By Carlos Fernández de Cossío
Cuba and the US have signed several migration agreements over the years. Currently, those signed since 1984 remain in effect. For their effectiveness, these agreements entail mutual commitments and require a certain degree of cooperation.
To facilitate their proper implementation, bilateral meetings have been held frequently over the past 40 years, conducted by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US State Department, with the participation of migration agencies and other entities responsible for the application and enforcement of the laws of each country, with varying regularity depending on the administration in the White House.
Between 2022 and 2024, the period of greatest migration from Cuba to the US, six such meetings were held, three in Washington and three in Havana. In several of them, including the one held in the Cuban capital in December 2024, the Cuban delegation warned about the large volume of irregular Cuban trafficking to the US through countries in the region. They indicated that the cost per person for each migrant trafficking operation could range from $7,000 to $15,000, and given that the annual number of Cubans entering the US through the southern border exceeded 100,000 each year, it was easy to estimate the scale of the trafficking operation.
These warnings were reiterated in several technical and operational exchanges between delegations from both countries.
These operations were organized, managed, and financed from South Florida, where their epicenter has been, and the profits were channeled there as well. It was, it was warned, a murky and clearly very lucrative business, which in many cases guaranteed transportation, lodging, financial support, communications, and legal assistance for the trafficked migrant at various stages of the journey.
It is absurd to assume that the US government was unaware of the phenomenon, and yet Cuba issued official and repeated warnings. If US authorities failed to act and allowed the large and uncontrolled influx of Cubans across their southern border for several consecutive years, and tolerated the establishment of trafficking networks, it was due to negligence, complicity, political design, or a combination of these factors.
IMAGE CREDIT: Image: Cubadebate
[ SOURCE: www.cubainformacion.tv ]
