Cuba’s travel permit

A reporter´s notebook

Cuba’s travel permit in the Congress agreements

By Manuel Alberto Ramy

16 May 2011 (06:10 am)

“To study a policy which makes it possible for Cubans, residents in the country, to travel abroad as tourists,” reads point 265 of the Outlines approved during the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party (PCC).

With 17 words devoted to a well-trodden subject, this paragraph – which accounted for 11,195 opinions – announces the decision to merely “study” the way of facilitating travel abroad. Nevertheless, these 17 words have the initial value of showing that the topic was not neglected: it is present in the country’s leading document, as far as its social policy is concerned, and from now on those responsible will have to be consequent and deal with it. Anything else I may write on the topic – especially for those readers who have asked me to do so – is just a hypothetical exercise.

The issue of free-travelling citizens goes necessarily through the question of the Permit of Exit – known as the “white card” – without which a citizen, even in possession of a passport, cannot make his/her right to travel effective. Shall the white card keep its value as a real passport?

For a couple of years now one has insistently heard that the question of granting further flexibility to travelling was just a matter of signatures because there was already a defined policy to be followed. Now, according to the Party’s document, a concrete answer is being postponed. Does this postponement correspond to a lack of consensus at the top? One could also speculate that it may respond to a series of dilemmas:

1. How to validate individual rights while avoiding brain drain, especially in such sensitive areas as health care and first generation technologies? In general, those professionals belonging to these sectors are not allowed to travel for personal and/or family reasons and almost always must do it in groups following the collaboration formula through an intergovernmental contract, or other reasons such as ministerial or commercial missions, scientific training and other academic motifs. This notwithstanding and according to point 80 of the approved Outlines, the document opens the door to individual contracts.

2. There is a phenomenon, far from extraordinary but still influential in every aspect of our society: the Cuban emigration, which is getting close to 2 million people. It’s not only about those who have migrated till today but to set in motion a concept of migratory circularity through which the citizen may travel, work and get back at his convenience, without losing elementary rights and legitimate properties.

3. The previous point makes us speculate about another possible cause of dilation. Some specialists think that an integral analysis of the role of emigrants – not only those existing – could insure a different policy capable of binding national, cultural and sentimental values together with economic ones, as it happens with Chinese and Vietnamese émigrés, who have played a crucial part in the economic transformations recently taking place in those countries.

We could go on and on with this hypothetical exercise in order to satisfy those who have motivated these notes, but the reality as written down is as follows: the matter will be studied.