Cuban emigration: An overview (Part III)
By
Jorge Gómez Barata Read Spanish Version
The
Cuban émigré community in the
States
economic, social and political nature whose dynamics in certain aspects
operate, not only because of external stimuli but also because of a unique
logic, with a relative independence from the laws, politics and even the will
of the administrations.
It
is said that emigration generates emigration. That fact underscores the
correctness of the attitude of the Cuban government when it works side by side
with the émigrés in an effort to normalize relations and migratory flows and to
keep such processes orderly, without trying to suppress or manipulate them.
Of
the aforementioned attributes, the economic and social natures of the émigré
community are constants, while its political nature is a circumstantial
addendum that can be modified. In fact, it began to attenuate beginning with
the dialogues of 1978, when, through travel and other exchanges of both a
private and official nature, the normalization of relations between the Nation
and the Emigration began. This process will become irreversible when the
administration stops using emigration as a political instrument against the
Revolution.
When
the political angles are removed, space is made for the sociological processes
linked to the changes in the motivation of the immigrants, the differences in
the social composition of the new migratory waves, and the attenuation of the
political accents with which the new generations perceive reality and adjust
their behavior. Neither the island nor the émigré communities is unaware of
this.
The
persons who emigrate from
for economic reasons and hopes of family reunification do not assume hostile
attitudes toward the country or the Revolution, do not break up with their
families and, once abroad, don’t usually joint anti-Cuban activities
automatically. The descendants of Cubans, born abroad, do not necessarily
inherit the hostile points of view of their elders or think about the island as
a future residence.
As
and counter-revolutionary political manipulations cease, the émigré communities
will take on new dynamics. The nation will not need to protect itself from some
of its children who joined external forces, and we shall see the start of a
cycle marked by a normal relationship (fertile, even), which could be foreseen
in the reflections of the émigrés with the Cuban authorities during the 1978
Dialogues and the conference on The Nation and Emigration.
The
process that led to that wonderful event began a lot earlier, when some of the
early exiles in 1959 and the 1960s distanced themselves from the pro-Batista
elements, did not link up with counter-revolutionary organizations or supported
policy against the island. They were joined by some who had emigrated before
the Revolution and had remained in the
in anti-Cuban activities but, in fact, doing the exact opposite.
To
cite the names of those compatriots, in addition to risking involuntary
exclusion (since the topic is
writer lives in
entails additional risks, not only because of varied interpretation but also
because of security concerns. The social and political lynchings to which some
participants in the conference on The Nation and Emigration were subjected upon
their return to
recommend prudence.
Tracing
their own roads, with no ideology other than an immaculate nationalism, young
people who were removed from
when they were children gathered around the magazine Areíto and the Antonio
Maceo Brigade. They not only vindicated their right to dialogue with the
government of their native country but also, with valor and determination,
traveled to
where they found the understanding, support and affection of Fidel Castro, who
added his authority and talent to the effort to normalize relations that is
also part of the Revolution’s task.
The
crisis of the true socialism, which fell implacably upon
drunken celebration of the Miamian counter-revolution in the 1990s were not
enough to negate the course of normalization, because, with civil and political
maturity, other figures and initiatives joined those who, amid difficult
circumstances, raised high the banners of dialogue.
Not
even the odious measures adopted by Bush, who limited travel and contacts, have
been able to dishearten procedures that, given the new scenario, could be taken
up again.
Jorge
Gómez Barata is a Cuban journalist living in
