The United States expects at least 150,000 to arrive Cuban migrants in 2022, according to a statement by a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the press of this country.
Since the beginning of the current fiscal year, in October 2021, nearly 79,000 Cubans have entered the United States via the southern border, a number much higher compared to the arrivals of the previous two fiscal years combined, he assured the influential newspaper The New York on Tuesday Times, citing data from the Customs and Border Protection Office.
March only More than 32,000 Cubans reached the southern border of the United Statesafter a trip that included a flight to Nicaragua and then crossing the land borders of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, a senior State Department official told the aforementioned media on condition of anonymity.
He also commented that the increasingly desperate economic and political situation in Cuba, along with the visa waiver for travel to Nicaragua, had been one of the main incentives for Cubans to emigrate, although many were victims of criminal groups dedicated to the human trade.
Likewise, the number of Cubans expected in 2022 is the highest since the Mariel exodus in 1980, when 125,000 emigrated to the United States by sea.
According to Washington-based Migration Policy Institute President Andrew Selee, the escalation in the migration of Cubans to Nicaragua’s free visa is also an example of “governments trying to weaponize migration because they know they are politicians.” attacks recipient countries.
The expert also told the NYT that it was likely Nicaragua was using Cuban migrants to pressure the United States government to lift sanctions imposed on them, given its strategy is similar to that of Belarus, a country offering free visas for 2021 Iraqis to ease their entry into the European Union in response to the bloc’s sanctions against him over his disputed elections.
end of April Cuba and the United States resumed their rounds of talks on the migration issue at a time of peak diplomatic tension between the two countries and given the evidence of a Mass exodus from the island that raised the alarm the Joe Biden administration.
But after negotiations, the government of Cuba again blamed the United States for the mass exodus of Cubansin addition to expressing his “concern about US government actions that encourage migration, discourage legal and orderly migration, and create socioeconomic conditions conducive to emigration”.
The statement adds that these “worrying” measures include the “extreme intensification of the economic blockade,” asserting that this “results in the loss of life and the commission of crimes such as migrant smuggling, immigration fraud and human trafficking, a situation that combines both.” affects countries and the region”.
Another aspect emphasized by the Cuban government was the United States’ failure to “issue no fewer than 20,000 annual visas to Cubans in Havana.” They assured that it is a commitment that has been breached since 2017.
The Cuban government stated that “there is no justification whatsoever for interrupting this service in Cuba and forcing the applicant to emigrate and travel to Guyana to have their application processed”.
In addition, the Cuban side accused the United States of “obstructing and violating the right of Cubans to travel to third countries in the region,” noting that compliance with bilateral migration agreements must be “full and non-selective.”