban émigrés and the creation of a summer program of Spanish language and Cuban history and culture, "particularly designed for descendants of Cubans residing overseas".

 But the best news for those present are the new measures that will further expedite and render more secure the customs procedures and make them more secure. "These include a pricing system by baggage weight, which should solve one of the issues that prompts the most complaints and irritation", explained a smiling Perez Roque, warmly acclaimed by the participants.

 The Minister recalled several of the measures already taken in the last decade to facilitate the relations between the Cuban community abroad and the island.

“Those who migrate legally no longer have to wait for five years to return to our country on a visit,” Pérez Roque said, adding that "émigrés visiting our country do not necessarily have to stay in a hotel, as was the case in 1994."

 Correo de Cuba —a magazine created by Ambassador José Cabañas, the minister noted— is published regularly to inform the Cuban community abroad and an Internet website named Nation and Emigration, geared for Cubans residing overseas, will be launched during this Conference.

 "In the course of recent years, we have expanded the possibilities for a definitive return to the country," Perez Roque emphasized. "In 1994, we removed the requirement of an entry permit for those temporarily residing abroad, who now number over 50,000. The Travel Validity document, used last year by more than 20,000 Cuban immigrants, became operational in 1995. And finally, as of June 1, Cubans resident abroad will no longer need an entry permit to travel to the island," he added.

 The minister underscored some very important aspects of the whole debate on Cuba and its émigrés, a subject too often manipulated by the United States.

"The decisions made in the last decade have laid the groundwork for the gradual normalization of relations between the nation and its émigrés, he stressed.

Those who present the ongoing aggression of the US government – in alliance with a crooked, ambitious and anti-patriotic group of extremists residing in that country – as a “problem among Cubans are simply lying".

 "The real problem, both for Cubans who live in their homeland and for all those who – no matter where they live – feel a love for Cuba and want to see it free and sovereign, is President Bush’s decision to deny us the right to self-determination; to deny us the right, enshrined in the UN Charter, to be an independent country and to choose, without outside interference, our economic, political and social model, as well as our laws and our institutions", Felipe said, underlining that the present US administration has inherited "an imperial yearning for Cuba that goes back a couple of centuries".

 The Minister also clearly indicated that the economic blockade and the policy of aggression against Cuba "are currently the major obstacle to a full normalization of relations between Cuban émigrés and our country".

 "The measures announced by President Bush last 6 May are a new and flagrant violation of the human rights of Cubans living in the United States and those living on the island", Felipe said.

 "Standing up to them must become the top priority of whoever feels like a Cuban."

 However, precisely at this point in time, when there is an increase in the pressure and threats against Cuba, "our optimism is stronger, as well as our unwavering faith that this noble and generous people will not be subdued"

 When Cuba hosted the Ist Conference – "some of the guests here today will remember it very well" – what was at stake was whether the Cuban nation would be able to survive such obstacles and dangers.

 "Today, 10 years later, nobody, not even our most embittered enemies, doubt our capacity to overcome the difficulties and forge ahead. That is, most likely, the cause of their despair and their ever-increasing hatred of our people", Pérez Roque, receiving warm applause from an enthusiastic crowd.

 The Minister stressed that "Cuba will take a giant leap towards its socioeconomic development the day it is justify in peace to build its future. It will do it just the same, even if the blockade is further tightened – but, undoubtedly, without the costs entailed by the economic war that it has to endure today, our country would move a lot faster."

 "And that day, when there is no longer any blockade, hostility or “transition” plans for Cuba designed in Washington – or the yearning to annex Cuba to the United States  – then Cubans will be able to travel legally back and forth without any restrictions whatsoever," except —obviously— for "the handful of people who may not be worthy of such a prerogative on account of their shameful and harmful conduct against the homeland".

  "Those who wish to retire in Cuba and have the means to do so will be able to do so", the Minister said.

"After centuries of struggle and huge sacrifice, the Cuban nation will have finally attained "its right to live in full justice and freedom," he concluded, with many of the guests shouting their approval and waving Cuban flags.

 The 3rd International Nation and Emigration Conference continues until Sunday moring when it concludes with a speech by Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, President of the Cuban Parliament.

(Granma) May 21, 2004