Cuban Carlos Jiménez y Daria, his wife of Russian nationality, stood outside the doors of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, waiting to be cared for and granted political asylum, and sent an Message to 14ymedio on Wednesday: “We will fight for our human rights.”
In constant tension, both young men fled St. Petersburg, where Carlos was to be recruited by the Russian army to fight against Ukraine, and then Havana, where he had official residence. The ideological contradictions with their family close to the regime and increasing harassment by state security forces led the couple to move again, this time to Trinidad and Tobago, hoping to be recognized as refugees.
“Every day is a new struggle for survival,” says Carlos, who foresaw the difficulties they would face in exile but not the seriousness of the situation in their host country. “Although the government of Trinidad and Tobago has signed the UN Refugee Conventions, it has not ratified them and therefore does not comply with them,” he summarizes.
“Although the government of Trinidad and Tobago has signed the UN Refugee Conventions, it has not ratified them and therefore does not comply with them.”
The worst scenario, he regrets, is deportation. “That would be fatal for us because they would separate us and send us to our countries where we would not be safe and where they could arrest us,” he says.
In the event that Carlos is sent back to Havana, the political police can act against him because, as the young man recalls, before leaving the country, he identified and exposed several agents of the regime: Juan Carlos Fonseca, by whom he reiterates that he “deports some Cubans and refuses entry to others,” and Edel Alfaro Jiménez, a well-known official whom he gave “a face.” Everything could be made easier with a stronger position from the United Nations, but so far it has all been “just talk and no protection”.
To make matters worse, the couple were evicted from the place they had been living in after being “cheated” by the owners. “We had to sleep with rats three nights in a row,” says Carlos. By denouncing the situation in the Living Water Community – “UNHCR’s right arm in Trinidad” – officials seemed to suggest that the homeowners were right. Carlos looked at them and remembered that as asylum seekers they also had the right to be treated like human beings.
They managed to stay two nights, but this Wednesday they had to find another place to stay, says the young man. “We don’t know where we’re going to sleep yet.”
Some Cuban exiles in Trinidad and Tobago have given them help and food. “They don’t have much, but what they have they share. They built their lives here after leaving the island,” he describes.
In addition to urging at the UNHCR office, Carlos started a series of tweets He drew attention to his case and questioned the United Nations authorities. “They can and should help us if everything they say publicly is not empty words and they really care about what is happening with the refugees,” he says, adding that his goal is to help him and Daria in a country where they are not at risk of being deported.
“Cuba and Russia are very dangerous dictatorships and capable of anything. We are all at risk and these organizations must take their responsibilities to us.”
The options offered by Trinidad and Tobago are Canada, the United States and Australia, but these countries have not made a decision yet. His priority is the health of Daria, who is particularly suffering from the stress of these days. “She can’t take another night like the one we spent on the streets. This country has a very high crime rate,” he warns.
Carlos no longer maintains contact with his family in Havana. Regime agents, he says, continue to attack them on social media. “I only know about Cuba from what I’ve read on the news, and that worries me enough. Vladimir Putin has already harmed his people and he will do the same to ours,” he says.
The Cuban government’s rapid rapprochement with the Kremlin culminated a few days ago, when Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed the regime’s “unconditional support” in Russia’s “confrontation” with the West at the same time as Putin’s envoy, Dmitri Chernienko suggested, ” to make some changes in Cuban legislation” to better align Moscow’s “roadmap”.
“We have already seen how Putin destroyed his own country bit by bit,” argues Carlos. “That is our personal opinion, but it seems to me that Raúl Castro and his puppet – Díaz-Canel – will give up everything to get Putin’s support and stay in power, including the lives of Cubans.” oligarchs (the Cuban system is the same as the Russian system in this) and the price will be paid by the people with blood, sweat and tears. Because of Cuba’s geographic location, this alliance poses a global threat. I would like to understand that at the level of international organizations. Cuba and Russia are very dangerous dictatorships and capable of anything. We are all at risk and these organizations must take their responsibilities to us.”
For now, there is one bright spot: “Yesterday we had a meeting with a representative where we gave him more details about our case,” he says. “I hope they’ll get back to me soon. It is important that organizations understand the urgency of this and that we depend on their response.”
At lunchtime he wrote to this newspaper, discouraged: ‘All the UNHCR officials are leaving in their luxury cars and we are still here without having eaten at all. The only decent people here are some security guards.”
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