Venezuela – dwkcommentaries

Cuban Speech to Friends of U.N. Charter

On February 25, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Parrilla gave the following speech at a meeting in New York City of the Group of Friends of the U.N. Charter.[1]

“In the current international juncture, it is necessary to reflect on the United Nations Organization that we have built and which celebrates this year its eightieth anniversary.

The aspiration to maintain peace, the purpose that guided the creation of the organization, remains a challenge. Tensions are rising, threats to international security are increasing and there are attempts to impose new forms of domination.”

“While trillions of dollars continue to be squandered in the arms race, fewer and fewer resources are allocated to the hundreds of millions of people who are victims of hunger and poverty, making it increasingly difficult to close the growing gap in wealth distribution.”

“Multilateralism is progressively weakening and the role of international organizations is being ignored. They are being threatened with conditioning and funding cuts.

“The current US administration has shown its contempt for the multilateral system and its institutions. Its shameful withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the World Health Organization, the Human Rights Council and the suspension of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are recent examples of this behavior.”

“By supporting the Palestinian genocide against the Palestinian people, the US government confirms its support to the philosophy of war and the doctrine of dispossession. Its plans to occupy Gaza and displace its population represent an escalation of ethnic cleansing, in flagrant violation of International Law.”

“The inaction of the Security Council in the face of these events damages the credibility of the UN.”

“I would like to propose that the Group of Friends of the Charter intervene at the upcoming Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to denounce the flagrant violations of International Humanitarian Law committed by the Occupying Power in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

“With the plans of domination announced by the new administration towards our region, the United States intends to launch a new imperialist offensive against the peoples of Our America, anchored in the archaic and interventionist Monroe Doctrine.”

“As part of this policy, we reject the decision, announced on January 20, to include Cuba again in the arbitrary and unilateral List of State Sponsor of Terrorism, a few days after the previous administration decided otherwise. Such a measure confirms the discredit of the aforementioned list; ignores the consistent demand of international voices, including this Group of Friends, and seeks to further tighten the impacts of the blockade against Cuba.”

“We invite the members of the Group of Friends to continue denouncing the new and dangerous imperialist attack against our region.”

“I would like to conclude by acknowledging Venezuela whose effective coordination has guided our works since its foundation. We also welcome the possibility of incorporating new members to the Group.”

“We support the work plan outlined for this year.”

“Cuba will continue to defend, firmly and consistently, the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, and will remain committed to the principles of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.”

The Group of Friends[2]

The Group “was launched on 06 July 2021, in New York [City], and, to date, it is composed of 18 Member States: Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mali, Nicaragua, the State of Palestine, the Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Angola and Cambodia were founding members of the Group of Friends.”

The Group members “agree that the Charter of the United Nations is both a milestone and a true act of faith that for the past 78 years has filled the entire international community with hope on the best of humanity and brings it together to ensure the common well-being of present and future generations. They consider that the purposes and principles enshrined therein are indispensable for preserving and promoting, among others, international peace and security, the rule of law, economic development and social progress, and all human rights for all, in an ever increasingly connected world.”

The members also ‘consider that multilateralism, which is at the core of the Charter, is currently under an unprecedented attack, which, in turn, threatens global peace and security. Nowadays, the world is seeing a growing resort to unilateralism, marked by isolationist and arbitrary actions, including the imposition of unilateral coercive measures or the withdrawal from landmark agreements and multilateral institutions, as well as by attempts to undermine critical efforts to tackle common and global challenges.”

“In addition, they believe that the international community is currently struggling with both the continued attempts to disown the diversity of our world and the very basic principles of international relations, and with the systematic violations to the norms of international law and the tenets of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular to the detriment of developing countries, by certain powers that seem to claim a non-existent “exceptionalism” that disregards, for instance, the principle of sovereign equality of States, in an attempt to establish a so-called “rules-based order” with norms that remain unknown and have not been necessarily agreed upon by States, as is the case with the set of norms and principles contained in the UN Charter, and which are the basis for modern-day international law.”

The Group has adopted the following set of its objectives:

“1. The Group of Friends, as part of the common quest of its Member States for making further progress towards achieving full respect for international law, shall strive to preserve, promote and defend the prevalence and validity of the UN Charter, which, in the current international juncture, has a renewed and even more important value and relevance.”

“2. The Group of Friends shall strive to ensure full, permanent and effective – and not selectively or conveniently – fulfillment of obligations under the UN Charter and compliance with its letter and spirit, conscious of the fact that this is the legal instrument with the greatest scope and legitimacy in the world, which has prevented and shall continue to prevent humankind from suffering once again the horrors and untold sorrow of the scourge of war.”

“3. The Group of Friends shall serve as a platform for, among others, promoting the prevalence of legality over force and for discussing, articulating possible means and coordinating joint initiatives for fostering respect for the principles of sovereignty, equality of States, non-interference in the internal affairs of States, peaceful settlement of disputes, and refraining from the use or threat of use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, as enshrined in the UN Charter, as well as for the values of dialogue, tolerance and solidarity, mindful of the fact that these are all at the core of international relations and necessary for peaceful coexistence among nations.”

Cuban Reactions to the Cuban Foreign Minister’s Speech [3]

Diario de Cuba reported the following negative comments about the above speech from other Cubans:

Maritza Camero: “Creativity is non-existent and it is not worthy that resistance should be only from the people. Leaders should be the first examples of resistanceand if they look closely they will realize that they are not.”
Mara Piedras Velarde: ” It is easy to ask for resistance when you live with all the comforts” and Jorge Vega Ramos added: “What nerve! While they kill the majority of the people in life, they talk about resistance , and they live better than the millionaires.”
Luis Hernández Batista: ” Hypocrites are what they are. With their bellies full, they ask for resistance from a people in total miserydue to their ineptitude.”
Elizabeth Godínez: “From his comfort zone, not knowing what 23-hour blackouts are like and having all his needs covered, anyone can speak up and stand firm. In this country, people don’t lead by example, that’s why we are where we are. Oh, and when it’s his week in a hotel in Varadero, he (Bruno) will go there like Juan who kills himself, maintaining his selfless firmness.”
Fara Martha González Fernández: “What an absurd phrase, creative resistance! What would be the creative part? Seeing how we fade away in a more beautiful way?Or how do we make art with the hunger and misery we are experiencing? They are specialists in creating absurd concepts and empty discourses.”
Gonzalez Monyk: “I agree with being sovereign, but we have not had social justice for a long time, and resisting is becoming more difficult because many families do not have even the most basic things. Instead of talking about resistance, they should talk about changes, listening to the youngest, accepting ideas, changes to really get out of this dark and gloomy hole where we are, and do not talk to me about a blockade that has always been there and we have never been as bad as we are now.”
Jose Martinez: “What right is he talking about and what social justice, if they have just opened dollar stores that the people neither have nor are they paid for. The people resist because they have no right to protest against the blackouts of more than 20 hours and the misery and hunger in Cuba.

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[1] Statement by Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs at Group of Friends of the Charter of the United Nations, Feb. 25, 2025.

[2] About the Group of Friends of the Charter of the United Nations.

[3]The regime hammers at the UN with ‘creative reistance’ and Cubans are outraged: ‘they should talk about changes,’ Diario de Cuba (Feb. 26, 2025).

Marco Rubio Proposes America First Foreign Policy

In the Wall Street Journal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has proposed what he calls an “Americas First Foreign Policy.” [1]

“When Donald Trump won his sweeping victory in November, he received a mandate to put America first. In the realm of diplomacy, this means paying closer attention to our own neighborhood—the Western Hemisphere.”

“It’s no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state, to Central America on Friday, will keep me in the hemisphere. This is rare among secretaries of state over the past century. For many reasons, U.S. foreign policy has long focused on other regions while overlooking our own. As a result, we’ve let problems fester, missed opportunities and neglected partners. That ends now.”

“President Trump’s foreign-policy agenda begins close to home. Among his top priorities is securing our borders and reversing the disastrous invasion abetted by the last administration. Diplomacy’s role in this effort is central. We need to work with countries of origin to halt and deter further migrant flows, and to accept the return of their citizens present in the U.S. illegally.”

“Some countries are cooperating with us enthusiastically—others, less so. The former will be rewarded. As for the latter, Mr. Trump has already shown that he is more than willing to use America’s considerable leverage to protect our interests. Just ask Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.”

“Yet even when circumstances demand toughness, the president’s vision for the hemisphere remains positive. We see a prosperous region rife with opportunities. We can strengthen trade ties, create partnerships to control migration, and enhance our hemisphere’s security.”

“El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic—the countries I will visit on this trip—all stand to benefit tremendously from greater cooperation with the U.S. These nations were neglected by past administrations that prioritized the global over the local and pursued policies that accelerated China’s economic development, often at our neighbors’ expense.”

“We can reverse this. Covid exposed the fragility of America’s dependence on far-flung supply chains. Relocating our critical supply chains to the Western Hemisphere would clear a path for our neighbors’ economic growth and safeguard Americans’ own economic security.”

“Closer relationships with the U.S. lead to more jobs and higher growth in these countries. This reduces incentives for emigration from these countries while providing governments with revenue to fight crime and invest at home. As our regional partners build themselves up, they can more easily resist countries such as China that promise much but deliver little.”

“Mass migration has destabilized our entire region. Drug cartels—now correctly categorized, thanks to the president, as foreign terrorist organizations—are taking over our communities, sowing violence and poisoning our families with fentanyl. Illegitimate regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are intentionally amplifying the chaos. All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage—such as at the Panama Canal—to oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states.”

I am confident that the countries I will soon visit will be ready partners. Like President Trump, their leaders are pragmatists who put their citizens first. And because they are pragmatists, they also know that there is much more to be gained from working with the U.S. than not.

“This is an approach to foreign policy based on concrete shared interests, not vague platitudes or utopian ideologies. It is representative of the approach the State Department will be taking to all its international dealings. We will extend our hand to all nations of goodwill, in the confident expectation that they will recognize what we can do together.”

“Thankfully, the Western Hemisphere harbors more congruent interests than conflicting ones. Making America great again also means helping our neighbors achieve greatness. The threats Mr. Trump was elected to stop are threats to the nations of our hemisphere as well.”

“We share a common home. The safer, stronger and more prosperous that home becomes, the more all our nations stand to benefit. Together, there are few limits to what we can accomplish.”

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[1] Rubio, An Americas First Foreign Policy, W.S.J. (Jan. 30, 2025)

U.S. Excludes Cuba from Its “Visa Lottery” for Fiscal 2026

The U.S. has excluded Cuba from the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (“Visa Lottery”) for fiscal 2026. [1]

This was done, said the U.S., because more than 50,000 Cubans have emigrated to the U.S. in the past five years. The other countries similarly excluded are Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Under another U.S. program (humanitarian parole), “as of last July, some 106,757 Cubans had benefited from this process and some 104,130 had already traveled to the US.

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[1] Cubans are left out of the lottery for immigrant visas to the US, Diario de Cuba (Sept. 28, 2024).

U.S. Again Ranks Cuba in Worst Category for Human Trafficking

On June 24, the U.S. State Department released its 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report on human trafficking, whose “severe forms” are defined in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Proetection Act (TVPA) as: “sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” or “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”[1]

U.S. Secretary of State’s Comments

U.S. Seretary of State Antony J. Blinken opened the State Department’s session with the following message:

“Human trafficking is a stain on the conscience of our society. It fuels crime, corruption, and violence. It distorts our economies and harms our workers. And it violates the fundamental right of all people to be free.”
“Around the globe, an estimated 27 million people are exploited for labor, services, and commercial sex. Through force, fraud, and coercion, they are made to toil in fields and factories, in restaurants and residences. Traffickers prey on some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable individuals – profiting from their plight.”
“The State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report provides the world’s most comprehensive assessment of this abhorrent practice, as well as efforts by governments and stakeholders around the globe to combat it. By measuring progress in 188 countries – including the United States – we are advancing President Biden’s commitment to prevent trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and protect survivors.”
“Even as this resource covers long-standing forms and methods of trafficking, it also examines the growing role of technology in both facilitating exploitation and countering it.”
“Digital tools have amplified the reach, scale, and speed of trafficking. Perpetrators use dating apps and online ads to recruit victims. They use online platforms to sell illicit sexual content. They leverage encrypted messaging and digital currencies to evade detection.”
“At the same time, technology is also one of our most powerful tools to combat this enduring scourge. Mobile phones, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence make it possible for advocates and law enforcement to raise greater awareness about the rights of workers and migrants, locate victims and perpetrators of online sexual exploitation, and analyze large amounts of data to detect emerging human trafficking trends.”
“As technology makes it easier for traffickers to operate across geographies and jurisdictions, those of us committed to rooting out this horrendous crime – in government, businesses, civil society – can and must work together and coordinate our efforts.”

U.S. Ambassador at Large’s Comments

Cindy Dyer, the U.S. Ambassor at Large, added comments about this report that focused on the importance of partners (survivors, other governments and non-governmental agencies) in combatting this trafficking.

Ranking of Countries

The report ranked all countries of the world into the following tiers:

“Tier 1 Countries whose governments fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” (30 countries, including the U.S.)
“Tier 2 Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.” (105 countries)
“Tier 2 Watch List. Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and for which:the estimated number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing and the country is not taking proportional concrete actions; or there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims, and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials.” (26 countries)
“Tier 3. Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” In addition, “The TVPA, as amended, lists additional factors to determine whether a country should be on Tier 2 (or Tier 2 Watch List) versus Tier 3: the extent to which the country is a country of origin, transit, or destination for severe forms of trafficking; the extent to which the country’s government does not meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and, in particular, the extent to which officials or government employees have been complicit in severe forms of trafficking; reasonable measures that the government would need to undertake to be in compliance with the minimum standards in light of the government’s resources and capabilities to address and eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons; the extent to which the government is devoting sufficient budgetary resources to investigate and prosecute human trafficking, convict and sentence traffickers; and obtain restitution for victims of human trafficking; and the extent to which the government is devoting sufficient budgetary resources to protect victims and prevent the crime from occurring.” (24 countries, including Cuba. The other countries so ranked are Afghanistan, Algeria, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, Chad, China (People’s Republic of), Curacao, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of ), Macau, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sint Maarten, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.)

Report’s Comments on Cuba

In the section entitled “Topics of Special Interest” the report discussed “Human Trafficking in Cuba’s Labor Export Program.” Here is what it said:

“Each year, the Cuban government sends tens of thousands of workers around the globe under multi-year cooperation agreements negotiated with receiving countries. While medical missions remain the most prevalent, the Cuban government also profited from other similarly coercive labor export programs, including those involving teachers, artists, athletes and coaches, engineers, forestry technicians, and nearly 7,000 merchant mariners worldwide. According to a report published by the Cuban government, by the end of 2023, there were more than 22,000 government-affiliated Cuban workers in over 53 countries, and medical professionals composed 75 percent of its exported workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for medical workers in many places around the world, and the Cuban government used the opportunity to expand its reach by increasing the number of its medical personnel abroad through the Henry Reeve Brigades, which Cuba first initiated in 2005 to respond to natural disasters and epidemics. Experts estimate the Cuban government collects $6 billion to $8 billion annually from its export of services, which includes the medical missions. The labor export program remains the largest foreign revenue source for the Cuban government.”

“There are serious concerns with Cuba’s recruitment and retention practices surrounding the labor export program. While the conditions of each international labor mission vary from country to country, the Cuban government subjects all government-affiliated workers to the same coercive laws. Cuba has a government policy or pattern to profit from forced labor in the labor export program, which includes foreign medical missions. The Cuban government labels workers who leave the program without completing it as “deserters,” a category that under Cuban immigration law deems them as “undesirable.” The government bans workers labeled as “deserters” and “undesirables” from returning to Cuba for eight years, preventing them from visiting their families in Cuba. It categorizes Cuban nationals who do not return to the country within 24 months as having “emigrated.” Individuals who emigrate lose all their citizen protections, rights under Cuban law, and any property they left behind. These government policies and legal provisions, taken together, coerce workers and punish those seeking to exercise freedom of movement. According to credible sources, by 2021, the Cuban government had sanctioned 40,000 professionals under these provisions, and by 2022, there were approximately 5,000 children forcibly separated from their parents due to the government’s policies surrounding the program.”

“Complaints filed with the International Criminal Court and the UN indicate most workers did not volunteer for the program, some never saw a contract or knew their destination, many had their passports confiscated by Cuban officials once they arrived at their destination, and almost all had “minders” or overseers. According to the complaints and survivors, Cuban heads of mission in the country subjected workers to surveillance, prevented them from freely associating with locals, and imposed a strict curfew. Cuba also confiscated between 75 and 90 percent of each worker’s salary. As a result of the well-founded complaints and information about the exploitative nature of Cuba’s labor export program, at the end of 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur for Contemporary Forms of Slavery filed a new communication outlining the persistent concerns with the program, particularly for Cuban workers in Italy, Qatar, and Spain.”

“While exploitation, including forced labor, of workers remains the primary concern with the program, Cuba’s practices can also negatively impact a host country’s healthcare system. Survivors of the program have reported being forced by the Cuban in-country mission director to falsify medical records and misrepresent critical information to justify their presence and need to local authorities. Some individuals reported discarding medications, fabricating names, and documenting medical procedures that never occurred. When medical workers refused to comply with the demands of the Cuban in-country mission director, they faced punishment and retaliation. While the Cuban government promotes workers as highly skilled medical professionals and specialists, these workers often lack adequate medical training to treat complex conditions. These practices are unethical, negligent, exploitative, and risk the lives of those they serve.”

“Governments should make efforts to combat human trafficking, and this includes not purchasing goods or services made or provided with forced labor. Governments that utilize Cuba’s labor export programs despite the serious concerns with the program should at a minimum conduct frequent and unannounced labor inspections to screen these workers for trafficking indicators and employ victim-centered interviewing techniques. These host governments should ensure all Cuban workers are subject to the same laws, regulations, and protections as for other migrant workers and that they are not brought via a negotiated agreement with the Government of Cuba that limits these protections or exempts Cuban workers from Wage Protections Systems or other tools designed to strengthen transparency. Officials should ensure workers maintain complete control of their passports and medical certifications and can provide proof of full salary payment to bank accounts under the workers’ control. They should scrutinize medical reports produced by these workers, offer protection for those who face retaliation and punishment for terminating their employment, and raise awareness of trafficking risks for all foreign workers, including government-affiliated Cuban workers.”

Cuba’s Comments on This Report[2]

On June 24, Granma (the official voice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba) said, “[A lier is] the neighboring government, that one to the north of the archipelago, which, like the naked king in a children’s story, displays its falsehoods about Cuba, without realizing that its shame is in the air; so arrogant is its arrogance.The current U.S. administration arbitrarily insists on keeping Cuba in the worst category (level 3) in its recently published annual State Department report on human trafficking. The actions of the Washington authorities, marked by political motivations, deserved the response, from . . . the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez [who said]:

“The empire has once again listed Cuba in its manipulative report on human trafficking, an outrageous maneuver in the open war against Cuban medical collaboration. Enough cynicism, Secretary Blinken. You are well aware of our zero-tolerance policy for this criminal practice. To justify the action, the report referred to the year 2023 uses contradictory arguments, based on the defamation of the work of Cuban medical collaboration in more than a hundred countries. Cuba’s cooperation with other peoples in the field of health is so humane that they have to attack it. It bothers them that, in the midst of the lordship of perversity and dishonor with which they pretend to dominate the world, the unsubmissive island brings light to the darkness and health to those who suffer.”

“But it is not fortuitous to include Cuba in spurious lists, to consider the island in the worst category in its report on human trafficking allows the White House to justify the blockade and the endless saga of coercive measures aimed at starving its people.”

“It would seem that the world is upside down: those who promote human trafficking, encouraging illegal departures, those who hinder the normal migratory flow between the two nations, are the ones who judge and punish.”

“Those who do not allow – to cite just one example – our baseball players to benefit from an agreement that prevents them from falling into the arms of human traffickers to reach the MLB, are the same ones who seek to condemn those who maintain a zero tolerance policy against human trafficking.”

Conclusion

This is a very complicated report, and the State Department website says, “This posted version is not fully accessible, meaning it may be inaccessible or incompatible with assistive technology. An accessible version will be posted as soon as the ongoing updates are concluded.” (Thus, there may be errors in this post and readers are invited to note any such corrections.)

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[1]U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report (June 2024); The US considers that the regime ‘is not making significant efforts’ to combat human trafficking, Diario de Cuba (June 24, 2024).

[2] Capote, Accusing Cuba of human trafficking, another ruse to justify economic warfare, Granma (June 26, 2024).

Cubans Ask for Acceleration of U.S. Humanitarian Parole Process

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has adopted a program for certain nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the U.S. for “a temporary period of parole for up to two years for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”[1]

Requirements for Such Parole

The requirements for such “foreign nationals” are the following:

They “are outside the United States and lack U.S. entry documents;”
“They have a [financial] supporter in the United States . . . who agrees to provide them with financial support for the duration of their parole in the United States;”
They “undergo and clear robust security vetting;”
They “meet other eligibility criteria;” and
They “warrant a favorable exercise of discretion.”

According to the U.S. Department, “Case processing times vary. USCIS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are reviewing and processing cases as thoroughly and efficiently as possible. The U.S. government will provide advance travel authorization for up to 30,000 noncitizens to come to the United States each month to seek parole on a case-by-case basis under these processes.”

“Due to high interest in these processes, we are updating this process because the number of supporters who have submitted Form I-134A is significantly higher than the 30,000 monthly advance travel authorizations available. It is intended to maintain a fair, equitably balanced, and available pathway for all beneficiaries of a Form I-134A to move forward through the review process and seek travel authorization.”

“Under the new review process, we will randomly select about half of the monthly total of Forms I-134A, regardless of filing date, from the entire pending workload to review. We will review the other half of the monthly total based on when the case was submitted under the first-in, first-out method, which prioritizes the oldest Forms I-134A for review.”

“During the process, several steps must be completed, including robust security vetting, which will depend on action taken by potential supporters and beneficiaries. In the initial part of the process, we will review and provide responses to the potential supporter’s Form I-134A as quickly as possible. Once we confirm the Form I-134A, we will contact the beneficiary via email with instructions on how to create a USCIS online account and add their case. In the online account, the beneficiary reviews their biographical information and completes the necessary attestations (including attestations for eligibility and vaccine requirements) for themselves and travel group members and submits the information to CBP.”

“The beneficiary must also take and submit their photo within the CBP One mobile app. After they submit their photo, the process transitions to CBP. CBP will vet available biographic information and the facial photograph to determine whether to authorize the beneficiary’s travel to the United States to seek parole. CBP will then send the travel authorization determination to USCIS to post it to the beneficiary’s USCIS online account. If CBP approves the travel authorization, the beneficiary is responsible for arranging and funding their own airline travel to the United States. If CBP approves travel authorization, it is generally valid for 90 days.”

Current Status of Cuban Applications for Such Parole[2]

Through the end of April 2024, 95,500 Cubans had been granted such parole, and 91,100 already have traveled to the U.S. on such parole.

However, there already are many more such Cuban applications, and on May 26, 2024, there was a demonstration in Miami by Cuban American families protesting the long periods of time for U.S. government action on such pending applications. In addition, in the first quarter of 2024, 10,446 Cuban irregular immigrants were intercepted in Mexico and returned to Cuba.

Conclusion

As always, comments with corrections and amplifications are always welcome.

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[1] U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans; U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, Frequently Asked Questions About the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.

[2] Cuban families ask in Miami for the acceleration of humanitarian parole process, Diario de Cuba (May 27, 2024).

U.S. Excludes Cuba from List of Non-Cooperators Against Terrorism

On May 15 U.S. Secretary of Antony Blinken released the State Department’s annual list of the following four states that did not fully cooperate with the U.S. anti-terrorism efforts: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela. [1]

The Secretary also stated that the U.S. had determined that the circumstances for the [prior] certification of Cuba for this list had changed and thus the new list excluded Cuba. The changes were Colombia’s cancellation of its request for Cuba to extradite commanders of ELN (guerrilla group) and the 2023 resumption of U.S.-Cuba police cooperation, including the fight against terrorism

The Secretary closed by stating that this list is not the same as the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, which by statute establishes specific legal criteria for recission which have not been met by Cuba.

Reactions

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also had a similar reaction. He said, “All political manipulation of the issue should cease and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism should end.”

On May 16, the Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Vidant Patel, made the following response to a journalist’s question about these issues:

“So the designation of a state sponsor of terrorism is a totally separate process from an NFCC certification. There have been countries certified as NFCCs without being designated as state sponsors of terrorism, and vice versa. U.S. law establishes specific statutory criteria for rescinding any state sponsor of terrorism designation, and any review of Cuba’s status on this would need to be based on the law and the criteria established by Congress.”
“So to take a step back on this NFCC . . . process, . . . the department determined that the circumstances for Cuba’s certifications as not fully cooperating country have changed from 2022 to 2023. First, Cuba’s refusal to engage with Colombia on extradition requests for National Liberation Army members supported Cuba’s NFCC certification for 2022. In August of 2022, pursuant to an order from Colombian President Petro, Colombia’s attorney general announced that arrest warrant would be suspended against 17 ELN commanders, including those whose extradition Colombia had previously requested from Cuba. Moreover, the U.S. and Cuba resumed law enforcement cooperation in 2023, including on counterterrorism.”
“Therefore, we’ve determined that Cuba’s continued certification as a not fully cooperating country was no longer appropriate. . . .{S]ales of defense articles to Cuba will continue to be restricted under Section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act given Cuba’s status as a state sponsor of terrorism. Moreover, Cuba remains subject to a incredibly comprehensive embargo still.”
“[A state]can be a cooperator on counterterrorism, but we still believe that there are actions that they are undertaking that of the support of terrorist activities. I’m not going to get into those specifically from up here.”

As a blogger interested in legal issues relating to Cuba and a frequent commentator on the U.S. listing Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, I was surprised by this related category of non-cooperators against terrorism.

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[1] [State] Department Press Briefing, May 16, 2024; The US Excludes Cuba from the list of countries that do not cooperate in the fight against terrorism, Diario de Cuba (May 15, 2024). Torres, U.S. Removes Cuba from list of countries ‘not cooperating fully’ with anti-terrrorism efforts, Miami Herald (May 16, 2024), As a non-subscriber to the Miami Herald, this blogger was unable to read this article. We would welcome a comment of any additional details in this article from a reader who has access to that newspaper

Another Documentation of the U.S. Need for Immigrants

Just yesterday this blog published a lengthy post about how the problems in the U.S. asylum system were promoting increases in U.S. immigration that were benefiting the U.S. economy.[1]

Now the New York Times has published a lengthy article focusing on the positive impact of new immigrants to this country with its declining and aging population.[2]

The Example of the State of Maine

The State of Maine has the oldest population in the U.S. with a median age of 45.1. Its “native-born employees either leave the work force or barrel toward retirement.” This especially presents a problem for the State’s annual $1 billion business of catching, cleaning and selling the lobsters off its Atlantic coast. As Ben Conniff, a founder of the State’s lobster processing plant (Luke’s Lobster), put it, “Folks in Maine are generally not looking for manufacturing work, especially in food manufacturing.”

In response, the founders of this company started Lift All Boats “to supplement and diversify the fast-aging lobster fishing industry. It aims to teach minorities and other industry outsiders how to lobster and how to work their way through the extensive and complex licensing process, and about half of the participants have been foreign-born.” And Maine’s state legislators are creating an Office of New Americans to attract and integrate immigrants into the work force.”

The Rest of the U.S.

“Nationally, even with the barriers that prevent some immigrants from being hired, the huge recent inflow has been helping to bolster job growth and speed up the economy. . . . The new supply of immigrants has allowed employers to hire at a rapid pace without overheating the labor market. And with more people earning and spending money, the economy has been insulated against the slowdown and even recession that many economists once saw as all but inevitable as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in 2022 and 2023.”

“Ernie Tedeschi, a research scholar at Yale Law School, estimates that the labor force would have decreased by about 1.2 million people without immigration from 2019 to the end of 2023 because of population aging, but that immigration has instead allowed it to grow by two million.” In the longer run, “economists think the immigration wave could also improve America’s labor force demographics . . . even as the native-born population ages, with a greater share of the population in retirement with each year.”

“In fact, immigration is poised to become increasingly critical to America’s demographics. By 2042, the Congressional Budget Office estimates, all American population growth will be due to immigration, as deaths cancel out births among native-born people. And largely because immigration has picked up so much, the C.B.O. thinks that the U.S. adult population will be 7.4 million people larger in 2033 than it had previously expected.”

“Immigration could help reduce the federal deficit by boosting growth and increasing the working-age tax base.”

However, “nobody knows how long today’s big immigration flows will last. Many are spurred by geopolitical instability, including economic crisis and crime in Venezuela, violence in Congo, and humanitarian crises across other parts of Africa and the Middle East.” This, as we in the U.S. know, has sparked a lot of political unrest over this development.

Nor does anyone know about the future course of the U.S. economy. If it slows, “fewer immigrants might want to come to the United States, and those who did might struggle to find work . . . [and] compete against American workers for jobs, particularly those with lower skill levels.” However, “recent economic research has suggested that immigrants mostly compete with one another for work, since they tend to work in different roles from those of native-born Americans.”

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[1] Problems in U.S. Asylum System Help Promote Increases in U.S. Immigration, dwkcommentaries.com (April 11, 2024).

[2] Smialek, Immigrants in Maine Are Filling a Labor Gap. It May Be a Prelude for the U.S., N.Y. Times (April 12.2024).

Russia’s Top Security Official Meetings in Havana

On February 27, 2024, Nikolai Patrushev, Russia’s to security official, met in Havana with Cuba’s retired general Raul Castro. Other Russians in attendance were officials from Russian spy agencies like the Federal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service in addition to officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies.[1]

Patrushev said Moscow is ready to provide “full, comprehensive support to our Latin American friends, including preventing interference in the internal affairs of countries friendly to us, discrediting their legitimate authorities, intimidating the population, and destabilizing the economy.”

According to a Russian newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, they discussed “issues of practical cooperation between Russia and Cuba in the field of security,” reinforcing views that despite being out of office, the 92-year old Cuban revolutionary leader is still making important military and political decisions.

This Russian official also met and discussed security and economic issues with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who reportedly praised Putin’s recent interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson, an hours-long exchange in which the Russian leader tried to provide historical justifications for his invasion of Ukraine. Afterwards Diaz-Canel said this exchange provided historical justifications for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a subsequent meeting sith officials from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, Patrushev promised “comprehensive support” to Russian allies in Latin America against U.S. “interference.”

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[1] Torres, Top Putin ally meets Castro, vows ‘comprehensive support’ to allies in Latin America, Miami Herald (Feb. 27, 2024).

Cuba’s Poor Ranking in the World Democracy Index

Each year the British magazine The Economist publishes its World Democracy Index. For 2023 Cuba ranked 135^th our of 167 world-wide countries and 22^nd out of 24 Latin American countries.[i]

The five principles taken into account for this analysis and ranking are: electoral process and pluralism; functioning of the Government; political participation; democratic political culture; and civil liberties. The countries are then grouped into four categories: full democracy, deficient democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

World Ranking

Cuba was given the 135^th ranking out of 167 countries.

“Norway remains the most democratic country,” a position it has occupied for 14 years” while “Afghanistan is at the bottom for the third consecutive year.

“Less than 8% of the world’s population live in full democracies” while “39.4% are under authoritarian rule.”

Latin America Ranking

Only two Latin American countries (Uruguay and Costa Rica) received the top rank of “full democracy.’ Cuba followed by Venezuela and Nicaragua were placed in the bottom category of “authoritarian regimes” while Haiti was assigned an even lower ranking of “country in state of collapse.”

On a population basis, “just over 1% of the region’s population lives in a full democracy, the majority (54%) live in a flawed democracy, 35% in a hybrid regime and 9% in an authoritarian regime.”

“Latin America fell by the most, and recorded its eighth consecutive drop. El Salvador, where Nayib Bukele ran for re-election as president in defiance of the constitution (and easily won [in early February]), was the worst performer in the region.”

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[i] Cuba ranks 135^th in the 2023 World Democracy Index, Diario de Cuba (Feb. 19, 2024); Where democracy is most at risk, Economist (Feb. 14, 2024)

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