Category: History

More Details on Cuba’s Declining Population 

After the UN . . . report ”World Population Prospects” recognized the demographic debacle that is sinking the number of inhabitants in Cuba, the island’s government released its own figures to acknowledge that the “effective population” is currently less than ten million people.”[1]

“During the debate that followed the presentation of the Migration Bill at the plenary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), . . . Juan Carlos Alfonso Fraga, first deputy head of the state-run National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), indicated that as of December 31, 2023, the effective Cuban population was 10,055,968 people.”

“’This effective population is 10.1% lower than the one that existed on December 31, 2020, and similar to the one Cuba registered at some point in 1985,’ he commented.”

However, he continued, “the contraction in the number of births and the continuation of the historic exodus that the country is experiencing has meant that during the first half of 2024 that figure will continue to decline, which is a bad omen for the Government, which has been trying to stop the drop in birth rates for more than a decade.”

“Given the above, Alfonso Fraga indicated, ‘currently the population of Cuba is less than ten million inhabitants and must continue to decrease. This significant adjustment in the demographic structure has repercussions on plans, programs, and projects in the demographic, economic, social, and environmental spheres, which must be reviewed and adjusted where appropriate.’”

“Fraga [also] acknowledged that in the last three years, specifically the period following the social outbreak of 11J, ‘the mobility of the Cuban population abroad has intensified, with prolonged stays abroad. This is not reflected in the calculation of the resident population, according to the current methodology, since a significant part of that population is not defined as migrants,’ since in Cuba a resident is still considered to be someone who has traveled and has not yet lived abroad for two years.”

“’For this reason, statistical criteria and algorithms were presented, analyzed and approved that modify the current methodological considerations associated with the migration variable, which is used in the calculation of the annual population, introducing the concept of population with effective residence,’ referring to the criteria that the authorities will apply in the new immigration law.”

Fraga  “specified that the effective population is considered to be all those who, in a calendar year, were born in Cuba or in another country, but reside permanently on the Island, have accumulated 180 days or more of residence during the last 365 days and have not died.”

“The status of immigrant or emigrant will be considered in the regulation now approved by the ANPP based on the time of physical stay in the country over the course of one year. ‘The immigrant, once he enters the country, must accumulate 180 days or more of stay in it, while the emigrant is one who in the year did not accumulate 180 days or more of stay in the national territory.’”

The government agency ”determined that 1,249,733 people remained outside the country as of December 31, 2023, a figure that is actually much higher. According to Alfonso Fraga, at least 75% of that figure must be discounted from the population of the Island, for not having effective residence in the country in the period 2021-2023.”

“Apart from migration, the official acknowledged that there has been a natural decline in recent times, since more people have died than were born.”

“’There are 124 municipalities with this characteristic,’ he said, adding that in provinces such as Havana and Villa Clara this has been happening for the last 15 years.”

“Fraga also acknowledged something that threatens to make the situation worse: almost 80% of the ages of emigrants between 2021 and 2023 range between 15 and 59 years.”

“In 2021, according to official figures, 11,113,215 people lived in Cuba, down from 11,181,595 the previous year. The exodus, the worsening decline in births, the more than 168,000 [deaths] caused by Covid-19 and other diseases in 2021 alone, caused the decline to continue to deepen. In addition, in 2023 around 90,300 births were registered on the Island, the lowest figure in the last six decades.”

“In fact, the Government has postponed the next Population and Housing Census until at least 2025, citing lack of resources.”

However, although the ONEI figures are the first official figures since 2021 on the number of inhabitants of Cuba, a recent independent demographic study carried out by Cuban economist and demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos indicated that the current population of the Island would actually be 8.62 million people, for a drop of 18% between 2022 and 2023.”

“Albizu-Campos said that the figures offered by ONEI are ‘fictitious.’ The entity stated that 11.11 million people lived in Cuba on December 31, 2021. The independent Cuban demographer corrected this data , taking as a reference the electoral rolls of 2013 and 2023, and estimated that, on that date, 10.48 million people lived on the Island.”

“The UN also projects a decline in Cuba’s population by 2100, which would put it below six million inhabitants. Of that number, almost 2.5 million would be over 60 years old, life expectancy would be over 85 years and the mortality rate would be 17 per 1,000 inhabitants, with 95,000 deaths per year, more than double the number of births.”

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[1] There are less than ten million Cubans on the island, according to the government, and the number is declining, Diario de Cuba (July 20, 2024).

 

Comments on Cuba’s 7/11/21 Protests by Juan Antonio Blanco        

Juan Antonio Blanco, a Cuban-American now the Executive Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Initiativess at Miami Dade College in Florida with a PhD  in history from the University of Havana and extensive Cuban and international experience, [1] has offered the following perspective on the third anniversary of the 9/11 Cuban protests.[2]

“The great significance of the 2021 national rebellion is that it showed that the majority of the population rejected a failed and repressive regime. The idea that the people lived happily in that society was a fabricated fallacy exported to the world.”

“The great lesson that was reiterated on [that] July 11 is that nothing is achieved from a dictatorship without confronting it. Let us remember that the epic protest known as the Maleconazo of 1994 immediately brought about the opening of free markets for peasants and self-employment, the free circulation of the dollar, an immigration agreement with the United States and new facilities for foreign investment.”

“11J brought about—finally!—the long-delayed approval of MSMEs [Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises] announced by presidential decree on August 19 (five weeks after the popular rebellion!) which was later published as a law in the Official Gazette on September 21. It also led the government to consider that by facilitating a mass exodus to the US it would get rid of all the rioters and even reap financial benefits. This was how they conceived it and agreed with Nicaragua and the Mexican cartels close to Havana.”

“The myth of governability was shattered and has not been able to be put back together to this day. Until 11J, it seemed that the Cuban people were content, if not resigned, to living under that system and that the opposition was reduced to a few thousand dissatisfied citizens who were grouped in different organizations of independent civil society. However, that day it was clear that, in addition to the organized opposition, there was also a very broad dissidence, understood as a deep citizen discontent that encompassed millions of people throughout the country.”

 “Since then —and this is already a legacy of that day— the idea that the dissatisfied in Cuba belong to a minority of opponents was definitively broken. It is already known that on the Island there are millions who disagree with the status quo in which they live, not counting the 1.79 million who left between 2022 and 2023. This unorganized dissidence includes disaffected elements of the Government itself, officials, military personnel and others, who suffer the consequences of the current policies that are being applied.”

“However, from then until today, the reaction of the power elite in Cuba has not been to sit down and reflect on the things that needed to be changed to confront this structural and multi-systemic crisis. On the contrary, it has tried to respond to ungovernability with more repression.”

“All the country’s laws have been strengthened to penalize the slightest expression of opposition, but also of dissent. Recently, a 21-year-old girl from Nuevitas, Camagüey, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for uploading content to social networks that the government describes as ‘enemy propaganda’ and ‘sedition.’ This is a clear sign that the regime has not metabolized the essence of the new phenomenon that it is facing, for the first time, in 65 years. The government does not fully understand that repression can temporarily contain a social explosion, but it does not provide governability in the medium and long term.”

“To gain governability, the only thing that could be done is to change the governance regime, the system of government that has ruled until today and that remains basically totalitarian, because not even a genuine private enterprise exists in the country. The much-hyped MSME Law was conceived to be both a measure to appease the population five weeks after the July 11 protests and a new strategy to circumvent the embargo. What is required to support a private sector in Cuba is to change Cuban laws in a way that guarantees full economic freedom for citizens. The internal blockade is the only thing that prevents this.”

“The famous MSMEs are not genuine private companies, but rather a controlled strategy to try to get the US to recognize them as such and authorize economic, commercial, financial and technological relations with them, something that the Helms-Burton Act does not prevent if they really constituted a private sector, as Madeleine Albright specified on January 5, 1999. But the current MSMEs in Cuba are not that independent private sector to which President Bill Clinton, through his Secretary of State, announced he was willing to open up to US transactions. Various national discriminations and regulations prevent this.”

“The first discrimination imposed by the MSME Law is that one must be authorized by the State to even have a micro-business. The applicant must request a permit that can be denied without any explanation. This reality makes discrimination against the applicant possible for sharing beliefs and ideologies that are not to the liking of the government. The second discrimination consists in that nationals are only authorized to register micro, small and medium-sized companies—in certain sectors, without exceeding limits on their expansion, without freedom to set prices, hire or fire their workers, export and import directly, directly seek foreign investment partners—while large foreign capital is welcomed without most of these restrictions. Why, instead of authorizing MSMEs, are Cuban private companies (EPC) not authorized without any type of limitations?”

“The “SMEs” are people who have finally been allowed to register a business if they manage to pass the filter of ideological and practical loyalty to the Government by not being connected to the opposition or to the critical ideas of this new massive dissidence. These are not the type of businessmen with whom President Clinton wanted to establish bridges. Some of them, to top it off, are managed by those close to the power elite and in other cases they are entities that are really under the control of the military holding company known as GAESA . In these cases they are registered as private entities using front men so that the Cuban oligarchy – and even the Russian one, today sanctioned for the war in Ukraine – can immediately access US banks through them if this is finally authorized.”

“In recent days they have insisted on further strengthening the centralist and statist features of the Soviet economic model, which they imported to the country and which destroyed the Cuban economy, which, together with that of Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay, occupied the first places in Latin America in 1958. Cuba, the world’s leading sugar exporter in 1958, today imports it.”

“These are the tricks that the Cuban oligarchs are engaged in on this third anniversary of the popular rebellion of 11J: + repression + insistence on statism and government centralism + more international concealment of their private business. They have not learned their lesson.”

“This is the context and meaning of 11J. An explosion that drew the attention of the entire world to the lack of governability in the country and to a power elite that has not yet learned the relevant lessons and insists on its bayonets, without undertaking the radical changes that the country needs and that can only be generated by the freedom and well-being of its population.”

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[1] Blanco is an expert author on Cuba and other topics, former diplomat at the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, founder of the Felix Varela Center (a Cuban non-governmental organization) and Director for International Cooperation at Human Rights and  Visiting Assistant Director of the Institute of Cuban Research (Florida International University) and Executive Director of  Human Rights Internet. (Juan Antonio Blanco Gil, Wikipedia; Juan Antonio Blanco Gil, Linkedin)

[2] Blanco, Cuba, three years after 11J, Diario de Cuba (July 11,2024). https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1720712641_55939.html

Russian Military Ships’ Recent Visit to Cuba 

On June 12th  four Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine and a frigate capable of carrying hypersonic missiles, arrived in Cuba. Their arrival and visit were monitored by U.S. and Canadian ships.[1]

Just hours later on June 12th a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine (the USS Helena) stopped in the waters near the U.S. Guantanamo Naval Base at the eastern end of Cuba, and other U.S. and Canadian military vessels were in the island’s vicinity.[2]

According to the Official statement of Cuba’s Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces, the visit of the four Russian naval vessels was “part of the historic friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation, [and] strictly adheres to the international conventions to which the State of Cuba is a party. Since none of these ships carry nuclear weapons, their stopover in our country represents no threat to the region.”[3]

While the Russian vessels were docked in Havana, they were open for visits to Cuban visitors, including its President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. The Russian vessels left Havana on June 18th, and its frigate went north along the U.S. eastern coastline.

On June 18th Alexander Moiseev, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, said that “the proximity of the detachment of ships of the [Russian] Northern Fleet to the borders of our current opponent [the U.S.] irritates someone. For us this is very important, and we trusted the actions of our forces. In addition, it shows support for the Republic of Cuba, which is close to us. The campaign had an effect,” and the Kremlin “will continue the practice of sailing ships to distant maritime zones.” [4]

On the same date, June 18th ,  the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, Major General Pat Ryder, said, “we obviously closely monitored [the Russian naval activity near Cuba and now near the U.S.. but we], don’t see any threat to the homeland and, and these types of exercises are not new. We’ve seen them take place . . . over the years.”

U.S. Congressional Hearing[5]

On June 12, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on “Great Power Competition in the Western Hemisphere” with the following witnesses: Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Todd Robinson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Department of State; and Mr. Michael Camilleri, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development.

Chairman McCaul’s Opening Statement

The Committee’s Chair, Representative Michael McCaul (Rep., Tex.), opened the hearing with an Opening Statement, which stated, in part, the following:

  • “Under the Biden administration, China, Russia, and Iran have bolstered their presence in the region. They have cornered critical mineral markets, expanded their military footprint, and deepened their intelligence capabilities. All aided and abetted by many authoritarian regimes in the Americas. As we speak, four Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, and a frigate carrying hypersonic missiles are set to arrive in Cuba.”
  • “Congress has given the President tools to combat and compete with the great powers. It has authorized the [U.S. International Development Finance Corporation], appropriated bilateral economic assistance, and provided funding through the CHIPS Act – which I authored and passed into law – to secure our supply chains. It has mandated corruption sanctions against foreign officials and their family members.”
  • “And yet, the Biden administration has not effectively used all the tools Congress has provided. The result is a hemisphere more and more aligned with our adversaries.”
  • “Our adversaries cannot be separated. They are all connected and they are all working together. We can’t win the game if we are not on the field competing.
  • “And in the great power competition in our hemisphere, I believe, that America is falling behind.”

In his subsequent questioning of the three witnesses, McCaul said, “ I think we need a new doctrine for our hemisphere. One that protects our interests, combats our enemies, and promotes shared prosperity between us and our allies.”

Assistant Secretary Nichols’ Testimony

Assistant Secretary Nichols told the Committee that the U.S. in discussions with Cuban officials has raised U.S. concerns about Cuba’s allowing or promoting “the participation of Cuban mercenaries as part of Russian aggression against Ukraine.” This is just one of many actions that demonstrates the importance of the Cuba-Russia  military relationship, including the arrival this week of four Russian vessels in Cuban waters, and their monitoring by U.S. and Canadian warships.[6]

Nichols also mentioned the recent U.S. efforts to encourage the growing importance of private business enterprises in Cuba, which the U.S. believes are vital to counteract the malign influence on Cuba of Russia and China.

Conclusion

Unfortunately the U.S. continued embargo of Cuba and identifying the island as a state sponsor of terrorism have contributed to a tense relationship between the two countries and to Cuba’s need for support from other strong countries like Russia. As has been argued in other posts to this blog, the U.S. should cease these policies that are harmful to Cuba and pursue a policy of reconciliation.

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 [1]  E.g., Russian ships arrive in Cuba as Cold War allies strengthen their ties, CNN.com (June 12, 2024).

[2]  The US sends an attack submarine to the Guantanamo Naval Base, Diario de Cuba (June 13, 2024).

[3] The regime regarding the US nuclear submarine: ‘We were informed, but we do not like its presence, Diario de Cuba (June 15, 2024).

 [4 ] What Is the Russian war flotilla that was in Cuba doing off the coast of Florida, Diario de Cuba? (June 19, 2024); The Russian war flotilla leaves Cuba, while US ships and tracking planes are activated, Diario de Cuba (June 17, 2024)

[5] House Foreign Affairs Comm., Committee Hearing Notice (June 5, 2024); House Foreign Affairs Comm., Hearing Webcast, Great Power Competition in the Western Hemisphere (June 12, 2024)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[6] Granma, the official newspaper of the island’s communist Party, said the arrival of these Russian vessels was “a sign of the two countries’ “relations of friendship and collaboration.” (In Cuba, naval detachment of the Russian Federation, Granma (June 13, 2024) https://www.granma.cu/mundo/2024-06-13/en-cuba-destacamento-naval-de-la-federacion-de-rusia-13-06-2024-02-06-11

 

 

Cameroonians Making Home in Minnesota

By 2022 an estimated 3,600 Cameroonians called the State of Minnesota home, more than doubling since 2016.[1]

A member of this group, Adrian Abongmbu, who came here around 12 years ago, believes this growth is due to the affordable cost of living here. He said, the costs here are “very moderate. And it’s very family-friendly. It’s easy for people to start their lives in Minnesota.” He, his wife and three children live here and were joined by his mother after she immigrated from Cameroon in 2021. “It’s not uncommon for Cameroonians in the State to encourage family members and friends in other states to move here,” Adrian said.

Another Cameroonian resident of Minnesota, Florence Wanda and her husband run a nonprofit for education and heritage preservation that this September will host the Minnesota African Cultural Festival while her daughter, Modoh, is chief executive officer of the state’s first African Fashion Week.

Yet another Cameroonian resident of this State, Manka Nkimbeng, is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a member of her tribe’s Cultural and Development Association. She recently participated in a Mother’s Day event in St. Paul while taking a limo ride around the city.

In 2022 more than 89,000 people in the U.S. reported Cameroon as their place of birth. Those without U.S. documentation are eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through June 2025. The U.S. Government can extend that designation if their home country is determined still to be unsafe for deportation although that status does not provide a path for U.S. citizenship.

This blogger’s church in downtown Minneapolis, Westminster Presbyterian, has a small group of Cameroonian members, who inspired the church to establish a global partnership with a Presbyterian church in that country.

And a former Westminster Senior Pastor, Rev. Arnold Lowe (1941-1965) after his ordination in 1912 had served as a missionary in Kamerun when it was a German colony, and his daughter made a significant financial gift in his honor to the Presbyterian seminary in Cameroon.

This blogger enjoyed a trip to visit that church and seminary and learn more about the country, which has been undergoing a challenging time over disputes between the French-speaking majority (Francophones) and the English-speaking minority (Anglophones) as a result of those countries assuming responsibility for that country after Germany was stripped of its African colonies after World War I by the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.[2]

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[1] Ansari & Tu, Though small in numbers, Cameroonians are beginning to make a mark in Minnesota. StarTribune (June 8, 2024).

[2] See List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CAMEROON; Kamerun, Wikipedia.  See also “A Preacher for the times; THE REVEREND ARNOLD LOWE” (pp. 84-91) in LIVING FAITH: Stories from the first 150 years, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1857-2007, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

Cuban Government’s Reactions to New U.S. Regulations for Cuban Private Enterprise   

On May 28, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a formal Statement about the new U.S. regulations and then held a separate press conference on that topic. Later Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel made a statement on that subject.

Cuba Ministry of Foreign Affairs Statement[1]

  • “On May 28, the Government of the United States finally announced a group of measures aimed at implementing the policy announced on May 16, 2022. The purpose of this step, according to the text published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), is to support the private sector in Cuba.”
  • “These measures are limited in scope and do not target the essence of the blockade against Cuba nor the additional sanctions that make up the maximum pressure policy. Once again, this US government decision relies on its own distorted view of the Cuban reality, for it intends to artificially separate the private sector from the public sector, when they are both part of Cuba’s entrepreneurial system and the Cuban society as a whole.”
  • “With this announcement, the US government intends to address only one sector of our population. The coercive measure that most affect Cuba’s economy and public services and severely harm the wellbeing of our population are neither eradicated nor modified.”
  • “If these measures are implemented, the United States would seek to give advantage to the Cuban private sector, which was lawfully established and has been able to develop thanks to the measures taken, as a sovereign act, by the Cuban government in consultation with the Cuban people.”
  • “So has occurred with the access to the Internet, which was established and expanded by Cuba, despite the obstacles resulting from the blockade and the restrictions imposed to prevent free access to hundreds of tools and websites.”
  • “The Government of the United States has been explicit in its intention to use this sector for political purposes against the Revolution, in the interest of its change of regime policy.”
  • “Even if these measures were about a whimsical selectivity, both the private and the public sector will continue to suffer from the consequences of the blockade and the absurd inclusion of Cuba in the list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism.”
  • “The coercive measures that are part of the economic blockade will remain in force, with their cruel impact on the entire Cuban population.”
  • “Obviously, the United States is ratifying its willingness to punish Cuba’s state sector, knowing that this is the one that offers essential services such as education, health, culture, sports and others to all Cubans, including the private sector; and that it is the guarantee of social justice and equity among all citizens. That is the reason why the US government recently adopted measures aimed at persecuting Cuba’s international medical cooperation. Several published documents have revealed that the US remains determined to depriving us from our revenues and destabilizing the country with the political purpose of dominating our nation.”
  • “The Cuban government will analyze these measures, and if they do not infringe upon our national legislation, and they are in fact an openness that would benefit the Cuban people, even if only one sector, it will not impede its implementation.”

Cuban Press Conference About New Regulations[2]

On May 28, Johana Tablada, the deputy director general of the United States at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a press conference regarding the new U.S. regulations about the Cuban private enterprise sector.

She said they “do not touch the body of the [U.S. embargo] blockade nor do they modify the extreme measures and regulations applied by the Trump and Biden governments in recent years. “once again, the United States Government tries to adapt its actions not to the reality of Cuba, but to a fiction that has been built on the reality of Cuba. ”

She stressed that the US Administration tries to separate the Cuban private sector from the public sector through its announcements and strategies and ignores that both sectors make up the fabric of the Cuban business system and society as a whole. This U.S. effort is about privileging a private sector that does not owe anything to the United States.

She also said Cuba will study these measures and, if they mean a real opening and are not just a political announcement, the [Cuban] Government will not put brakes on their implementation. But since Cuba is included in the list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism, it is very difficult for the measures announced this Tuesday to be applied in their full scope.

President Diaz-Canel’s Statement[3]

On May 29, Diaz-Canel said, the US measures are “limited, restrictive and do not touch the fundamental body of the blockade against our country, nor the other sanctions of its maximum pressure policy.”

“The intention to direct them only to a segment of our people shows their historical intention to fracture unity among Cubans.”

“The concern for the development of the non-state sector of our economy is not genuine.”

“They do not eliminate or change the coercive measures that most affect the Cuban economy and public services, thereby severely damaging the well-being of our entire population today.”

” We will continue to promote the increasing integration of all our economic actors, which today are, together, a cornerstone for our development and progrss towards the well-being of all our people.”

Comments

Both the U.S. and Cuba agree that the new Treasury Department regulations leave unchanged the U.S. embargo (blockade) of the island and the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Cuba, of course, wants those measures eliminated while the U.S. merely assumed that they would continue. As a U.S. citizen, this blogger wants to see them eliminated and suggests that the U.S. use this opportunity to engage Cuba in discussions about doing just that while remembering that  President Obama had discontinued the terrorism designation.[4]

The U.S. and Cuba also could have discussions about how to encourage the best operations of the latter’s new private enterprise sector. Given the horrendous current status of the Cuban economy, Cuba should welcome such discussions and be open to significant changes on those issues.

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[1] Statement of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, There is only one Cuba (May 29, 2024); Cuban Foreign Minister affirms that measures announced by the US are limited, Granma (May 29, 2024).

[2] Minrex: The new US regulations continue to be limited and do not touch the body of the blockade, CubaDebate (May 28, 2024).

[3] Diaz-Canel, The integration of all economic actors will be increasingly greater, Granma (May 30, 2024); US measures for MSMEs ‘respond to a subversive design’, says Diaz-Canel, Diario de Cuba (Mau 29, 2024).

[4 ]President Obama Rescinds U.S. Designation of Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism,” dwkcommentaries.com (April 15, 2015); U.S. Rescinds Designation of Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism,” dwkcommentaries.com (May 29. 2015),

U.S. State Department Publishes Reviewed and Updated Integrated Country Strategy for Cuba 

On May 10, 2024, the U.S. State Department published a Reviewed and Updated Integrated Country Strategy for Cuba (and other countries in the world). For Cuba It listed the following Chief of Mission Priorities: (1) Ensuring Consistent American Citizen Services; (2) Supporting Human Rights; (3) Encouraging an Empowered, Innovative, and Inclusive Cuban Society; (4) Protecting the Security of the United States and its Citizens; and (5) Building a Management Platform to Best Support U.S. goals and Future Mission Growth.[1]

Supporting Human Rights (Cuba)

“A generational transition to a post-Cuban Revolution leadership has failed to create significant changes: the Cuban government continues to use repressive measures, including incarceration, coercive economic policies, and misinformation to suppress the Cuban peoples’ freedoms. Approximately 1,000 political prisoners remain unjustly imprisoned in Cuba. Cuban authorities regularly harass, imprison, or force into exile those who express dissenting opinions.”

“In an environment where the state has criminalized dissent, the embassy continuously seeks to advance the cause of human rights in Cuba and hold the Cuban government accountable for its dismal human rights record. The Mission engages regularly with human rights activists, dissidents, and members of civil society, and we will continue to support independent media, access to information, and capacity building for independent civil society organizations. Additionally. the Embassy regularly presses the Cuban government for the release of political prisoners and works with the press and nongovernmental organizations to shed light on the lack of fundamental freedoms in Cuba.”

Encouraging an Empowered, Innovative, and Inclusive Cuban Society

“Cuba is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history. Food scarcity, electricity and water shortages, and inflation make life difficult for Cubans. Incremental reforms of Cuba’s centrally planned economy – including the legal recognition of micro, small, and medium enterprises – have been insufficient to align Cuba’s economic needs with the realities of doing business in a global economy. The Embassy will continue to seek new ways to engage Cuba’s independent economic actors, foster Cuba’s entrepreneurial eco-system, while expanding outreach to improve the economic outlook for Afro- Cubans, women, and other historically disadvantaged groups.”

Reactions

These two Chief of Mission Priorities are worthy of support. It, however, was surprising at first glance that there was no mention of the problems created for Cuba by the U.S. embargo and listing Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. But those are U.S. actions in Washington, D.C. by the President, Congress and State Department; they are not actions for the U.S. Embassy in Cuba.

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[1]  State Dep’t, Integrated Country Strategies,  Reviewed and Updated (May 10, 2024). It, therefore, supersedes the Department’s Integrated Country Strategy for Cuba (and other countries in the world) that was undated but released in February 2024 and that was discussed in a prior post, U.S. State Department’s Integrated Country Strategy for Cuba, dwkcommentaries.com (Feb. 16, 2024).

 

U.S. Fertility Rate Falls to Record Low 

On April 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its report on U.S. fertility rates that showed the total fertility rate fell to 1.62 births per woman in 2023, a 2% decline from the prior year and the lowest rate since the government began tracking that data in the 1930’s.[1]

This is attributed to women having fewer children, later in life; to women having fulfilling careers and more access to contraception; young people being more uncertain about their futures and spending more of their income on home ownership, student debt and child care.

The total number of children born in the U.S. in 2023 was approximately 3.59 million.

This phenomenon is partially offset by increasing immigration of people from other countries. In short, the U.S. benefits from increasing immigration.[2]

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[1] Calfas & DeBarros, U.S. Fertility Rate Falls to Record Low, W.S.J. (April 25, 2024)

 [2] See, e.g., the following dwkcommentries.com posts: Naturalized U.S. Citizens: Important Contributors to U.S. Culture and Economy,(June 7, 2015); Iowa State Government Encouraging Refugee and Migrant Resettlement (Feb. 3, 2023); Other States Join Iowa in Encouraging Immigration to Combat Aging, Declining Population (Feb. 22, 2023); Wall Street Journal Editorial: U.S. Needs More Immigrants (July 25, 2023); U.S. Has Long-Term Labor Crisis (Sept. 26, 2023); Migrants from All Over Flocking to U.S. (Nov. 4, 2023);U.S. States That Could Have the Greatest Benefit from Immigrant Labor (Feb. 28, 2024); Another Documentation of the U.S. Need for Immigrants (April 12, 2024).

 

 

Latest U.S. Report on International Human Rights  

On April  22, 2024, the U.S. State Department released its 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.[1]

Below are its Preface and Executive Summary about Cuban human rights.

Preface

The Report’s Preface by Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, stated the following:

“As mandated by Congress, every year since 1977, the State Department’s dedicated public servants in U.S. missions abroad and in Washington scrupulously examine, track, and document the state of human rights in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world.  In compiling these “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” commonly known as the Human Rights Report (HRR), we have drawn from a variety of credible, fact-based sources, including reporting from government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and media.  The HRR helps connect U.S. diplomatic and foreign assistance efforts to the fundamental American value of protecting and promoting respect for human rights for all, while helping to inform the work of civil society, human rights defenders, scholars, multilateral institutions, and others.”

“The President’s Summit for Democracy underscores the United States’ commitment to advancing respect for human rights, and to the promotion of democracy as the most effective system of government to secure them.  We are pleased the third Summit for Democracy took place this year under the Republic of Korea’s leadership.  Through the Summits for Democracy, the United States and other participating governments, along with partners from civil society, youth, and other stakeholders, seek to cement progress in human rights, foster democratic reforms, expand space for independent media, advance women’s rights, combat corruption, and make technology work for democracies and their people, not misused by malign actors as a tool of repression.”

“The year covered by this HRR coincided with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  In commemoration of the anniversary, the United States made several new commitments, including to renew investments around the world in democracy and human rights, to help protect human rights defenders online, and to advance racial and gender justice in the United States.”

“In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the authors of the UDHR, ‘The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens in all our communities.’  We hope that this Report proves a useful contribution to that shared global effort, by chronicling both sobering developments in specific countries, as well as evidence of progress.”

“The Kremlin’s disregard and contempt for human rights are on full display in its war against Ukraine.  Russian forces employ violence against civilians as a deliberate tool of warfare.  The Report highlights documentation of human rights violations and abuses – some amounting to crimes against humanity – throughout the second year of Russia’s brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Civilians, including Ukrainian children, have suffered egregious abuses by Russian forces and other Russian officials.  Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been transferred within Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine and/or deported to Russia, in many cases taken from their parents or lawful guardians and forced to take Russian names and citizenship.  Russia is cracking down on its own citizens, bringing spurious criminal charges against hundreds of Russians who have spoken against Putin’s war of aggression.”

“Across Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have unleashed horrific violence, death, and destruction, including mass killings, unjust detentions, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence.  In December, I determined that members of both forces engaged in war crimes, and that members of the Rapid Support Forces and allied militia engaged in crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.  Elsewhere in Africa, Uganda’s government took aim at the human rights of all Ugandans, enacting a broad, draconian anti-LGBTQI+ legislation, including the death penalty for ‘serial offenders.’”

“The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights.  Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks on October 7 killed around 1,200 people, took approximately 230 Israeli and foreign hostages, and included appalling abuses, including gender-based violence and sexual violence.  As Israel exercises its right to self-defense, we have made clear that it must conduct military operations in accordance with international law and take every feasible precaution to protect civilians.  We continue to urgently raise concerns surrounding the deaths of and injuries to tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including women, children, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable persons.  We repeatedly have pressed concerns about Palestinian civilians’ access to humanitarian assistance, displacement of the majority of the population of Gaza, and the unprecedented number of journalists killed.  We have repeatedly condemned Hamas’ abhorrent misuse of civilians and civilian infrastructure as human shields and its continued refusal to release all hostages.  We also continue to condemn the record levels of violence in the West Bank, including attacks by violent extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians.”

“The Report illuminates the ongoing and brutal human rights abuses in Iran, where the regime’s violent repression of its citizens occurs at home and even abroad, including through acts of transnational repression targeting the regime’s perceived dissidents and critics.  Iranian women and members of marginalized communities continue to suffer disproportionately from the regime’s human rights violations and abuses.  Once detained, many prisoners have been harshly punished and even executed for spurious or unjust reasons.”

“The Report illustrates the Taliban’s systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls.  The Taliban have issued over 50 decrees and edicts that effectively erase women from public life.  Credible sources cited in the Report describe how the military regime in Burma continues to use brutal violence against the general population to consolidate its control, killing more than 4,000 people and detaining more than 25,000.”

“The Report documents ongoing grave human rights abuses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  For example, in Xinjiang, the PRC continues to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labor, and other human rights violations against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.”

“In Cuba, more than 1,000 political prisoners are reportedly unjustly detained and subjected to harsh treatment; their family members are targets of threats as well.  In Nicaragua, the Ortega-Murillo regime closed more than 300 civil society organizations in 2023, bringing the number of shuttered organizations to more than 3,500.  The regime also stripped more than 300 individuals of their citizenship and is holding more than 100 political prisoners in appalling conditions.” (Emphasis added.)

“Yet, encouraging developments also can be found in this Report.  For example, although members of marginalized and minority communities continued to suffer disproportionately from human rights violations and abuses in 2023, several countries made important progress.  Kenya affirmed that freedom of expression and of assembly extend to LGBTQI+ persons. Japan enacted a bill to promote understanding of LGBTQI+ issues.  LGBTQI+ persons in Estonia and Slovenia now benefit from legislation recognizing marriage equality.”

“To advance the rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities, the Ministry of Education in Jordan appointed 600 individuals to implement inclusive education programming across the country to ensure children with disabilities could attend school and have the necessary support to enable their learning.”

“The Report also notes advances in implementing labor reforms in Mexico, where workers are overcoming obstacles to organizing and starting to improve working conditions.  As I noted when I helped launch the Biden-Harris Administration’s Global Labor Directive at APEC in San Francisco, advancing labor rights globally boosts American workers and bolsters middle class aspirations here at home.”

“This Report could not have been compiled without the selfless work of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and other civil society leaders whose daily work to advance human rights is an inspiration to us all.  I hope that the honest and public assessments of human rights abuses, as well as the reports of progress, reflected in these pages gives strength to these brave individuals across the globe who often put their lives at risk to improve conditions in their own countries, and, ultimately, make the world a freer, safer place for us all.”

Executive Summary about Cuba. [2]

“There were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Cuba during the year.”

“Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political prisoners; transnational repression against individuals in another country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, and enforcement or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and civil society organizations; restrictions of religious freedom; restrictions on freedom of movement and residence within the country and on the right to leave the country; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; serious government corruption; extensive gender-based violence, including femicide and other forms of such violence; trafficking in persons, including a policy or pattern of state-sponsored forced labor; and prohibiting independent trade unions and significant and systematic restrictions on workers’ freedom of association.””

“The government did not take significant steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses.”

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[1] U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Apeil 22, 2024).

[2] U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cuba (April 22, 2024); The US State Department has ‘credible reports’ on arbitrary executions and torture in Cuba, Diario de Cuba April 22, 2024).

Problems in U.S. Asylum System Help Promote Increases in U.S. Immigration

A lengthy Wall Street Journal article provides details on the well-known promotion of increases in U.S. immigration by the many problems in the U.S. asylum system. Here then is a summary of the basic U.S. law of asylum, the current U.S. system for administering such claims and a summary of the current problems with such administration.

The Basic Law of Asylum

On July 2, 1951, an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland concluded with the signing of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees by the conference attendees and the opening of the treaty for accession or ratification by nation states.[9] By its Article 43(1) it was to enter into force or become a binding treaty 90 days after the sixth state had acceded or ratified the treaty. That happened on April 22, 1954.[1]

This treaty adopted the following definition of “refugee” in Article 1(A)(2) as any person who:

  • “[As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951] and owing to well- founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

The bracketed phrase [“As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951”] was the provision that limited the coverage of the Convention to the problems still being faced by many World War II refugees still scattered across Europe. This limiting phrase was eliminated in the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees discussed below.

Excluded from this definition of “refugee” in Article 1(F) was “any person . . . [who] (a) . . . has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity . . . ; (b) . . . has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee; [or] (c) . . . has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the [U.N.].”

The Convention granted refugees certain rights within a country of refuge as well as imposing on them certain obligations. The Convention further stipulates that, subject to specific exceptions, refugees should not be penalized for their “illegal entry or presence.” This recognizes that the seeking of asylum can require refugees to breach national immigration rules. Prohibited penalties might include being charged with immigration or criminal offences relating to the seeking of asylum, or being arbitrarily detained purely on the basis of seeking asylum.

By 1966, it had become apparent that new refugee situations had arisen since the Refugee Convention had been adopted and that all refugees should enjoy equal status. As a result, a new treaty was prepared to eliminate the previously mentioned limitation of the Convention to those refugees created by pre-1951 events. This was the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees that went into force on October 4, 1967.

There now are 146 countries that are party to this Convention and 147 nation states (and the Holy See) that are parties to this Protocol and the Convention including the U.S. which ratified same on October 4, 1967 and November 1, 1968.[2]

Twelve years later the U.S. adopted a statute to solidify U.S. obligations under those international treaties. That was the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980.[3]

And in 1996 that statute was amended to define past persecution to include forced abortion or sterilization or punishment for failure or refusal to undergo such procedures and to define fear of being forced to undergo such a procedure or punishment for refusing to undergo same as future persecution.

Another amendment to that statute was enacted in the REAL ID Act of 2005 which required that an asylum applicant must prove that race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership was or will be “at least one central reason” for his or her persecution.

The Current U.S. System for Administrating Asylum Claims[4]

 The U.S. has various means for administering asylum claims.

First is the U.S. State Department’s U.S. Refugee Admissions Program that “accepts referrals of individuals determined by international agencies or other governments to be particularly vulnerable to persecution under these treaties.“

The U.S. also has a complex system of evaluating and deciding upon individual applications for asylum by foreigners at the U.S. international borders or other points of entry by U.S. officials at those borders or by asylum officers, immigration judges or the administrative Board of Asylum Appeals and by U.S. federal courts.

The Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is led by the Chief Immigration Judge, establishes operating policies and oversees policy implementation for the immigration courts. OCIJ provides overall program direction and establishes priorities for approximately 600 immigration judges located in 68 immigration courts and three adjudications centers throughout the Nation.”

Current Problems in the U.S. Administration of Asylum Claims[5]

During the U.S. 2023 fiscal year (ending September 30, 2023), “the U.S. received more than 920,000 applications for asylum. . . . Since a single application can cover multiple members of a family, these  figures underestimate the actual numbers of people seeking asylum.” Such family groups, “who now almost always ask for asylum, make up about half the roughly two million people encountered by authorities who illegally crossed the U.S. frontier with Mexico last year. Another half million came through legal ports of entry, many using a Border Patrol smartphone app that launched in January 2023 to make an appointment to cross and ask for asylum.”

“The law in the U.S. typically gives migrants who have a reasonable claim of persecution the right to live and work in the country while their cases progress through the courts. So many are now coming that the U.S. lacks the capacity to quickly screen their cases, either at the border or in courts, where a typical asylum case now takes four years. “

“Even if an application is ultimately rejected, migrants by then have put down roots, often had American children and are rarely deported because of the costs and logistical challenges. They are left in limbo—they lose the right to work legally but aren’t kicked out. “ As a result, they “simply melt . . .  into the underground society of undocumented migrants and making a new life.”

“The growing use of asylum claims overwhelmed the system and made it nearly impossible to address cases on the spot—immigration officials at the border can screen entrants and determine whether they have a ‘credible fear”‘ of being returned to their own country, rejecting those outright who don’t meet that requirement. Only a few hundred screenings a day out of several thousands of border encounters now take place.” In fiscal 2019 the number of border encounters resulting in immediate repatriation to the applicants’ home countries fell to about 30%.

Conclusion

Virtually everyone agrees that the asylum system needs overhauling, but the dysfunctional Congress has been unable to pass such a bill. Any such “reform” should also evaluate the U.S. need for immigrant labor in our society with an aging, declining population.[6]

Moreover, every U.S. citizen today (other than Native Americans) should proclaim, as does this blogger, “I am a proud descendant of immigrants!”

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[1] Refugee and Asylum Law: The Modern Era, dwkcommentareis.com (July 9, 2011); Multilateral Human Rights Treaties Ratified by the U.S., dwkcommentaries.com  (Feb. 9, 2012).

[2] The 1951 Refugee Convention;. Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.

[3] Weissbrodt, Ni Aolain, Fitzpatrick & Newman, International Human Rights: Law, Policy, and Process at 1040-42 (4th ed. 2009). Any subsequent statutory amendments?

[4] U.S. State Dep’t, U.S. Refugee Admissions Program; Office of the Chief Immigration Judge,

[5] E.g., Luhnow, Caldwell & Forero, The Explosion of Asylum Claims Driving the Global Migrant Crisis, W.S. J. (April 8, 2024); Need to Improve U.S. Asylum System, dwkcommentaries.com Feb. 1, 2023).

[6] E.g., Here is a sampling list of relevant dwkcommentaries.com posts: Iowa State Government Encouraging Refugees and Migrant Resettlement (Feb., 3, 2023); Comment: National Worker Shortages in U.S.(Feb. 3, 2023); More Details on U.S. and Other Countries’ Worker Shortages (Feb. 9, 2023);Other States Join Iowa in Encouraging Immigration to Combat Aging, Declining Population (Feb. 22, 2023); Biden Administration Announces Proposed Restrictions on Asylum Applications  (Feb. 27, 2023); Wall Street Journal Editorial: U.S. Needs More Immigrants (July 25, 2023); Increasing Migrant Crossings at U.S. Border Call for Legal Changes (Aug. 16, 2023); Overwhelmed U.S. Immigration Court System (Sept.1, 2023); U.S. Has Long-Term Labor Crisis (Sept. 26, 2023); Presidential Determination of Refugee Admissions for Fiscal 2024 (Oct. 4, 2023); Congressional Dysfunction Hampers U.S. Immigration Policies and Actions (Oct. 7, 2023); Migrants from All Over Flocking to U.S. (Nov 4, 2023); Washington Post Editorial: Improving U.S. Asylum Law and Procedures (Nov. 28. 2023); U.S. Border Crisis Blocks U.S. Immigration Reform (Dec. 7, 2023); U.S. States That Could Have Greatest Benefit from Immigrant Labor (Feb. 28, 2024).

Russia Is Responsible for Havana Syndrome Attacks on U.S. Personnel

“The former head of the Pentagon’s investigation into the mysterious health incidents known as Havana Syndrome told the CBS investigation show 60 Minutes he believes Russia was behind them and was attacking U.S. officials abroad and at home.”[1]

This television show, in partnership with The Insider (a Russian exile media outlet) and a German magazine (Der Spiegel), reported on new evidence connecting a possible domestic incident of Havana Syndrome to Russia and identified a Russian military intelligence unit, identified as 29155, as the possible culprit of some of the suspected attacks.

60 Minutes also reported that at last year’s NATO summit in Lithuania a senior Pentagon official suffered an “anomalous health incident” (the U.S. term for Havana Syndrome) that required medical care.

Greg Edgreen, who ran the investigation into Havana Syndrome for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency from 2021-23, said that as a result of the incidents, U.S. officers abroad have been “neutralized.” When asked by the show’s host if he thought the United States is being attacked, he answered, “My personal opinion, yes, by Russia” because there are “no barriers on what Moscow will do.”

“Sources told the [Miami] Herald that many of the officers injured were involved in work related to Russia or were stationed in places where Russian spies could work with ease, like Cuba, China, Vietnam and most of Europe. Some incidents in Hanoi, Bogota, London and India happened ahead of or during the visits by senior U.S. officials.

This blog previously has published posts about the Havana Syndrome.[2]

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[1] Torres, Russia is behind Havana Syndrome, attacks on U.S., former lead Pentagon investigator says, Miami Herald (April 1, 2024); Russia would be behind the ‘Havana Syndrome’, according to an investigation, Diario de Cuba (April 1, 2024), 

[2] Search for posts about HAVANA SYNDROME, dwkcommentaries.com.